Meet Alicia Bell

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alicia Bell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alicia, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Despite my wild red hair and freckles, I had all the ingredients needed for a young girl to be confident: nurturing mother, loving father, they had a strong marriage, I performed well in school, and I had a dash of extraverted tendencies. But a few other things helped my confidence as a young girl. My parents built a community for me and my family in which I had many patient adults in my life that responded well to me at a young age. They would laugh at my jokes, sincerely ask me questions, listen to me, and compliment my efforts. So, I generally felt confident engaging with anyone.

In adulthood, my need for confidence grew. I no longer asked “Do they like me?”, but rather, “Do I have the skills necessary to lead an organization to the desired outcome?” That is harder work, because I am certain that at some point (or many points) I will fail or could have done better.

In this phase of life, I find confidence in knowing my faults, surrounding myself with those wiser than me, and most of all – placing my confidence in my faith in Jesus. Nothing I accomplish or do is because of how great I am. Everything I do is because of what He shows me. This is His ministry, He will provide, He will bring us to the next phase. He will lead. My job is to discern and communicate His will.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I have the best job in the world. GraceWorks is a nonprofit community resource center that invites everyone to love their neighbors. We provide food, shelter, and support services to those experiencing poverty or crisis. Most importantly, we deliver moments of grace that reveal the love and hope of Christ.

What is really special about GraceWorks – we mobilize the community to show the love they have for their neighbors in need. We have a staff of 65 and 330 regular volunteers a week. Churches of all denominations, businesses, public servants, and more come to GraceWorks to lift up their neighbors!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. High tolerance for risk. 2. Confidence/Public Speaking 3. Humility.

You need a high tolerance for risk to be an effective, needle-moving leader. If you are comfortable in status-quo, there is nothing wrong with that, but don’t lead an organization that needs to evolve (hint – they all do, all the time!)

Being confident in your own skin and place in the world is worth focusing on, because in that confidence you can authentically speak to people and engage others.

Humility is essential. If you are the smartest person in the room, you are not being a good leader! Attract people smarter than you, cast a vision, keep folks on course, but let them go! Mistakes will happen and you should meet them with humility and the willingness to try again.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

While healthy competition feeds a thriving economy, healthy and humble collaboration feeds a thriving nonprofit sector. Nonprofits can’t really compete and successfully live our missions. Think about it – what are we competing for? Homelessness? Hunger? Healing? No – we are seeking to resolve those human trials. The only way to successfully do that, nimbly evolve, and have a chance at moving the needle is through collaboration.

We are always looking to collaborate through conversation, idea sharing, resource sharing, and sometimes even structurally with our programs and services.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Amelia Moore Photography

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