Moving from the corporate world to the world of nonprofits can be a challenge to some who savor pressure, deadlines, or moving up the ladder. For some however, moving from profit to nonprofit corporations and agencies can be finding one’s niche job.
For the West Haven Community House’s, the Assistant Executive Director of Financial Operations Deborah Wright, it was a good fit, and a niche job. Coming to the agency after a long stint in the corporate world was, indeed, a good fit, and 12 years later is still reaping benefits.
“After working in the corporate arena for 17 years, I started working for a nonprofit. Although I did not stay there long, I was intrigued by the work nonprofits did for the community they served. I was working with a nonprofit in Stamford, and commuting daily from West Haven,” Wright said. “I saw a posting for the exact same position that I was currently working. It was at the West Haven Community House. Once I realized the scope of the population that they served, I became extremely intrigued and applied for the position.”
Admitting one of the perks was cutting her daily commute down about an hour, it was the work of the agency that impressed her.
“One of the most important features of the WHCH is the positive impact that we have on the West Haven Community. Families are better for having their loved ones enrolled in programs at the WHCH. Children are enriched, adults with intellectual disabilities are inspired and we have West Haven community members motivated to become board members to contribute to positive impact we have in the community,” she said.
A resident of West Haven, Deborah Wright is a graduate of the former Sacred Heart School and Our Lady of Mercy, Lauralton Hall. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from the University of New Haven. A member of the Bethel AME Church, she is part of the media team and music ministry, is a member of Alpha Alpha Rho Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, a member of the Eureka Chapter #2 Order of Eastern Stars, as well as a member of Arabic Court #95 Daughters of the Shrine. She is in her tenth year on the West Haven Police Department Board of Commissioners.
Working at the Community House for a dozen years, she’s also worked other jobs to help her income, while putting her daughter through school. From a reconciler at a bank to an Uber driver, Wright has done many things in many positions. She thinks it’s helped her outlook and way of dealing at her job and with others.
“I think with the varied positions I have had the past 30 years; I believe the ability to listen to people and understand what they are saying helps me to be an effective leader. It has made me more empathetic to what is going on in the world around me and given me the ability to handle almost anything thrown at me. My love for numbers has kept me in positions that are financial in nature,” she said.
Working at the Community House has other perks that aren’t so tangible. It makes going to work every day something exciting and enjoyable.
“I think the best thing I like about my work environment is the mutual respect we have for one another. That doesn’t mean we always agree, but we handle our disagreements professionally and we put the agency (our clients and our staff) ahead of our personal issues. We are really like a true family. We fuss and argue, but at the end of the day, we have each other’s back,” she said.
A goals-oriented person, Wright said if she had to encapsulate what she thought was the most rewarding part of her job it would be “accomplishment.”
“As tedious as things may get, there is always a finish line to one project and then you start the next. It’s like a constant “to-do” list that you get to keep crossing off the items one by one,” she said.
Working in the community and working at the Community House has been a rewarding life for Deborah Wright. She found out how rewarding during a recent hospitalization. It gave her time to reflect.
“I am extremely blessed and thankful for my home, work, and community families, especially when I received my kidney transplant in July of 2020. During COVID no one could come visit me at the hospital. People continued to text, call, email and check on me and my daughter. When I came back to work, I had a gorgeous bouquet of flowers sent to me. I was truly touched,” she said. “At the end of the day, I just hope that something that I have done or said to someone has helped them along the way. May my living not be in vain.”