Her Story
About Renea
I serve as Chief Strategy Officer at Changent, where I oversee operations, information technology, information services, enterprise strategy, human resources, and board governance as staff liaison. When I first joined the organization five years ago, there were 14 C-suite members, the organization was in disarray with multiple CEOs coming in and out, and we faced an $11 million deficit. Through my passion for equity and understanding both the people operations and revenue sides, I was able to deliver the organization's first strategic plan that was presented and approved by the board, and we achieved a balanced budget. I also deployed the organization's first performance management system to track employee success. The executive team has now contracted to just four members, and we are a female-led team. I created a new Enterprise Strategy department that started internally and is now external-facing, with the goal of expanding the organization beyond our current programs through acquisitions or innovative new programs. My role is very ambiguous, which I find exciting because I'm able to create and shape the future direction. Before Changent, I was Chief Human Resource Officer at Versability Resources, a nationwide nonprofit serving the disability community. Prior to that, I worked in government contracting as Director of HR, and before that as a store manager for Walmart, where I ultimately decided I would only pursue mission-driven work that I could personally connect with.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Renea
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it was having that support system. My husband, who actually passed last year, was tremendous. He took a step back so I could take a step forward, and having that support system with my family and friends has been crucial. The other thing I've learned is that it's okay to take breaks. As women, we will work ourselves into the ground, and I found myself doing that, especially last year after my husband passed. This year, I just woke up one day and said I need to take not a week off, but three weeks off to do nothing else other than whatever I wanted to do, just wake up and recharge myself, because I can't be the leader that I need to be for my people if I'm tired. So I think those are the two things: having that support system and knowing it's okay to take those breaks.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You have to understand the mission. If you walk in and it's just another job, you're just not in the right place. For me, coming in and really not only understanding the mission, but really feeling it through myself, it makes it easier day after day when those challenges come up, because nonprofit is not for the faint of heart. You don't have the backing financially like a corporate entity does. Like, Walmart has millions of dollars. In the nonprofit space, every year you're working through philanthropy, you're having to make certain shifts to ensure you don't have to make cuts. You want to have to be there for the mission, and you have to understand the mission, because some folks feel like, you know, hey, I love this work, but they don't really truly understand it. So that would be my advice to anyone, or especially women coming into this space.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Right now, my organization has one or two choices: to either stay the same and continue to contract, or to really look at the ecosystem and see what more we could be doing as an organization. My goal is to expand the org, not just the program. Our organization is very unique - it's like an umbrella organization where you have this national office and it has these two evidence-based programs that are inside of the communities. But my role is to look at the organization and ask what more can Changent do to serve more families, to keep growing, to keep being able to do more. That could be acquisitions, that could be creating a new innovative program. Right now, my role in terms of strategy is very ambiguous, but I think that's exciting because I'm able to create there. As a female-led executive team, we also face scrutiny. I noticed that some of the questions that are posed to us, even by our board, weren't the same questions that were given to men. There definitely is some grit there. There's understanding the worth that you hold, regardless of gender, but especially because of gender. It's not to back down off the things that you know are right. You're going to be questioned and scrutinized a little bit more, because unfortunately, that's just the way the world is.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The mission is everything to me. I made the decision that I wasn't going to do anything that wasn't really personally connected to what I could get behind in terms of mission, to be that mission-driven person. My passion for equity drives me, and the work we do is not only the mission that I'm connected to, it's what I've felt before with my own family. When my son was diagnosed with White-Sutton syndrome as one of six in the world, I experienced firsthand the importance of providers coming into the home to service a family. That's what we do now with nurses and mental health professionals for families at most need, the most adversities that you would see in society. For me to want to expand this organization to still be here in the next years, way beyond me, I need people to know who I am and understand that I really love the mission. It drives me, even with the pain in my personal life. I also believe in not backing down from the things that you know are right, and understanding the worth that you hold.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.