GleanKY was honored to be recognized as a Classy Awards Finalist this month. The award recognizes 10 innovative nonprofits and social enterprises working to address complex social problems in creative and impactful ways.
Our nomination for this award took our program director, Rachael, and me on an adventure to Boston that included participating in The Collaborative, a three day conference for nonprofits, entrepreneurs, funders and tech companies interested in social good. Here, we learned about building resilient communities, transformational growth, the power of a story and the secret to high-performance teams. We brainstormed about authentic leadership and creating culture of ownership among our stakeholders. We also had the opportunity to tell our story and why it is we do what we do. Rachael and I absorbed as much as we could and made plans to connect ourselves to this energizing group again soon.
The adventure didn’t stop there. Everywhere we go, we make an effort to seek out other gleaners and Boston was no exception. We enjoyed hearing about the logistics of Lovin’ Spoonful’s retail gleaning efforts, as well as Boston Area Gleaners’ quest to glean farms across the region. Most of all, we treasured the opportunity to share in our passion for fighting hunger and food waste with others.
All in all, our trip to Boston revealed the limitless potential the social sector has to change the world, while reminding us that the path to real change is never easy. The cannoli were pretty good, too!