Randy Osmun

Michigan Nightlight: What does being a leader mean to you? 
The SOURCE Executive Director Randy Osmun: It's about building relationships.
 
What is your dream for kids?

We're an organization that works primarily with their parents, so from the Source's perspective, our dream would be to stabilize families, which would allow kids to live in crisis-free homes.

We're an organization that works primarily with their parents, so from the Source's perspective, our dream would be to stabilize families, which would allow kids to live in crisis-free homes.
 
What is one concrete thing that could be done to improve the environment for social sector work in Michigan?
The strengthening of the safety net through government funding.
 
How do you know you’re making progress?  
The Source has a database where we track all of our contacts with employees and we respond to employee's requests for resources. So, the fact that we're able to respond to all of the requests is one indication of progress. To promote our services, we do go into organizations, but I'm hesitant to say that the goal is to have more people requesting our services, because if they're not in a position where they need our services, then that's a good thing. I also don't think not getting calls is an indication that we're making progress either, so it's pretty complex. I guess from a simple perspective, we have a database that tracks who we're working with and whether or not we're able to resolve their issues. If someone says my house is being foreclosed, we put them in touch with the people who can assist them.
 

I'm most proud of the business leaders in our community who were insightful enough to create a nonprofit that resolved social issues that their employees were struggling through.

What are you most proud of?
We are a nonprofit that was created by local businesses. In the nonprofit world, most nonprofits are created by people who have an idea that they want to change something, and then they try to convince businesses that it's a good idea. Ours was created the other way, with the goal of helping their employees through a shared cost model. So, it's a really innovative and creative business solution to social problems. I'm most proud of the business leaders in our community who were insightful enough to create a nonprofit that resolved social issues that their employees were struggling through. The other piece to that is that we partner with the state of Michigan to do that, and we were only the second organization and the first nonprofit to do that.  
 
Reflecting on your career, what would you say was your greatest professional learning experience? 
Passion trumps experience. If you're passionate about something – passionate enough about something – then experience will come. But if you're not passionate, it doesn't matter what you do.