CORE: Ann Lee - Growing Impact Through Shoulder-to-Shoulder Leadership

“It's always important to be connected to the work and see that we're doing things in the right way. You know, culture is everything. Our ethos is everything.” - Ann Lee

Running a nonprofit can be hard.

You’re leading a dedicated crew into the heart of challenging crises. But if you’re like most nonprofit leaders, no one trained you on how to set healthy boundaries, offer emotional support, or ensure your team’s time and talents aren’t undervalued.

Juggling all of this while also striving to make a positive impact through your mission can leave even the most fearless leaders feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, and lost. 

So what’s the antidote?

Our guest today says the best place to start is by staying connected to your “why,” leading by example through hands-on involvement, and uplifting your people. 

Ann Lee is the Co-Founder and CEO of CORE: Community Organized Relief Effort, an organization that collaborates locally and globally to provide equitable relief in the face of disasters. They have worked on five continents responding to natural disasters, conflict, food insecurity, disease outbreaks, climate change, and public health emergencies.

In this episode, Ann shares what she’s learned over the years—from co-founding this organization with film icon Sean Penn to how they expanded from 10 US-based employees to over 2,500 in a single year during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is one you don’t want to miss!

Links:

• Historic Agency
• Connect with CORE on their LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, or their website.
• Connect with Ann on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Connect with Sean Penn on Instagram
• [BOOK] Culture Built My Brand

Key Takeaways

1. Remain connected to the work of your nonprofit. It’s so easy in the day-to-day of decisions and systems to remove yourself from keeping a pulse on the work itself. We hope Ann inspires you to listen to the stories, to spend time working alongside your team, and to let those experiences continue to influence your leadership.
   
   
2. Culture builds your brand. We titled our book Culture Built My Brand for a reason, and we loved seeing those principles come to life in this conversation. The strength of your internal culture cascades to impact everything else: employee retention, donor engagement, peer-to-peer fundraising, you name it.
   
   
3. The people you do this work with matter. Celebrate them. Acknowledge their value and accomplishments. And enjoy the work you’re getting to do together. For Ann, there are so many people who are foundational to the work of CORE, and it was powerful to hear how she shared about them by name during this conversation.

Meet Our Guest:

​Ann Young Lee co-founded CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) with Sean Penn in 2019 and currently serves as its CEO. With over two decades of experience in the humanitarian sector, her expertise spans crisis relief, urban planning, community development, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Prior to joining CORE, she worked as the lead on urban humanitarian response for the UN Secretary General’s World Humanitarian Summit. Lee holds a Master’s in Urban Planning from NYU and a Master’s in Economics & Conflict Management from Johns Hopkins University SAIS. She received the Truman Award in 2009 from the Society for International Development and has been profiled in TIME, ABC News, AP, CNN and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Mentioned in this episode:

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