Lori O’Keefe
I’m Lori O’Keefe, and I am the President and CEO of the Triangle Community Foundation.
I have been at the Foundation for almost 15 years, and I think there are reasons geographically why so many nonprofits have to exist — access for like transportation and things like that being a couple of them. But I don’t think we do a good enough job as a sector of really understanding what the landscape is and thinking about where maybe we could add value as a program without necessarily having to be a separate nonprofit.
I had a conversation with a nonprofit leader not too long ago, and I’m trying to convince them that the best way you could deliver your mission is to be doing the work as part of another organization and not have to worry about the 990, the board meetings and all of that stuff. Just be out there doing the work. But so much of their sense of purpose and persona and everything is tied up into being this organization. And you know, I don’t know that I’m ever going to convince them otherwise.
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