Katia Conte

I attribute my success to my daughter. She's the inspiration for everything I do. I saw what she went through, and I promised her that I would do everything in my power to share her story and provide hope now to other families. I lived it, I walked in their shoes, and I know what they're going through. So now it's about providing hope and letting these families know that they're not alone and that someone is behind them. The families we help inspire me to get up every morning and make this work. Getting testimonials from the families and showing our donors how they're making an impact drives me to work even harder.

The best career advice I've ever gotten is to believe in yourself and surround yourself with people who believe in your cause and your mission, and that lift you up. I feel like being surrounded with inspiring women who just kind of want to do good and get to where they want to be is so important. Having that support system of people who truly believe in what you're doing makes all the difference in this work.

First, think about it twice before you actually are in it, because this is very, very long-term, hard work. Just think about it twice before you decide if you want to go in the nonprofit field. Whatever cause it is, whether it's mental health awareness, child cancer, or any of the many causes out there, just make sure that you also have the passion for it. You have to put in the hard work. You have to create a team, and not just people who want to be on the board because it makes them look good, but people who truly believe in the cause and believe in the mission. If you have the team, make sure that they understand that being on a board comes with expectations, and one of those expectations is expanding the mission and the reach so that we can actually help more families, not only for today and tomorrow, but for generations to come.

I would say funding is obviously the biggest challenge, because you want to do more and you have to think about sustainability. You want this to last long-term, right? In my space, until there's a cure or better treatment options, I feel like the financial need of these families will always be there, so trying to create a system where this can last long-term is critical. Also, trying to create trust is a huge challenge because you're dealing with money, public money that people are donating to you, and they want to make sure that the money is actually going to the program. It takes time, it really, really does take time. I think the hardest was the first five years in, because running a nonprofit is like a business. You have money coming in, money coming out. You have to prove to people where the actual money goes. We do an annual report every year, but it's tough.

My most important value is keeping a balance, which I have a hard time doing. I have such a passion for my work that I struggle with this, but I think creating a boundary or a balance between your family and your work is so important. You need to have that mental break because you need to sometimes step away from this kind of work in the nonprofit space. That way, once you have that break, that mental break, it creates more ideas of how the foundation can grow and raise more money. Taking time to step back actually helps me be more effective in the work I do.