SVP Austin Case Study: DAWA

Giving to the givers in Austin’s BIPOC community

Diversity Awareness and Wellness in Action (DAWA) provides services and programs to support and sustain frontline workers.

Challenges

• Need for leadership transition planning

• Over-reliance on the founder

• Desire to build capacity without diluting the essence

Solution

• Collaborate with SVP Austin to quantify organizational needs 

• Identify opportunities for volunteer development and change management

• Recommend financial planning tactics to sustain the organization

 Results

• Provided leadership coaching to support a transition

• Developed plans for operational leadership, and administrative and consultant support  

• Laid the groundwork for financial management updates and new revenue models 

Supporting the people who hold our community up

The Diversity Awareness and Wellness in Action (DAWA) is a creative-led movement that creates community impact by investing in the health and well-being of Austin’s BIPOC creatives, teachers, social workers, healthcare providers and service industry workers. DAWA centers community and culture to foster resilience and care. Approaching its fifth year, founder Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone saw an opportunity to expand the organization and make it more sustainable. He engaged SVP Austin to help design new operations and administrative support positions, develop projects for consultants and strengthen its financial position.

“I’ve got to give props to Jim and Marcella – they were both really supportive – and Sara was the glue. They were actually taking it in, listening and being active. That was something important. It was great working with them and I hope to continue. ” 

Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone, founder, DAWA

Providing leadership support and coaching 

Like many founders, Mahone was running DAWA part-time with his board serving as a de facto leadership team. After five years of successful work, it was clear that the movement needed to evolve into a more structured organization that retained its original personality and mission. 

I'm not a nonprofit professional or someone that always wanted to start a nonprofit,” Mahone says. “I like to bring people together. And now, I want to stay in that space – the creativity aspect, the storytelling aspect of it, the communication aspect of it – and not keep doing all of the administrative, financial and other things executive directors handle.”

He and the SVP team met weekly to clarify values and the next iteration stayed true to them. They also helped him determine what tasks and responsibilities he was willing to hand over and how to transition to more of a co-leadership model.  

Developing plans for support

Growing the organization requires more structured leadership. The SVP team created a financial plan to enable Mahone to become the first paid employee and modeled the roles, responsibilities and compensation packages necessary to bring on additional talent. DAWA plans to begin hiring in 2025. Mahone and SVP advisors also collaborated on a consulting project to guide the next phase of work. 

Laying the groundwork 

As DAWA evolves, its financial planning and management will need to advance, too. The SVP team presented the board with a plan to roll out more robust financial planning that would better support the organization’s mutual aid efforts. That included recommendations for new approaches to fundraising and revenue generation that lead to longer-term financial stability. 

“The help that we got from SVP – I wish we had more of that! Having professionals who have the experience and the knowledge changes what you can lift, what you can do. And I definitely felt that.”

Chaka Mahone