JESSIE RUDD
Global Manager of Development & Communications at SurfAid International
Awarded a Melbourne Business School Scholarship for the New Leaders Development Program, 2019
What sort of work does your organisation do?
SurfAid International is a humanitarian and community development organisation that administers rural development and heath programs in the Pacific, Indonesia and Mexico. SurfAid specialises in working in extremely remote communities where other NGOs are not present. Describe a typical day's work.
A typical day at SurfAid includes a global team meeting where members of our team dial in from multiple continents to share our challenges and successes. I respond to emails, check my calendar for reporting deadlines for grants (and schedule my day accordingly). I review our event planning needs, ensuring were on track. I make calls to our sponsors and donors, to invite them to support us or thank them for doing so. I edit and approve all organisational-wide communications and work with the CEO to make sure our income and communications targets are in-line with our business plan. What were some of the key learnings from the New Leaders Development Program?
Becoming a new leader in an organisation often occurs after doing a good job working as part of the team; however, leading a team is not the same as collaborating with a team and managing only your own work. Developing others is dynamic and strategies for each member of your team must reflect their individual strengths and needs. How has it impacted / changed / benefited your role and your organisation as a whole?
A key benefit for myself and consequently our organisation has been the confidence to communicate and delegate. By better understanding individual members of the team, assigning tasks appropriate to their skills – and developing them where competencies are insufficient – has freed up a lot of my time. Learning that new leaders often struggle with delegation was eye-opening and we were given tangible and easy to implement solutions that have made the organisation more productive and the team more creative. How did you come to be working in the not-for-profit sector?
I completed undergraduate degrees in Environmental Sciences and Anthropology, with the aim to work in conservation. Upon completing my degrees in California, I moved to Southeast Asia where I became involved with grassroots nonprofit organisations. I spent a few years working overseas with various NGOs and when I moved to Sydney started my work with SurfAid International. I am also a board member for the national association Women in Aid & Development, where we hold events, networking sessions, professional development and communications targeted to women in our sector. What do you feel is most needed to sustain and build the impact of the not-for-profit sector?
The NFP sector struggles to retain competent staff, with many experiencing burn-out and pivoting to the private sector. Professional development budgets are often dismal and wages are depressed. Organisations are chronically under-budgeted and expected to rely on a volunteer workforce that can be challenging to administer and, attract a low-skilled workforce. I believe NFPs could benefit from an improved understanding of our sector, with public perception often putting huge pressure on organisations to keep administration costs to an unsustainable low. What is something interesting / unique / unusual about you?
I am a passionate cook, with a hobby business in food. I am obsessed with spicy chilies, putting them on almost everything eat. I have lived in 5 different countries and am a dual citizen of Australia and the United States.
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