Shabnam Ansari: Empowering Communities Through Generosity and Unity

Tasha: [00:00:00] Good morning. Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your non profit origin story?

Shabnam: My name is Shabnam Ansari. I’m the founder and executive director of the Canadian federally registered charity by the name of Volunteer Well. In terms of the charity, we basically address two main issues in the society.

Shabnam: And the first is that whenever people volunteer, they volunteer to a nonprofit. And whenever they seek help from that nonprofit with the result that it actually disconnects the volunteers with the, with those that they’re helping. And additionally, there’s two too much reliance on the non profit with the result that we see increasing gap between demand and supply of the charitable resources.

Shabnam: So as a charity, what we do is we connect givers with the receivers directly. So if you want to help out or commit acts of kindness to those who are living around you, regardless of [00:01:00] wherever you are in the world, This is a platform that we have provided. It is a generosity hub. So not just for the givers of kindness, but also for those who want to ask for help from those who are living around them.

Shabnam: So it connects givers with receivers. It’s a marketplace for generosity. So that’s the first issue that we handle as per the charity. The second is That whenever we interact with each other at a human level, at our basic normal socializing or business interactions, we interact with each other based on our ego dominated mindset, which focuses on how am I different or superior than others?

Shabnam: Whereas the basic heart of each and every one of us is the same. We came from the same source. We’re going to the same source. So the idea of the charity is to unite humanity. That is the basic purpose. And to shatter all the discriminatory boxes, to focus on what is [00:02:00] similar or same among us, such as love, care, compassion, and justice for everyone rather than what is different.

Shabnam: So at the very nutshell, what we are doing is we are approaching or taking care of the seven marginalized segments. through our empowerment programs. And through the empowerment programs, we are empowering these marginalized segments to make them as our ambassadors, as basically those who are not the receivers, but actually become the givers.

Shabnam: And these marginalized segments are seniors, you know, new immigrants, women, children and youth people with disabilities, low income families and anyone facing racism or discrimination of any sort. So what we do is we empower them through these programs and when we make them as ambassadors for us.

Tasha: Very cool. I like that. . I’ve come across lots of charities, but haven’t heard of one doing exactly this. What do you love so far about this nonprofit work?

Shabnam: It’s [00:03:00] a, it’s huge. It’s basically an expression of the two two key principles that has been the hallmark of my life or for the last, oh my God, over a decade now.

Shabnam: And it is, the charity has given me a platform through which I am implementing these two key principles. And the two key principles are generosity and unity. These are the two key principles. And what I love about this the charity and my work with the charity is obviously it has marked with so many challenges, especially considering that we are in our second year of operations, but it has given me the platform through which I am implementing the two key principles in all its faces and forms.

Shabnam: And again, it’s because of the fact that I have gotten to the gist of my life purpose through my life. My whole aim of whatever I’m doing, whether it is through the charity, through the for profit organization that [00:04:00] I’m managing or because I, it is, all of these are social enterprises in all its true sense is to basically be the champions of generosity and unity.

Shabnam: That’s all we are.

Tasha: I feel lots of, as you speak about your work, I have lots of big feels because very similarly, I feel like so much of my life was unintentionally moving towards the creation of the Nonprofit Hive, never knowing that was What was about to happen or that was where things were headed But as time has gone on it all, you know people go.

Tasha: Well, you were already doing this five years ago Well, you were already building community over here And this is what you did and it’s it feels so fulfilling when it’s that right place right time And you have the right skills and all of a sudden it feels pretty magical when it all comes together.

Shabnam: Yes. And again, Tasha, it’s so beautiful. It turns off, like you said, it’s when [00:05:00] you are in the midst of everything you would ask why me? And it’s only later that you are able to connect the dots to something really bigger and higher. So 25 years back when I was. Senior vice president at the second largest bank in my home country really up there in my career progression in terms of being considered a really successful female executive at that point of time, that was the outside reality.

Shabnam: But at the background of it, I was going through a divorce. I was going through a three year long legal battle in the court. I was Alone, I was exhausted

Shabnam: I was that crazy during that period of time. That started me into that enlightened phase of realizing that everything that we are doing is simple. It’s complicated by the word, but everything is simple. And just these two key divine principles that whatever we are given, be it in terms of our wealth, money, resources, even our bodies, we are not given as owners.

Shabnam: We are given as trustees and caretakers. It [00:06:00] is to be spent for the benefit of others to serve, to be of service is the basic key principle. The second is that. That people tend to divide and discriminate and judge and exclude. Whereas this is not the reality. The reality is that there’s same divine source in you.

Shabnam: That isn’t me. We came from the same source. We’re going to the same source. So the idea is to unite humanity based on our shared values of love, care, and compassion. So if I look back right now to all of my life sufferings, whatever I did, whatever I went through was leading me to this.

Tasha: Now you started to mention challenges of this work.

Shabnam: So in terms of the challenges that I am facing from the charity’s perspective is not different from the challenges that any nonprofit is facing right now, whether that nonprofit is in Canada or in the United States, practically the, not America specifically, but the world over we are [00:07:00] facing basically the three set of challenges.

Shabnam: The first set of challenges is in terms of us being really a shortage of resources, right? When it comes to funding, when it comes to grants, because as non profit or as charities, we’re expected to offer all of these and work for the all of the cause without asking for money, which is actually putting us in a non level playing field for us.

Shabnam: If we cannot run a charity, like, for profit business, how are we going to survive? And it’s because of this reason, Tasha, you would not believe it that when I was asking our local community foundation in terms of highlighting any non profit or any charity which is, you know, It’s been around for less than 10 years.

Shabnam: They are handling over 100 charities, over 100 nonprofits in the whole region. And not single one of them has been able to [00:08:00] survive beyond 10 years. It’s because of this huge disparity between what is expected and what is the reality. The reality is that we have to. We as a nonprofit sector are dependent on grants and funding and resources, and there’s a shortage.

Shabnam: There’s a huge shortage there. So that that is the major challenge. And it’s because of this that we have started the generosity hub and the aim of the generosity hub is to just Start the ripple of kindness in order to augment the off efforts off the nonprofit sector because there is an increasing gap between supply and demand.

Shabnam: In the, of the charitable resources, because we are relying too much on the nonprofit sector, asking too much from them and providing so few resources. So that is the one challenge. So the second challenge is in terms of our staffing needs. So on one hand [00:09:00] we are not, we are we do not have the right funding.

Shabnam: On the second hand, we have a huge staffing problem because we can not, so even for our board of directors, for instance, as a part of us being a charity, we can not. offer them any compensation. They have to work for the cause. So attracting the right talent who will be able to work on us as our board of directors is a huge problem.

Shabnam: Even in terms of post COVID the challenge to attract and retain volunteers is is a challenge that is being faced by every other nonprofit, not just ourselves. So what we have done is as a solution to this, so they are their problems and there are then then solutions.

Shabnam: So the solution that we have come up with reference to the staffing challenges is when it comes to the conducting a nonprofit board of directors. I have with the passage of time developed [00:10:00] the skill of how to create Manage and run an active board of directors. And that is a capability and that is a strength that I bring through the table and I can teach everyone.

Shabnam: So when we started off earlier this year, we had only one out of five directors as active director. The rest were all sleeping directors. And that’s the case with most of the nonprofit.

Tasha: Yeah.

Shabnam: But right now we have seven active board of directors with volunteers engagement. So there’s a certain strength.

Shabnam: There’s a certain skill that I have developed that I can put on table in terms of the third issue again, it’s a challenge and it’s Again, the solution that I would also highlight along with the challenge is the nonprofit is facing in terms of the relationship management and the networking with not just the donors, but also among themselves, because when we are living in the world where [00:11:00] It is marred by scarcity mindset in terms of competitions and rat race and judgments and exclusions.

Shabnam: That is not where the abundance is. The abundance is in the world where there’s collaborations and connections and your success is my success mentality. And that is what I bring to the table in terms of my approach when it comes to whether it comes to the running of our program or making.

Shabnam: ambassadors for our program or collaborations and partnerships. So in terms of handling the issue, the challenge number second and the challenge number third, I think what we offer and what we bring as a charity to the table is in terms of a very specific abundance mindset. to the table and collaborations and partnerships because in isolations, we as non profit can do only so much in our own silos.

Shabnam: If we join hands, whether it comes to I being on your board and you being in mine, whether [00:12:00] it comes to what are the areas where we can apply for joint grants, what are the areas where we can apply and run joint projects? Programming. What are the areas where we can support each other? You focus on your strength.

Shabnam: I focus on mine. And that is the key. That is the solution of the challenge that we are facing.

Tasha: The work has not gotten any easier. Absolutely. Right. automations, it really, truly hasn’t. Move the needle. I don’t think for most nonprofits, particularly, you know, smaller ones, and I think I’d heard that 80 percent of nonprofits by year five have collapsed, right?

Tasha: It’s a lot. It’s the majority, and I don’t know why society is surprised by that when they don’t invest, right? Invest in this as a key component of what we need as a society are these kinds of support.

Tasha: I’d love to hear about how peer support has factored in to your [00:13:00] success in the work to date.

Shabnam: Peer support is huge Tasha, in terms of if I were to look at the mentors and the teachers and the guides that in terms of also the cheerleaders, the peer support from all the other nonprofit sector that I have been able to develop relationships with, and I have been able to support in terms of that has been the key.

Shabnam: And that is the key in every possible sense. Just yesterday morning, I was talking to somebody and that person has been with me for. Oh my God. That person has been with me at the time when I was in the idea generation stage. So for the last four or five years, and she has been as a level of support in terms of providing me with ideas, with connections, with guidance, she has been my teacher, my mentor, my, my friend, my supporter in every possible sense.[00:14:00]

Shabnam: So when it comes down to the very basic realities of it, it is. that human connection that is at the heart of everything. And that is those authentic relationship when it comes to when it comes to peer supports more importantly for the non profit sector than for the for any other thing else, because at the heart of everything else, We are just human beings, right?

Shabnam: We are just doing the best we can based on whatever we have, right? And peer support is huge. So at this point of time, I am in. in partnership and collaborations with four to five different organizations. And that is huge by being in just second year of operations.

Tasha: Yeah. I love that. I love that.

Tasha: I do think this sector tends to undervalue the power of your ability to network and your ability to connect, build relationships. I truly think [00:15:00] this nonprofit charity sector was built on relationships and so many of us moved away from that being like the core behind it. You know, and I do feel a swing back towards relationship building and collaboration.

Tasha: And I do think there’s more of a desire for it than there even was four or five years ago when I was still. You know, in this work, I’m starting to see that happen more, which makes me very excited. You’ve been a nonprofit hive member for a little while now, and I know we got to chat kind of in one of your first or second weeks.

Tasha: And what have you gotten from being out of a member like a member of this community?

Shabnam: So Tasha, I have been a member of Nonprofit Hive, I think for a couple of months or maybe three months now only. But it, but the impact has been huge in terms of people I have met like yourself, like, El, like Shehbaz.

Shabnam: These are the three most important relationships that I have [00:16:00] made so far, but in every possible manner, whoever I have met in this platform. They have been great. They have been great in terms of in terms of that one to one human connection. I really love The format of the of the nonprofit hive in terms of introducing both of us before so that we can connect with each other through LinkedIn, get to know each other even before.

Shabnam: So when we are entering into that networking session, we are not entering blindly. We have got to meet the person even before meeting the person in person. And that in person meeting with that limited amount of time is just. gives you the idea that you have to make the most of every minute, make every minute count.

Shabnam: And that the structure is so beautiful. And at the end of every meeting, you’re approaching us to give us, give you guys feedback. At times I have been able to do that. At times I have been just running into back to [00:17:00] back meetings and I have just, you know, Sandwiched it in between and I’m not able to do that.

Shabnam: But do note that I you guys have a huge gratitude from me for the platform that you have created for the work that you guys are doing. And for all the connections that I have been able to make and maintain through this platform. Thank you.

Tasha: Well, thank you. And, you know, very much value. I see this community.

Tasha: I see the people who are joining. It is amazing. Changemakers that are out in the world trying something entirely new like yourself or looking at the ways we have done nonprofit and going, I think we could do different, right? Like I think that there’s something different. So it’s very much attracting innovators that are leading the field in a different direction, which makes me very excited to watch what’s happening.

Tasha: I’m super excited for some future collaborations and hopefully getting you in on a LinkedIn live to bring your unique perspective because I know we’re stronger for having that [00:18:00] diversity of voice of cultures. I had a great conversation myself yesterday with someone in Scotland. It’s first time I’ve ever talked to somebody on a hive chat from Scotland and just blew my mind.

Tasha: So like, just so smart talking about pension funds, which I know nothing about, but it was such a, it felt like I got this unique opportunity to learn from somebody in 30 minutes, something that. I never would have, it wouldn’t have organically happened in my life, right? I never would have stumbled into a conversation with this woman otherwise.

Tasha: So, I do think it’s been wonderful to see the relationships form when we just give it a little chance, right? And we come in with kindness, generosity, finding some unity. So many of the things that you are focused on at the volunteer. Well, I can see happening in our community here.

Shabnam: Yes. Yes. And I agree with that.

Shabnam: That, that is so beautiful when you’re able to make that, that human connection. And one of the things that COVID has really taught [00:19:00] us is in terms of that, that, that beauty of being able to connect with somebody right across the world, through that virtual connection is so beautiful.

Tasha: So how can people follow up along with your journey, get in touch with you?

Tasha: What’s the best way for them to do that?

Shabnam: So I I have sent an email recently. There’s a contact us form on our volunteer well platform as well. I’m going to mention that in the chat they can get in touch with me through the contact us form on the website. Hold on a second.

Shabnam: Just update you the contact us form. Yeah,

Tasha: I usually go to people’s websites and I’ll link that in when I do the post too.

Shabnam: Yes.

Tasha: Yeah. Nice. And can people reach out to you over LinkedIn if they’re wanting to connect as well or would you prefer a website?

Shabnam: I’m going to open up my LinkedIn. I know there’s a problem with my LinkedIn.

Shabnam: I need to adjust that. And I would [00:20:00] prefer people approaching me on LinkedIn as well. That’s the ideal platform to be on. And until I fix that it would be through the website.

Tasha: Okay. This is wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this with me and, you know, super excited to follow along with your journey and really thankful that you’ve joined us and are bringing your own.

Tasha: You know, unique perspective, outlook and everything to the nonprofit sector.

Shabnam: Thank you, Tasha. Thank you for having me here. It’s been a true pleasure and honor.

Tasha: Really.

Shabnam: Thank you.

Tasha: Okay. My pleasure.