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“When we’re building something, we’re sort of alone. And to be with others like ourselves is just so affirming, and nourishing, and wonderful,” Elevate Prize Foundation founder Joe Deitch explained. “We can learn from each other. We can get that spark and have that ‘aha’ moment. And that’s what all this is about.”
“The work that we’re doing is difficult work. We’re trying to solve big challenges, address major and systemic problems,” he said. “Having community, being able to talk about what we’re dealing with, and to share in those challenges is really empowering.”
At the summit, the Elevate Prize Foundation announced a concept they spent years developing called the Whole Leader. The idea is that leaders need to prioritize both self-care and community care. By helping the Heroes take care of themselves and avoid burnout, it will enhance their ability to help others – a top priority for Elevate.
“Self-care is something that’s hard to come by in the social impact space,” Elevate Prize Foundation CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram said. “It feels selfish; it feels not necessary to the urgent struggles that are in front of us.”
“As a nonprofit leader, we are always going, going, going. We don’t think about ourself,” he said.
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“I believe it’s such a central aspect of our ability to have self-reflection and self-inquiry, to connect to ourselves to be able to connect to other people,” Pearce said.
Self-care was not the only item on the agenda. Elevate also provided crucial lessons aimed at expanding the Heroes’ reach and taking their life-changing work to the next level. That included sessions on nonprofit finances, board management, and strategies for sharing their stories.
“It’s important to raise and amplify positive things that are happening in the world,” she said. “With everything that’s happening now, I think some folks just wanna feel a sense of hope.”
For Elevate founder Joe Deitch, the summit is part of the foundation’s efforts to ignite the purpose and passion that exists in all of us.
“It’s about awakening the hero within,” he said. “By making good famous, we take good further. We can inspire the whole world. We can let people know that they too can do something.”
