Tim Nisly
Title – Chief Operations Officer
Organization/Agency – Rio Grande Community Development Corporation; Founder, TEDxABQ
Education – MBA, Anderson Business School, University of New Mexico
Why did you choose to work in the nonprofit sector? My parents both dedicated their life to a cause they believed in, and I’ve always respected that. I came out of Anderson School of Management at UNM with an MBA, planning on working in the for-profit sector and making a lot of money, but as a student almost accidently started volunteering at the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation, where I am now, and I discovered it feels really good to build a career around improving people’s lives.
Why did you pick the cause you are currently part of? When did you know you wanted to do this work? My cause is economic and community development, but really what I do is build nonprofit organizations to better fulfill their missions by being more efficient, improving collaborations, better communicating their message, and running social programs like a business, with a real return on investment for the community.
What impact does your non-profit have in the community? The Rio Grande Community Development Corporation engages the community to become active participants in their own development, whether it’s through helping them get jobs, getting community participation in fixing the health system, or helping them start a business or nonprofit program. TEDxABQ gives great ideas a stage to foster social change, inspires people to think BIG, and empowers our community to believe they can BE the change, as Gandhi said.
What inspires you about your work? I love watching measurable change happen, and knowing that I’m a part of that change. And I love it when people get inspired by the work we’re doing, and take the plunge and go pursue their passion, whether it’s starting their own business or building a nonprofit program.
What do you like best about being a young professional in Albuquerque? There are over 6000 nonprofits in New Mexico, most of them centrally located. They’ve all got great missions, and their founders all have great hearts, and many of them are working toward the same goals. Traditionally they’ve been siloed – everyone works in their own field. Our opportunity, as young professionals, is in bringing people together around a big vision and truly changing our communities for the better.
Why do you feel it’s important for young people to work in social profit professions? One of my favorite philosophers, Dan Dennett, says the secret to happiness is to find something bigger than yourself and dedicate your life to it. I think that’s a pretty good reason to work for a social profit.
How do you avoid burn-out and where do you get support? Burn-out is a tough one. Our culture pushes a culture of working ourselves literally to death, and the nonprofit world is generally no better. My friends keep me grounded, and solo time to reflect on life in general, both in the gym and outdoors keeps me sane.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you? All four of grandparents were Amish, and I come from a Mennonite family. We grew up on a chicken farm. Nothing teaches work ethic like cleaning up after 22,000 chickens, let me tell you.
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