I’m Lindsey, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Extra Good. Building off Josh’s introduction, I’m excited to share more about who I am and how I found myself at the helm of a startup serving nonprofit organizations.
They say, “Opposites attract,” and while I wouldn’t say that Josh and I are exact opposites, we do have differing—and thus complementary—skillsets, backgrounds, and personalities. While Josh came to the nonprofit world almost by accident, I made the decision to devote my career to philanthropic and aid efforts by the time I was 15 and pursued it wholeheartedly from there. Josh is a Northeastern native who studied in the South, while I grew up all over the South before moving to New York for a season to earn my Master’s in helping nonprofits be more effective in their work.
Spreadsheets and Maps
The expertise I bring to Extra Good combines two core parts of my identity:
I’m a lifelong nerd, with a relentless love for learning and an insatiable appetite for analysis and research. Spreadsheets are my love language. (Actually, coffee is my love language, but I do get a rush finding themes in grueling data sets.)
I’m also a seasoned international traveler with more than 15 country stamps on my passport from six continents, many to low-resource countries for the purpose of studying how aid works (and how it can work better.) I am passionate about recognizing the beauty and expertise of others – cultures, individuals, and businesses alike – and finding ways we all accomplish more by building on one another’s strengths and working together.
The work of Extra Good (and the many experiences leading up to it) allows me to channel my experiences working side-by-side with people across the world into driving real and lasting change in nonprofits. My greatest passion professionally is to help nonprofits become more effective in their work in order to maximize their impact on behalf of those they serve.
A Global Citizen
From my first volunteer trip to Nicaragua at 15 as well as years of trips to Uganda and countless other places, one thing became clear: I had never experienced such beauty, generosity, and joy in people like I did those who I met in these seasons. From that time on, I knew I wanted to spend my life working to serve on behalf of those in low-resource communities. I owe the people I met through these experiences a great debt for what they taught me about humanity.
Through all of the experiences of being welcomed into varied communities to both serve and learn, a clear theme emerged: Those we serve must be driving the conversation and setting the priorities in the work we do.
It’s our role at Extra Good to help those in the nonprofit sector—who are driven, like Josh and me, by a profound and genuine desire to do good—to raise the bar for all of us. Open dialogue and data-driven decisions can help make the case and set the roadmap for all of us to do good, better.
Small Talk
When I’m not neck-deep in the latest research, here are some of the ways I spend my time:
- Outside: I love hiking and backpacking, and will be found outside with my family as much as I can possibly help it!
- Running: I have a love/hate relationship with marathons. Running complements my more academic love of a challenge. I’m not easily discouraged by bumps and failures along the way. I often find daunting roadblocks to be exciting opportunities to learn and grow, whether as an individual or an organization (and often both!). (Yes, it’s true…I told you I’m a nerd.)
- Momming: My husband and I have three children, ages 2-14, and a ridiculously devoted lab. The best way of describing my day to day world is that it is often a dance of embracing the joy that bursts forth from the chaos of raising young children. And there is a lot of chaos. 😉