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Show Notes:

Today on 7-Figure Fundraising, host Trevor Bragdon is joined by Noemi Perez. Noemi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Immokalee Foundation. The nonprofit provides a range of education programs that focus on building pathways to professional careers and serves students from kindergarten through post-secondary education. Noemi was raised in Immokalee and knew the challenges students faced, so she knew it was the right fit when she was recruited to work for the organization. Eventually, it became clear to her she wanted to serve as the CEO and lead the organization.

Becoming a CEO

Noemi explains that while she knew her role as CEO would be to help drive the foundation's mission forward, she didn't realize she would also be the chief fundraiser for the organization. Coming from a program director position, she also had to learn to balance a different schedule and delegation of duties. For someone who wants to move up and lead, Noemi stresses the importance of philanthropy. She explains you have to get comfortable sharing your mission and reaching out to donors to fundraise. 

Finding Opportunities during the Pandemic

At the beginning of the COVID, she knew they needed to work quickly to move to remote work and begin offering digital services. It wasn't enough to provide their services, but they also needed to support students in their transition to online services. There was a lot of juggling of emotions and tasks. Noemi expresses her gratitude and pride in her team for their adaptability and prioritizing their students' needs. They delivered meal kits and backpacks with supplies and began looking at new ways to serve their community. They created a virtual career pathways curriculum to execute their summer programming online. Career Pathways provides a robust curriculum for Immokalee middle and high school students to place them on pathways to well-paying, in-demand careers in Southwest Florida in four employment sectors: Engineering & Construction Management, Education & Human Services, Health Care, and Business Management & Entrepreneurship. They were able to serve even more students because the program transitioned to online. 

Adapting Fundraising around COVID

The Immokalee Foundation fundraising team began moving forward quickly at the beginning of the pandemic. First, they contacted donors to let them know the pandemic's impact on the Immokalee population and how the foundation was continuing to provide services. They also identified key ways donors could help. This communication was crucial for maintaining those donor relationships. She wanted them to have direct information from the Immokalee Foundation about what was happening on the ground. They rely heavily on their annual fundraiser and had to tackle what a big fundraiser might look like in a pandemic. In June, they had to make the call to cancel their annual fundraiser and reevaluate how to continue their work. They sent letters to their donors to communicate with them about their needs and explain how much they rely on their donations. The response she says was overwhelmingly positive.

Noemi explains that the pandemic has taught her there are no right answers. Instead, she communicates with her team and the organization's donors as much as she can. No one has the right answers, but it's okay to keep moving forward with the best response she can and make sure she remains adaptable as things change. Noemi says she relies on meetings with her leadership team and remaining transparent about her thought process. It was essential to her that her employees heard from her and were able to ask questions and communicate with her directly if needed.

As the episode ends, Trevor asks Noemi to share her favorite success story of the past few months. She reiterates her pride and gratitude in her team and how dedicated and passionate they've been in serving the Immokalee Foundation's population. Noemi encourages listeners to think creatively and be okay with the idea that things may change. Transparency with your team, donors, and the board will go a long way in difficult times.

Key Takeaways:

• 0:23 - Trevor introduces today’s guest, Noemi.

• 1:16 - Noemi talks about her work with the Immokalee Foundation. 

•  5:45 - Noemi discusses the difference between her ideas of the CEO role, and what she ended up taking on.

•  8:43 - Trevor asks Noemi to share advice for other people transitioning from management to C level leadership.

• 12:38 - Noemi talks about the effect of COVID on the Immokalee Foundation.

• 16:14 - Trevor has Noemi explain Immokalee’s pathways program. 

• 21:35 - Noemi shares what she’s learned about fundraising during the pandemic.

• 34:36 - Trevor asks Noemi how she handled the unpredictability of the past few months.

• 41:12 - Noemi shares her favorite success story of the past few months.

• 43:52 - Noemi encourages listeners to think creatively.

Learn more about Noemi and the Immokalee Foundation