 
Prodigy Ventures, Inc. is a beacon of empowerment in northeast Denver. At Prodigy, young adults are welcomed into a life-altering paid apprenticeship within one of their two vibrant coffeehouses. This carefully designed 12-18 month experience, crafted by dedicated educators, encompasses deep work and deep learning, all within a nurturing culture of healing. As these apprentices engage in communal healing, they metamorphose into the prodigies—the future leaders our city yearns for. Beyond mastering the art of running a craft coffeehouse, Prodigy Ventures, Inc. is sowing the seeds for a resilient, skilled, and visionary generation ready to lead and uplift their community.Â
Category: Education Administration Programs
Industry: Nonprofit Sector
Size: 10+ employees
Length of Time to Fill Role: Less than 3 months
Hired Candidate: Jeslin Shahrezaei
Problem
Prodigy Ventures, Inc. was transitioning from its founding Executive Director, who had decided to step down and seek new opportunities. This next stage of growth would require someone who could help them level up from what is effectively a start-up to a more mature organization. Ideally, the board of directors was searching for someone with a strong vision who had experience in owning their own business, establishing foundational standard operating procedures and processes and with strong connections in the community to help grow the organization’s budget.
Solution
We started with understanding what the organization wanted to achieve from a new leader. What experience, attributes, and goals were not possible with the founding Executive Director? What future did the Board of Directors envision, and what would be required of a leader in order to achieve such a vision? This also required input from the leadership at the organization, as well as from the apprentices, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the programs the organization runs. As such, we set up multiple environments for these stakeholders to engage with the candidates and provide feedback. This also allowed opportunities to ensure that these candidates had experience that was key at every level of the organization, including social enterprise experience, fundraising experience, process improvement experience, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion experience.
Results
The hired candidate offered extensive leadership experience in fundraising, connections in the Denver Metro Area, and a focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Most important, the hired candidate had experience in establishing processes that can help ensure efficiency, ultimately allowing the organization reach the next stage of maturity.
Callouts
- Diverse female candidate hired
- Role filled < 3 months
- Hired within salary range