Stepping outside your comfort zone to help others
By Adam Schrager, American Family Insurance Senior Social Impact Storyteller
Melinda Sanchez remembers being out of her element.
A senior licensing manager at The General — part of the American Family Insurance Group of companies — Melinda is used to process and organization, but in her first hours serving as a Community Ambassador with the nonprofit, Nashville Launch Pad, she felt out of her element.
“In the for-profit world, we’re used to having our day pretty much the same or at least, we have a lot of control over it,” Melinda says with a smile. “In the nonprofit world, you’re going to take that control and mix it up in a blender because no two days are the same. In the beginning, I felt like I was drinking from a fire hose. My mind was spinning.”
Melinda was selected late last year to be part of a program run by the American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation that allows select employees to work for six months at a community nonprofit partner. She is currently on loan to the Launch Pad, which operates a network of temporary, safe, street-free sleeping shelters for unhoused young adults which are also affirming to LGBTQ+ individuals. It also features an independent-living facility and launched a mobile housing navigation center last year.
“They are such an inclusive community,” she says. “It doesn’t matter a person’s color, race, beliefs, gender, or sexual orientation, they want to help anybody and everybody and they don’t turn people away. If you have a need, they’re going to see how they can help you.
“Their doors are open. That’s their message.”
She’s operationalized many of Launch Pad’s processes during her tenure as well as working on helping procure corporate sponsorships like one with Bridgestone Americas for Uber and Lyft vouchers so residents can get to a nonprofit grocery store, The Store Nashville, for another procured partnership to receive food.
Melinda additionally worked with T-Mobile to secure practical needs like phone chargers and is solidifying a partnership with YMCA for gym memberships for Mobile Housing guests. Though she feels one of her biggest accomplishments is working with the executive director to manage the nonprofit’s annual fundraiser which has raised more than $68,000 for the upcoming shelter season.
“Let me know what the need is and let me see if I can find a way to match that need,” she says of what she offers to the nonprofit.
Melinda’s professional skillset and personal demeanor made her a natural fit for the Launch Pad, according to its executive director, HG Stovall. Although he says, he relied on the fact The General was one of Launch Pad’s first major corporate partners and the trust he’d built up with that team through the years.
“We have the most amazing relationship with Melinda. It’s fantastic that we can spend our time helping our populations while she’s helping standardize our processes and how we do things.”
– HG Stovall, Nashville Launch Pad Executive Director
“When I was approached and asked if I wanted to borrow a staffer for six months, I remember saying to my team, ‘I know this sounds crazy, but The General knows what they’re doing. And we’re going to figure it out.’ And we have,” says HG. “We have the most amazing relationship with Melinda. It’s fantastic that we can spend our time helping our populations while she’s helping standardize our processes and how we do things.
“Every time we ask her for something, she says, ‘Yes, what else? How can I help more?’ Being able to leverage her skills to increase our capacity has been amazing.”
When Melinda leaves her Community Ambassador position in July, she’ll still have a relationship with Launch Pad as she’s been asked to join its Board. She thanked her team at The General and at the American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation for this opportunity and plans to promote it with her coworkers in the future.
“The most important thing I think that a person can learn through this is it’s not about you, it’s about somebody else,” Melinda says. “The fact that you get to help other people, it really shows you something about who you are and how you can put others before yourself.
“It’s definitely worth it.”
Community Ambassador Program
The Community Ambassador Program includes employees — from across the American Family Insurance group of companies — who are encouraged to use their time and talents to aid nonprofit partners and create more equitable communities by helping them build capacity.
Through this program, nominated employees step away from their current role for a six-month period — maintaining employment and benefits within AmFam Group — while working full-time with an American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation community partner.
