Over the past year, the greatest leadership lesson Tammy Bellofatto learned was that sometimes you must pause. “We have grown tremendously in the past two years, and we need to take a moment to pause and make sure that all the programs and contracts we are running are providing excellent service to all we serve,” said Bellofatto, the CEO of Bayaud Enterprises and a two-time Titan 100.
“We have a tendency to want to help as many people as possible and want to get all of the funding we can to do so, but with taking that step back to regroup and ensure that staff and clients are all getting everything they need from us helps keep everything in perspective and provide service with excellence,” said Bellofatto. “Getting staff the resources they need to do their jobs well and keeping them satisfied in their jobs is just as important as providing the services we do to the community.”
The mission of Bayaud Enterprises is to create hope, opportunity and choice, with work as the means through which people with disabilities and other hurdles to employment can more fully participate in the mainstream of life. The nonprofit uses a range of programs to help Denverites facing barriers to employment, such as disability or homelessness, find and keep jobs.
Since she was named a Titan 100, Bellofatto was named one of Denver’s Most Admired CEOs by the Denver Business Journal. She also led Bayaud to partner with the Atlantis Community Foundation and was awarded tax credits by the state of Colorado to build a 60-unit permanent supported housing project. “The new community will house people with disabilities and veterans living on the street and give them a permanent place to live in a supported environment with all the services provided by trained Bayaud staff,” said Bellofatto.
In the coming year, the nonprofit will continue to support the mayor of Denver to get 1,000 people experiencing homelessness off the street while working to help each person achieve self-sufficiency. “Self-sufficiency can happen in many ways – through employment, benefits or a combination of both – with the ultimate goal of getting folks permanently housed at the end of their stay,” said Bellofatto.
According to Bellofatto, to be a successful leader of a nonprofit, she has learned that you must be able to pivot when necessary. “Things do not always go as planned and sometimes you just have to pivot and go the direction it is taking you,” she said. “When you fight the current, you usually drown.”
