Conversations with the Inspiring Stacey Burns

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacey Burns.

Stacey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Whenever I am asked to speak to a group about how I got here, I always say it was a winding road that looks a lot like Stelvio Pass in Italy. I was a good student in high school and participated in a variety of activities. I went to college thinking I would be a physical therapist which changed very quickly after I found out about the whole cadaver thing. I then declared psychology, then changed to English lit, then back to psychology and then ended up just getting both. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I had a beautiful little girl and quickly became a nontraditional student/single mom/part-time worker that was just trying to set a good example for that little lady. After undergraduate, I was the director of a learning center and when one of the teachers there said he had been admitted to a psychology masters program, I thought “hey, I can do that too!” So, I started my master’s degree in Denver where I met my future co-founder of the Institute Jonathan Liebert; moved to Colorado Springs and commuted for five years to school; and started the job that would change my life forever. I had applied to work at a behavioral health company thinking that I would soon be sitting behind one of those desks offering sage advice to people in their time of need. What I found out in my “temporary” position of helping these folks find jobs, is that they don’t need anyone to be their expert. They have their own hopes and dreams and want to feel a sense of purpose just like everyone else. I knew then that I would never use my degree in psychology the way it was intended, and I was introduced to this concept of Social Enterprise.

Has it been a smooth road?
A smooth road? No, I wouldn’t say that exactly. I realize that this is all a matter of perspective to some people, but I still find it hard to believe when folks tell me that everything is easy or that life is always good. I can remember typing papers right up until the deadline with my feverish infant daughter on my lap in between doctor visits. I remember hoping that her elementary school would let her in just a little bit early on the cold mornings so that mommy could be on time to a meeting. I remember buying her a phone and giving her a key far before I would have preferred so that she could let herself into our house after the middle school day ended but hours before I would be home from work. And those are just a few of the days that involved my daughter. Leadership has been my toughest challenge yet. The days where you are sure that everyone hates you when you make a decision based on information that no one else has. The days where you need someone to ask you if you need anything, and then you remember that is your role, not theirs. The days where there is some sort of crisis and everyone looks at you, and that is where the buck stops. And then there has been this year. I lost my dad in December. My dad owned his own business, had me working there from a young age, and I swear instilled his love of entrepreneurship in me through osmosis because I don’t remember having many conversations about it directly. But this year without him has been more difficult than any other before it. I never realized that having him offer his quiet but proud approval or show up to my TEDx talk–or just be my dad–was the source of so much of my strength. When you ask if I have any advice for other women, for young women–it’s to find a mentor. I have found it doesn’t matter what their gender is but look for someone that understands you, someone who wants to give you positive as well as constructive feedback, and someone who will believe in you and hold a space for you on the days you don’t believe in yourself. This has made all the difference for me.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Colorado Institute for Social Impact story. Tell us more about it.
I am a co-founder of the Colorado Institute for Social Impact. After working more than twelve years running training programs and wellness programs and education programs in the form of Social Enterprises to help people reach their highest potential, I was pretty sure I was on to the next phase of my career more focused on business. But as the important things in life usually do, this calling found me again. So now, instead of providing those services to people, I get to use my lessons learned over those many years to help people launch, expand, or convert their own Social Impact business. Some of my best days are spent listening to social entrepreneurs talk about their passion, their business idea, their own path that led them here. My other best days are spent with organizations, nonprofit and forprofit, helping them tell their Social Impact story through Social Return on Investment. You see, Social Impact businesses are creating what is right now known as the 4th Sector. As this 4th Sector combines profit and purpose, mission and margin, we need a new way to tell our investors (i.e. customers, funders, stakeholders) about the breadth and depth of the good we are doing. Our CI4SI model for Social Return on Investment, or SROI, takes traditional ROI principles and applies them to the impacts that go beyond the financial bottom line. To see an organization’s understanding of themselves shift dramatically through this process and clarify their purpose–those are the really really good days.

Which women have inspired you in your life? Why?
I am sure that if you asked anyone close to me this question, most would guess my answer would be Audrey Hepburn for her intelligence and grace. And while there is no doubt those qualities are admirable, I tend to keep my inspirations close to home. My mother inspires me with her unwavering devotion to her family and her uncanny ability to size people up the second she meets them. My mother’s mother inspired me because she was the most fun-loving and patient woman I have ever known, and yet growing up I heard so many stories about how she would take on any boy in the schoolyard if they gave her a hard time.

My little sister inspires me because she has carried a sense of confidence with her all the days I have known her–even on the days I know she isn’t feeling quite as sure. And my daughter inspires me. Her heart for giving and loving is unmatched in my experience, and then, in addition, she has this big beautiful brain that works in such abstract ways that her mom will never fully comprehend. I have been so incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by women whom I could admire, but who also loved me in return.

Pricing:

• Social Impact Consultation Services-$5,000+ or hourly at $200/hr
• Social Return on Investment Studies-$5,000+
• Certification in Social Impact Strategies-$2,000

Contact Info:

• Address: 25 N. Wahsatch Avenue Suite. 100
• Website: https://ci4si.org/
• Phone: 719-389-1085
• Email: Stacey@CI4SI.org
• Twitter: @staceydburns

Image Credit:
These are all personal photos or images of CI4SI

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