Are You Hiring the Right People?

Cliff Nellis is the executive director of the Lawndale Christian Legal Center (LCLC), a nonprofit that provides free legal services to their community, North Lawndale, located in Chicago.

Their program is working — 89% of the kids LCLC has served have never returned to crime.

As one of the most effective nonprofit leaders in the country, Nellis’ advice to changemakers is “the people you’re serving need to be the driver of change.”

LCLC takes this advice to their core. Every person on the founding board of directors is from North Lawndale, and 51% of the board will always be residents of North Lawndale. Furthermore, LCLC prioritizes hiring from the community.

“If you’re looking around and nobody who is the beneficiary of your service is leading that service or doing that service with you, then you are not in the right relationship with your cause,” says Nellis.

Playlist

Two women standing outdoors with a desert landscape in the background, the text "Changemaker insight: First time entrepreneur" overlays the image. A man in a dark shirt gesturing with his hand in an indoor setting, with the text "Changemaker insight: Who's missing from your team" overlaying the image. A bald man in a dark shirt gestures with his hand, speaking about "Changemaker insight". Close-up of a man's face looking contemplative against a blurred green background, with the text "Changemaker insight: love the problem" overlaying the image. A group of people in casual workout attire laughing and interacting in a room, with a man in the foreground wearing a bandana and a "SOBER" t-shirt, and the text "How to grow a nonprofit" overlaying the image. Woman in black jacket talking near a brick wall. An artist, seen from the back, is painting on a large canvas in a cluttered studio. The painting depicts various abstract human figures. Young worker at construction site holding wood.