When I was appointed CEO of Let’s Get Ready (LGR) in August 2019, after serving as Chief Program Officer for three years, I was both a new mom and a new leader feeling at times overwhelmed by these new roles and responsibilities. At the start, I was unsure if I had the skills and vision to lead us through a challenging time for the organization. I identified strongly as a “program person” and worried that transitioning to an externally-facing administrative leader would be too great a leap. However, I felt deeply connected to LGR’s programmatic impact and saw a profound future for the organization. Honored by the Board of Directors and staff leadership’s confidence in me, I decided to embrace the change and uncertainty with optimism. I had no idea that six months later, a life-altering global event would push the world, and me, to grow beyond our comfort zones and bring innovation to the forefront.
It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since then. With LGR embracing new opportunities and tackling new challenges, and with my daughter about to start first grade, this moment gives me a chance to reflect both professionally and personally.
In the past five years, we’ve made tremendous progress as an organization. We have implemented a fully virtual model and a robust partnership strategy. We have recruited and learned from incredibly talented staff and board members. We’ve invested deeply in data and evaluation, human-centered use of technology, and equity and cultural responsiveness. We have honored our founding vision, while prioritizing innovation to ensure we are responsive to the diverse student needs and ever-changing educational landscape. We’ve substantially scaled our model while deepening our commitments to serving students and communities who are often overlooked and marginalized. And these investments in technology, time, and equity have led to LGR doubling in size. This year, LGR will support more than 25,000 students on their roads to college graduation in more than 45 states across the country!
The past five years have gifted me with some incredible lessons, and I am mindful of several key learnings:
Identify Core Strengths and Values: For LGR, this means focusing on human-centered virtual advising, leveraging near-peers as coaches, and ensuring a low barrier to entry for both students and partners to guarantee equitable access and optimal responsiveness. Once we understood our core, we made it non-negotiable, letting everything else be open to innovation and change. The most transformative moments of strategic clarity came from questioning why we do what we do, whether we needed to do it that way anymore, or whether to do it at all.
Focus on Quality and Impact: My natural approach is to do good work, believing the rest will follow. We invest time and money in the program and hold ourselves to very high standards around quality and efficacy, ensuring it’s truly best-in-class, has a profound and measurable impact, and offers an equitable and meaningful participant experience. Powerful work is the best marketing strategy. At the same time, I’ve learned to celebrate successes publicly. Sharing success is inspirational and motivating, and it helps build the network of champions any organization needs to thrive. This sharing can also inform and influence the sector, leading to collaborations and shared learning that produce a greater impact than any one organization can achieve alone.
Collaborative Decision-Making: It is inconceivable that the best organizational decisions are made by one person or through one role alone, and to proceed this way carries tremendous risk. One of the most important things I’ve done is identify what I don’t know, the decisions for which I don’t fully understand the implications, and the priorities for which I don’t know the right strategy. Building and relying on a brain trust to weigh in, offer expertise, debate, and grapple with big choices has been crucial. These trusted advisors are internal (members of the Executive Team, staff, coaches, students, and the Board of Directors) and external (donors, partners, and peers).
Integrity and Values: The proper course of action often becomes clear when we are relentlessly honest with ourselves and adhere to our values. I regularly refer back to our organizational values – Center Students, Value, Equip and Celebrate the Team, Embrace Learning and Seek Progress, and Build and Sustain an Inclusive and Equitable Community – as well as my own core value: Don’t Be a Hypocrite / Walk the Walk. These principles guide me in the right direction every time.
I am humbled by the support of our community over the past five years and grateful for all the insight and feedback—both positive and challenging. I know it is a privilege to work with all of you toward our critical mission of ensuring students nationwide have the information, support, and community necessary to unlock their college aspirations and enter adulthood with abundant choice and empowerment.
If there’s one thing I have learned over the past five years, it is how incredible our LGR community continues to be. I would be remiss if I did not share that our work of ensuring 25,000 students get to and through college does not happen alone. Please consider donating to Let’s Get Ready today.
Lena
