Business 4 Good: How Women Leaders Innovate by Centering Equity
The Portland Metro Innovation Hub checked all the equity boxes on paper. I was the unanimous choice to lead it. What happened next became a masterclass in how not to build. Here is what I learned, and why I keep building Business 4 Good, because even if I am no longer in that role, it remains my job to connect resources to the people who need and deserve them.
When Leadership Gets Real: What I Learned From a Very Rough Chapter of My Life
I was hired unanimously to lead a regional Innovation Hub with collaboration and equity at the center. I did not walk in to keep the lights on.
I walked in to build something new. Here is what happened when intention met execution.
I stayed in the work long after it got hard. I continue to seek guidance from mentors, board members and even HR.
I always try to create space for hard conversations. I like to think I tried everything to make this JOB work. Eventually, the staffer left. So did I. Here is what I learned, and why I keep building Business 4 Good!
Start with the End in Mind, or Don't
Start with the end in mind, they say. But also keep iterating and resetting to the present moment at the same time. Is it possible to hold both at once? After some thought, I do not think either is mutually exclusive. Nobody handed us the infrastructure. We built it with whatever we had.

