Today is the Day Changemakers

Creating Opportunities & Changing Lives with Mark Valli

March 24, 2021 Jodi Season 1 Episode 14
Today is the Day Changemakers
Creating Opportunities & Changing Lives with Mark Valli
Show Notes


Welcome to the Today is the Day Changemakers Podcast, episode 14 'Creating Opportunities & Changing Lives'.

My guest in this week's episode is Mark Valli, CEO, Norwescap.  Norwescap is a 55 year old organization that provides services to those in need in Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren, counties in New Jersey.  You will hear early on in this conversation that Norwescap is a bit of a secret to some. Mark and his staff are doing all they can to let the communities that need their services know that they are there to support them. 

Norwescap is a comprehensive non-profit organization that addresses a wide portfolio of needs. There is focus on education, employment and job readiness, financial empowerment, healthy nutrition, housing and  community development, volunteerism and civic engagement. 

They are the food bank that provides food to three counties. About 2.5 million pounds of food went out this past year.  Approximately 130,000 people have been fed through Norwescap and their partners. 
 
Another number that stunned me during the interview was that they have invested over $400,000 to keep businesses in their area open. Another supportive service that they offer is tax filing. They saved clients over $3M last year. 

Their staff is made up of 270+ people and the organization has a budget of over $17M.  COVID impacted every operational part of Norwescap. During COVID the organization had to make a significant shift sooner than they had anticipated.  Mark describes in some detail how programs shifted, and not just shifted, but how people from one program helped others in another program. The real true coming together of the community.  The stories he shares takes flexibility within a framework to the next level.  

One of the services they created for those in need was the opportunity for people to go to the Norwescap website - https://norwescap.org and click a red button that says Get Help Now. An engagement partner will reach out to the person in need within 48 hours or sooner. There are 50 staff people trained on how to handle those requests. This is a huge supportive service to those who are in immediate need. 

After hearing Mark speak about his team, I would say he is a servant leader. He cares about how his staff connects to the organization's mission, how they feel about the work they do, and that they have fun and connect with each other. They have partner awards where staff nominate each other. Really showcases and promotes team building. 

In 2007 Mark was named in NJ BIZ 40 under 40 list. He had a prop in the video  that will be shown on the Today is the Day Changemakers YouTube channel of him holding his guitar in the article that was printed about the award. 

Mark was in a band for several years. He still loves to pick up the guitar and play, but now he does that in his home and plays along to the songs on his Alexa. He says there are management lessons learned from playing in a band

In the staff meetings he held during the height of the pandemic he started and ended his Zoom meetings with music. He says it changed the feel and dynamic of the meetings, and really kept the staff feeling inspired and connected. Before the pandemic he explains that they would have music going during their yearly all-staff meeting.

Take a listen to Marks answer to, 'what do you know now that you wish you knew then'. 

Thank you so much to Mark for sharing the incredible work that Norwescap provides to the communities that they serve. Congratulations to him and his entire team for all they do each and every day to make a difference. You are all changemakers! To learn more about Norwescap, please visit www.norwescap.org. 

Next episode, I welcome Megan LoBue, Membership & Development Manager of ArtPride New Jersey.