Kafele Thomas is the founder and executive director of Atlas Center for Nonprofits (ATLAS). ATLAS helps other nonprofit organizations with social justice and sustainability issues. Starting in 2018, Kafele and his team concentrated on fundraising, leadership development, equity system, and information data work. The work ATLAS has done so far has had enormous impacts for marginalized communities across different races and cultures. Talking to Kafele, we found that his passion and insight are indispensable parts of ATLAS.

What led to the creation of ATLAS? What sparked your interest in this organization?

I come from a background of fundraising. I had been a fundraiser for maybe eight years prior to starting ATLAS, and had worked in many different types of nonprofits.

What made me start ATLAS was realizing that a lot of organizations are doing great work. People-led movement-based organizations weren’t getting the support that they needed. And they didn’t have the internal capacity or knowledge to really get resources into their organizations. So they were highly dependent on external consultants to do that work. And whether the consultant was successful or not, the organization assumed all the risks in the relationship. They never got any better at doing that work themselves. They were always stuck in the cycle of dependency.

So I wanted to think through what a different model could look like, that would help support and uplift these organizations, help them learn to develop systems for them, while they’re going through this process. So that eventually, they’ll be able to stand on their own two feet, and be able to carry on this work internally themselves in the future. So that was kind of the basis and the framework that I operated in, to create ATLAS.

What’s the biggest challenge you ever encountered in the business?

I think the biggest challenge was not doubting myself. When I started out on my own, I really had to rebuild a lot of relationships. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be starting out. It took a lot of deep introspection and tinkering to figure out a model that really stood up well. So I think we’re just now starting to see the fruits of a lot of that labor.

What do you think your greatest impact has been? Are you satisfied with your progress now that ALTAS has made?

I wouldn’t say satisfied, I’m proud of what we’ve done so far, I don’t think I’m ever really satisfied, there’s always more that we can do. What I’m most proud of is the fact that I get to help out organizations and communities that are near and dear to my heart, places that I grew up back in New York City. My community being a first generation American being able to work on stuff that deals with immigration reform, being able to help support school kids who went to schools that look just like mine, to help black people, brown people and other marginalized groups across the country makes me feel happy.

Tell me a little bit about your business relationship with Good Counsel Services.

I was doing some consulting work, supporting some good counsel clients. And that really was super beneficial to me, helped me expand my network and I got to meet other really incredible people doing similar work, and learn from them and collaborate with them. That time was pivotal in helping shape my business plan, my business model, and different ways of supporting the organizations that I work with now.