Navigating the Challenges of Nonprofit Leadership: Nagi Alsubai’s Journey to Impact

Tasha: [00:00:00] Good morning.

Tasha: Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your nonprofit journey?

Nagi: Hi, so my name is Nagi Alsubai and I am the founder of Peerminds, which is a nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to empowering youth and young adults in the specifically in the MENASA community. So MENASA stands for Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian community in terms of having them take.

Nagi: Charge of their mental health journeys. Through means of mentorship and means of culturally sensitive and approachable education and having that environment of human connection so that way they can help build off of each other in ways of relevancy and connection through the same cultural backgrounds through the same lived experiences and then later down the line become real change agents in the community for mental health and wellness in general.

Tasha: I love that. And what inspired you to start your own non profit? Like you, you have a background in non profit, so usually that scares people [00:01:00] away from starting a non profit.

Nagi: I mean, it’s kind of the opposite. A lot of things have happened since the pandemic, right? So prior to that, I was in the education field working in universities.

Nagi: , I was born and raised in New York City my hometown, forever and always. I’ve dealt with youth in the education field in colleges, universities, and then from then on I transitioned into actually teaching in public schools and private schools, ranging from pre K all the way up to high school.

Nagi: So, I’ve dealt with a lot of youth that were That felt a little misguided and felt emotionally unable to navigate their, you know, their day to day lives, really. And that reflected and I reflected on that based off of my youth. Especially as a male of color in the Middle Eastern community where I was seen as a hypersensitive child overly emotional, sometimes emotionally unstable I just had really strong emotions, you know, especially as a male.

Nagi: I was always looked down [00:02:00] upon just as, for males in general, let alone specifically that community where it’s against our systemic belief. As one gets older, so do their issues, so do their problems, and they have to adjust to new stages of their lives. And that for me was becoming more and more challenging, so that made my own mental health worse.

Nagi: In most cases, so through my own lived experiences of losing everything in my life, losing my previous marriage, I got married pretty young, I lost that, and then losing my career and education, almost losing my finances, almost losing my home, and this all happened to me within a means of five to six months of each other.

Nagi: Wow. And that was the worst experience I’ve ever had in my entire life, which led to an actual hospitalization due to poor mental health. And my experience in that hospital was something that was really unexpected seeing how many people were just really similar in the same as I was, you know, there were few people there that were seen as, you know, mentally unstable and whatnot, but while I was there, I managed to kind of [00:03:00] form relationships with regular people like myself, who, again, through the power of connection, we realized that, you know, we’re not alone in this, 

Nagi: And speaking and connecting with professionals there.

Nagi: And lo and behold, one of my nurses was a Middle Eastern male, who would have thought, right? And he and me connected and he connected with my family and when they came to visit. So it’s not what you think. I mean, the, this is a epidemic, right? And it’s really high amongst everybody, males and females, youth and children that are going through severe traumatic experiences.

Nagi: On their in their day to day lives. So when the pandemic hits, you know, everyone’s lives change. And then I transitioned back into nonprofit work. I transitioned back more to leadership roles. That’s dedicated to those communities, to the monastic community in ways of education. Youth development, leadership skills.

Nagi: I was in these nonprofits and noticing the just mental health epidemic during the pandemic, right? [00:04:00] When I got back into the nonprofit field, I really felt like I, I guess evolved. In terms of leadership, in terms of experience, in terms of connection, and, overseeing operations for humanitarian aid, taking care of people overseas that are going through their own issues that are going through conflict, famine, poverty medical issues, wars to the other side here locally and nationally overseeing Educational programs for the same types of communities.

Nagi: So with that, the mental health aspect wasn’t really there, where I’m like, okay, I’ve connected with a lot of people in my community in terms of their mental health issues. They’re not, they don’t know how to identify anything that they’re going through. They don’t know how to navigate through it. And with my background in education, seeing students and young adults.

Nagi: individually, developmentally, in different aspects, socially, academically, emotionally, mentally. I use those skills and now I call it a gift. I use that gift to connect with other people, including adults. Adults [00:05:00] still behave the same way as students going through life.

Tasha: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Nagi: So that’s what I that’s how I connect with people.

Nagi: And then I realized that again, the mental health epidemic was not being addressed within that particular community until there was a small little, very small little coalition that reached out to to me, somebody who was a friend of mine reached out to me and said, Hey, I think you would really benefit from this.

Nagi: Go ahead and join it. This was a few years ago. So I said, okay. We joined and they wanted to do something. It was a bunch of different people in the Middle Eastern coalition. Yeah. community and the South Asian community that wants to focus on some sort of mental health initiative while we were brainstorming.

Nagi: There was a little bit more conversational, but I like to get my hands dirty when it’s something I really care about. Everybody’s from different organizations, initiatives, institutions all have reached out to me individually and started, you know, I’ve started working from working with them on a voluntary basis.

Nagi: So now, well, that’s my network. I’ve connected with different networks simultaneously and have continued to grow [00:06:00] building my networks in the mental health space.

Nagi: So that’s my story. That’s where we are today. Pure Minds is still a fairly new organization. And I’m really excited to see where we can do with that. What I can do with that in terms of something that’s from the heart, something I really love.

Nagi: And every time I collaborate with someone and they love the mission, whatnot, it just, it’s, you know, I feel like it’s, what’s the word I’m looking for? I’m on cloud nine. I start flying,

Tasha: I think there’s something very special about. Those of us who love building community, when you can see it in action, it’s like just the best feeling, right?

Tasha: Like my husband always laughs at me where he goes, you’re just wound up on Thursday nights. You’re like, wow, because it’s Hive chat day. And I get all these like lovely humans who not only do I get to talk to a bunch of people, cause I usually take three chats, but I also get like people messaging me afterwards being like, that was such a great match, right?

Tasha: Like, like, and I think you can kind of see the groundswell and that’s so. Important and you know, everyone’s going to have a different [00:07:00] story, different background. It’s true in the nonprofit hive and I’m sure it’ll be true in the PeerMinds community of why they’re here, why they join. But that alignment piece, right?

Tasha: Being in alignment with the other people who are part of it, even though your stories brought you there differently is very cool to grow community. I love what you’re doing. It’s so awesome. Thank

Nagi: you. I love that you love it. And I love that it’s And that’s, and I wanted, again, I wanted to make you something unique and you know, the keyword here is building.

Nagi: So being a part of other startup nonprofits has given me that skill set and that knowledge and that experience to understand what it takes to kind of build something from scratch. But even then on from that experience, it was still a learning experience for me too. I’m not a long learner.

Nagi: I’m a student of life as we all should be. We are students of life. We’re not experiencing every little thing. And I love connecting with people who. specialized in different experiences to help educate me and for me to help educate the people around me. I don’t like being as what they call now a gatekeeper.

Nagi: I don’t like to gatekeep all this, you know, information, whatnot, for myself because it’s [00:08:00] very selfish at the end of the day. It’s very selfish and there are people out there that are really struggling, that need something like this. Whether it be a miniscule struggle or whether it be Something that’s really crucial and critical for that.

Nagi: So, yeah. And like I said, I love the unique concept that I came with it because of my own experiences. And that’s what, I guess, what’s attracting a lot of people towards it in terms of like collaborations and getting to know more about it. So. Yeah, I’m really proud. There’s still a long way to go.

Tasha: Yeah. Hey, having a team is so, so important. So what’s your favorite part? I mean, I specific PeerMinds, but, you’ve been in this sector for quite a while.

Tasha: Like, what, Do you love about working in non profit?

Nagi: Honestly, one thing I do enjoy is that, unlike for profits and businesses, non profits actually work together. There’s that collaborative feeling of working with other non profits in a way to help balance each other’s [00:09:00] services for the community, right? And I’ve done that before in my previous non profit roles where, you know, it’s it’s an easier process.

Nagi: Then to have, let’s say, for profits that are interested in working with each other and whatnot. I love that. I love collaborating with other nonprofits and connecting with them in terms of community outreach, in terms of spreading awareness, or just particular projects overseas to help. And that’s the key word here is just to really help.

Nagi: Those in need, right? And providing whether it could be a variety of service, anything could be education humanitarian aid, it could be health, it could be any of that stuff. So there’s a wide variety of that, that a lot of people can explore.

Tasha: That’s great. That’s, that, that’s wonderful. , challenges in this sector, as you build out your own nonprofit and you start from the ground floor, what are you finding some of the

Nagi: I think in my own experience, this is the challenges are is understanding what to prioritize first and knowing that you can’t do everything at the same time. And [00:10:00] unfortunately, I’m still in that space right now where I’m trying to do everything at the same time. If you see the list that I have to do for pure minds now.

Nagi: It’s so scattered, where like, I gotta do this, and I gotta do that, I gotta do that, but in terms of really, I guess, sequentializing it, to get it to where it needs to go, and having to focus at a time, but like, and, it’s also, it’s a startup, you know, it’s a new organization, it’s a new startup, you gotta continue building from the ground up.

Tasha: Yeah.

Nagi: Yeah. Yeah. So.

Tasha: It takes, and at the beginning, you know, and you were one of our first, very beginning of our Hive members, it, A lot of the passion comes down to you the person who’s starting it. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen, or there’s a video of it, but there’s also like. Articles about this idea of being like the first person up dancing, right?

Tasha: That’s terrifying. It is a real thing to get up and be the first, right. And to, to the, but someone has to start something and it’s sometimes surprising how [00:11:00] quickly when you’re the first person up, other others will come and do it, but it’s it takes time. It takes a lot of energy and sustained passion.

Tasha: When you’re wearing all the hats for all the roles and having to like context switch between Okay. Well right now I’m a marketer and then oh wait looks like I’m operations and I’m also Welcome wagon and I have 500 emails that apparently didn’t make the cut This week and now it’s Sunday and I’m answering emails, right?

Tasha: It’s a big job.

Nagi: Yeah, it is a big job You know wearing different roles for an organization, you know, it’s One of the things that I also find challenging is the, especially the beginning phase, you’re going to face a lot of burnout, right? And if we’re being totally honest, I’ve had moments where as much as this means to me, I’ve had moments where I’m like, I don’t know if I can.

Nagi: Just continue doing this. This is a lot to do, and I’m doing everything myself. It’s [00:12:00] hard to find the right help out there for you. And, you know, it’s fighting that inner demon. And you’re fighting that, like, this is a need. You’ve come you’re not where you wanted to be right now, but you’re not where you used to be.

Tasha: Yeah, I have to frequently Nagi I have to frequently go, where was I six months ago? Because it’s only with the longer view that I can actually go, Oh my, how did we do this much in the last six months? But if I look at a week, half the time, I’m very frequently writing notes as well. We

Nagi: can,

Tasha: we should share, you know, Hey, look, here’s mine too.

Tasha: But I write these insane lists. And I get only half of it crossed off, but half what I sometimes have to remind myself is a different priorities came into place that weren’t there on the initial list when I started Monday and I also the list grew three times what I started with on Monday. So is it [00:13:00] reasonable to think I could have gotten everything done?

Tasha: And yeah, and similar to yourself, I’ve had moments where I’m like, this was insane. What was I thinking? And people talk about balance. I don’t know if there’s balance in the startup life. I think that’s maybe a, you know, a little bit of a fallacy. And but It’s nice when you’re doing something that has this kind of reward to it in turn, like I feel rewarded by the work that I’m doing every day, even when I have days that it feels like so much.

Nagi: Right. And while we’re on that point, is that just recently, you know, coming up with some sort of impact report where I’m, again, was facing burnout and even imposter syndrome. I’m like, I don’t know what I’ve accomplished so far, yet I’m being recognized amongst all these people that have maybe accomplished so much more than I have.

Nagi: So what am I doing here? You know, but then I realized. In terms of specially searching for funding and they’re asking, what have you done? And then I look back and I say, like, what have I done? Then I realized, oh my gosh, wait, I did a whole men’s mental health series virtually where people [00:14:00] from all over the world join people from different states.

Nagi: I mean, again, I’m in New York, people from different states from Arizona, Texas, California, Chicago, Michigan, they’ve all joined. Not only that but people from where you are from Canada have joined as well

Tasha: Yeah,

Nagi: and to my surprise where you know before starting the men series sessions in the beginning like hey guys, let’s see We’re in the chat.

Nagi: Let’s go and see where everyone’s joining from. I’m from New York Where’s everyone joining from and they say the different states Canada and then I see places. I’m joining from Turkey I’m joining from India and I’m like, whoa, I don’t even know if I have a grasp of all the way over there I don’t even know how it went over there, but I’m so very grateful for that You know, all different men of the same communities, but ranging from ages of teens like 17, 18, all the way up to men in their forties.

Nagi: who are also parents and like, I’m here on behalf of my son. I’m here on behalf of my child that’s struggling what to do. So that’s great. I mean, we started a little over a year ago as a more of a general [00:15:00] program. Well, that’s my arm. We started a little bit over a year ago and as a recurring series.

Nagi: Right. So now we just ended again. And looking back on my records, I’m seeing that there’s been a total of 120 plus registrants and attendees that joined us. You know, and I’m like, wow, that’s really great. And then other things like spreading, you know, tabling and raising awareness and collaborations with other organizations and institutions that are like we’ve never worked with an organization like you.

Nagi: This is very again. This is very unique. You know, boom, there’s another thing that’s part of the impact that I’ve done. And also having individuals that are going through severe mental health issues that need referrals to my own networks that I have that have built relationships with because we’re still in a new nonprofit.

Nagi: We’re not able to provide that. And that’s why I continued relationship building because I want to expand that network, that culturally sensitive, that tailored approach to that community that can really [00:16:00] help, you know, so that’s what’s been accomplished so far. And I’m really grateful for that and there’s been a lot of demands and I’m very happy that there’s been a lot of demands for, you know, starting a women’s series that’s in our plan right now, starting a women’s series, starting a series for parents.

Nagi: That’s a real focus for me. Like parents are also going through severe mental health issues with what I went through. I know my parents had traumatic events with what I went through as well. Understanding that parents are still people at the end of the day.

Tasha: Yes. I have to remind my children I’m still sometimes a person, right?

Tasha: Cause that’s not on their radar in the same way, but I think that’s cool. I love the directions you’re taking this. It’s very cool. One of my questions is about peer support, which is kind of fun because that leads right into the name of your organization, but peer support for yourself in nonprofit work, you know, how do you get the peer support you need and how is that factored into your success?

Nagi: Well, one of the things obviously is the nonprofit hive, you know, I’m so glad to be part of it. And, very thankful that you considered me to be an [00:17:00] ambassador for it. That’s definitely a thing. I love networking. I love relationship building. And I love connecting with leaders because leaders have that experience where they started from the ground up and have, years of wisdom compared to.

Nagi: You know, compared to myself, so building that connections and understanding their specialties in a way that can fit into help my organization grow and to help me grow professionally and personally, networking is to me is more like surface level things, which I think is good, right? It’s more of a surface level type of thing.

Nagi: But relationship building is we’re taking it. We’re becoming more consistent with it, right? And the relationship is It’s becoming deeper, it’s evolving as well. So that’s my goal for myself. I

Tasha: think one of the cool things about networking, and why I love it so much, is I don’t know instantly who the deep relationships are going to become.

Tasha: I don’t know that right from the get go. But if you don’t at least put yourself out there and do some networking, you don’t really get to those [00:18:00] deeper relationships. I don’t. You know, I don’t have the same relationship with everybody who joined the hive around the same time as you, like by, by a long shot, even the OGs where there’s like a group of them and people come and go, there’s an ebb and flow, and I can totally appreciate that within community, but I love that there’s When you have an alignment, when you have people you want to encourage, when you have someone who has something that speaks to you and you can support them and receive support back, like those people start to reveal themselves over time, but often it starts out.

Tasha: It starts as small and then you go forward from there, right? Especially as an adult, I’m not you know, I’m not a teenager anymore meeting, thousands of new people at university or like, that’s not my life. So I have to be intentional now with. with meeting new people

Nagi: for sure. And I think amongst my favorite quotes, especially, quotes have become my principle for me.

Nagi: And for what I do is [00:19:00] why this is a youth dedicated and young adult dedicated mission is goes back to one of my favorite quotes that says, be the person you needed when you were younger. That’s great. So that really resonates heavily with me and, , I love mentorship. You know, I love having people mentor me even at this age in my thirties.

Nagi: And I love mentoring the youth and whatever they need

Tasha: and,

Nagi: , going back to what you were saying about networking and relationship building, it’s one thing that keeps me going. There’s another favorite quote of mine is don’t remember if it’s a quote or someone told me this on a, in a conversation.

Nagi: And it’s. There are so many wonderful people out there that you have not met yet that are waiting to meet you. So when I think of that, I’m like, okay, great. I mean, this is what’s gotten me so far here because I’ve met so many wonderful people. I met hundreds of amazing people and continue to grow my network and friendships and all of that.

Nagi: It’s a really great thing, and going back to the nonprofit hive, that’s [00:20:00] Why I joined because I knew I felt something when you first launched it was like there’s something special about this thing I wouldn’t be part of it. Yeah, look where we are now over a year later, and you’ve got thousands of people

Tasha: It’s been a wild.

Tasha: It’s been a wild ride my friends, but I feel like The same thing. Yes, there’s some right time, right place, but I think sometimes it’s also getting the right people in the room and people who care. And so I see the same success headed your way for Pure Minds. I’m so glad you started this. It’s just such a cool nonprofit and love the origin story.

Tasha: How can people follow up with you? Where should they go to find you? Get in touch after this interview?

Nagi: Yeah, so you’ll find me on LinkedIn under my name, Najiel Subai. Facebook and LinkedIn, Pure Minds. It’s just Pure Minds, so you can look at that. And on Instagram, it is at Pure Minds Mentors. Pure Minds Mentors.

Tasha: Amazing. Well, this is so [00:21:00] great. Thank you for doing this with me. And I know I’ve been following along with your journey from day one, but I feel like there’s going to be a whole bunch. More people just thinking this is an amazing offer and an amazing community, and I just can’t wait to see it grow.

Nagi: Thank you so much, Tasha. Honestly, on a personal level, thank you for being a genuine supporter of this and a genuine supporter of me personally. So I’m so thankful and so grateful to be part of the nonprofit hive. And speaking of meeting new people, I’m actually on that in a few minutes. It’s going to be on my non on my great day.

Nagi: It’s a great day. It’s a great day. It is indeed. And thank you so much for having me. Cheers.