This month marked my 5th year at Cadasta Foundation. It has been an amazing ride. Together with 102 partners, we have documented the land and resources rights of 6.6 million people in 47 countries, setting the foundation for a more prosperous and stable life for over 1.3 million families living in 4,400 communities. It hasn’t been easy, but I love it more today than when I started. As I reflect on my time at Cadasta, here are five things I learned :

Evolve: if you aren’t learning, growing, and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, you will stagnate. Taking on leadership of an early stage organization tapped every skill I had and then some. Putting yourself out there, even if it means failure, is worth it. Going back to the comfort zone no longer interests me, not that it ever did.

Culture rules: Creating a culture can often seem elusive, but maybe it doesn’t have to be. Lead from values and integrity, be willing to be yourself, including showing your vulnerability, do what you say, commit to growing leaders, demand excellence, and most importantly, have fun while doing it. Laughing should be on the job description.

Ride or die: don’t ever fool yourself into thinking you are pulling something off alone. Your team is everything. Choose the best people for the journey and support each other even when it gets rough, which it will. Find the people in your life who care about you and your success, and for whom you also care, and lean on each other. You know who you all are–especially the fierce women in my life who lift me when I need it most.

Say no to the nay: There are plenty of people who may diminish or underestimate you, intentionally or unintentionally. Believing in yourself and your competence isn’t a platitude, it is existential. Gender is a factor in navigating  leadership–let’s not pretend it isn’t. Be aware of all forms of bias, not just gender, and how you show up when it does. 

Grace and gratitude: Give credit to others often, extend grace to yourself and others when you fail, express your joy, embrace humility, and always, always be grateful–for successes, for those who believe in your mission, for the dedication of the team, for what you have learned and accomplished, and above all, for being in this place, at this time, to do this work.

Thank you to the Cadasta Board and team, to our donors and partners for believing in Cadasta’s mission and potential. To my family, and to this community. I am indeed grateful.