Lindsay Salas’ first leadership challenge came immediately upon being hired at CASA of Adams & Broomfield Counties as development director in 2013 at age 24. With limited experience, she jumped in, developed new contacts and leads on donors and significantly increased the donor base and financial bottom line of the organization.
When the nonprofit’s executive director left in 2015, Salas had established herself to such an extent that the board of directors named her interim executive director and, after a lengthy search process, gave her the job full-time after just 18 months with CASA.
“Since that time, her leadership skills have grown month by month and year by year, through on the job training and by watching and learning from other leaders, attending numerous leadership skills courses, and seeking advice and guidance from board members and community leaders,” the nonprofit said. “She has never let her ego get in the way of adding to her skill sets. Lindsay is well known throughout our community for her energy, enthusiasm and dedication to the cause of bettering the lives of children.”
CASA of Adams & Broomfield Counties is a nonprofit established to improve representation for children who have experienced abuse and neglect and are involved in the court system. The mission of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Volunteer Program is to support these child victims by recruiting, training and professionally supervising community volunteers to advocate for their best interests and ultimate well-being.
With the well-being of her staff in mind, Salas advocated and won approval for an open leave policy, allowing staff to take time off when they needed as long as their job functions were covered. This helped with retention and staff morale, the nonprofit said.
Salas also increased the organization’s budget to make salaries competitive with the market and reflect inflation.
“This was a risk in this increase/adjustment because it departed from the established practices of a standard 3%–5% increase and stood the scrutiny of the board of directors that needed to embrace and approve this change,” Salas said. “I had to make a case of why it was needed and … how we would support this change by creating innovative ways to secure different funding streams to support.”
With Salas at the helm, CASA has increased the number of children served each year and the number of active volunteers. The organization’s budget has grown 37% during her tenure, with increased revenue from fundraising events, grants and individual donors.
“I believe the most important attributes of successful leaders today are empathetic, visionary, adaptive, decisive, transparent, innovative and collaborative,” Salas said. “Overall, successful leaders today need to be able to navigate complex and rapidly changing environments while inspiring and motivating their team to achieve the organization’s goal.”
