Strategy in Orange Series: previously published on LinkedIn – August 10, 2025
Last month, I set the goal to write more again outside of my 9-5 responsibilities. So here it goes, just me providing my lessons learned, real-time happenings, and OMG that is good discoveries regarding strategy. I am offering this content in a series called Strategy in Orange.
The series title came about due to the strength the color orange symbolizes and its association with creativity, courage, innovation, urgency, and visibility without being overpowering . All components that make good strategy.
Hopefully, this series will be an opportunity for us to engage with each other, learn together, share practical knowledge, experiences and helpful tips to benefit leaders and organizations.
Let’s discuss Resilience as a Strategy for Nonprofits.
With 25 years of experience in nonprofit administration, I experienced a lot of things from extreme growth, massive layoffs, community needs exceeding organizations’ capacity, but through it all – one thing is for sure – the nonprofit community is resilient, resourceful, and resoundingly a force to honor and acknowledge. Nonprofits are anchor organizations, pulse monitors and culture keepers of our communities. During times of joy, pain, and change, nonprofits help those they serve to:
- figure it out to fight another day,
- realize their aspirations and pay it forward – making the world we live in a little better, kinder, and resilient.
A blast from the past moment is when working at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. During our response to Hurricane Ike, our team was activated in temporary offices with one in Galveston, a former AIG building. That office became a mainstay for families and individuals who experienced the devastation of the storm. No longer was Catholic Charities just a social service provider for basic needs, financial assistance, and other essential services, our office in Galveston and other locations in Texas City and Bolivar Peninsula became hubs for survival.
Although the floodwaters receded, we knew the real test was beginning. I always shared with the team that we must take the “cry” out of crisis which was easier said than done. We stood tall with our eyes open, and hearts opened wider to get through those moments. The survivors and my team were the heroes.
During that time, I learned an important lesson as a nonprofit leader.
The lesson is that in times of disasters – no matter if it is a hurricane, pandemic, or otherwise – those moments will stress-test our values, systems, and our people. These moments bring out the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of nonprofits, but also their limits, capacity and tenacity.
And that my friends are the times when we have the highest levels of strategy being born to power through, overcome, think outside the box, mobilize, and lean-in to accomplish the unthinkable and do what nonprofits do best – adapt, transform lives, and change communities. Congruently, nonprofits must be intentional in making their infrastructure better in preparation for the next disaster.
As we are in uncertain and interesting times, where disasters are increasingly becoming the norm, resilient nonprofits know this secret:
Don’t wait for the storm to evaluate and test your organizational foundation and capacity. Apply pressure with purpose and intention:
- conduct audits, simulations, and authentic dialogue to uncover where the pain points are and pay attention to which opportunities to pursue.
- Always act on what was learned. Don’t stall, overthink or engage in planning fatigue.
Stress-testing is not about having all the answers, it is our organizational EKG to check how healthy its heart is, and what is vital for our organization to have a clean bill of health. Above all, stress-testing is knowing our organization and knowing how our systems and people behave during strain. It is about pondering and understanding: How do nonprofits show up when the unexpected becomes a real occurrence?
Take the time to schedule an organizational EKG.
I promise. It will be worth it.
Until next month.
About Ernest Lewis III
Ernest Lewis III is a nonprofit executive, strategist, and systems thinker who currently serves as Vice President of Community Impact & Vitality at BakerRipley and Founder & Chief Consultant of The Harvey Lewis Group. With over two decades of leadership across Houston and New Orleans, Ernest is known for architecting straight-forward strategies that unify legacy wisdom with future-ready innovation.
A champion of collective impact and organizational resilience, Ernest bridges theory and practice to drive transformation at scale. His work spans strategic planning, organizational development, fundraising, and executive advising always grounded in cultural intelligence, adaptive leadership, and a deep commitment to community.
Whether guiding complex realignments, cultivating emotionally intelligent teams, or shaping thought leadership across sectors, Ernest leads with a human-centered approach garnering results. He does not just refine strategy, he stress-tests it, ensuring its longevity.
The Harvey Lewis Group 