ENTREPRENEUR SPOTLIGHT: TYECIA POWELL & SUSAN COMFORT
Tyecia Powell and Susan Comfort are the co-founders of Nonprofit Wellness, an organization dedicated to improving employee well-being & retention at schools and nonprofits in DC and nationwide.
What CityBridge program did you participate in?
Design Residency, Ventures, 2020-2021
What was the most impactful or meaningful part of participating in CityBridge programming?
Ty: For me, it was the high-quality materials and curriculum including theory of change, equityXdesign, evaluation, and financials.
Susan: For me, it was having a deadline and expert coaches to craft a business plan and pitch session.
How has your experience with CityBridge influenced or helped you in your life and career?
Ty: It helped me answer the why as well as the how of our work, which is critical in these shifting times of promoting wellness in schools.
Susan: The experience gave me a structural framework for a social enterprise that lives on the boundary of the nonprofit and consulting worlds.
What are you up to now?
Ty: We’re focused on funding our venture and fostering the relationships built over the time with our CityBridge cohort.
Susan: We’re delivering workshops to our nonprofit clients and preparing for the fall/school year. Our George Washington University interns are developing a new (bilingual) Immune Boosters presentation based on their research, so a new interactive skill-shop will be available soon!
What piece of professional advice would you give CityBridge alumni and education entrepreneurs?
Prep yourself to be in the right headspace to dive in and do this work during the sessions (and in between sessions). For our cohort, which never had in-person meetings due to COVID, our sessions were different—we had to do other things to build relationships, like online icebreakers and mailing things to each other.
Fill in the blanks: “Before I participated in CityBridge programming, I used to think ____. After participating in CityBridge programming, I now think _____.”
Before participating in CityBridge programming, we used to think we were clear about what we were doing and why. After participating, we now think we have clarity on our what and why. We still have more work to do to articulate our message.