When Culture Becomes Care: Building Belonging Through Grassroots Nonprofit Leadership
When I helped found the Azerbaijani Cultural Association of Regina (AzCAR), I didn’t begin with a strategic plan, a budget, or paid staff. I began with a belief - one shaped by lived experience - that culture can care for people in ways policies and formal programs sometimes cannot.
As a woman leading a small, volunteer-driven nonprofit, I have come to understand that arts, dance, and storytelling are more than expressions of identity. They are tools for wellness, bridges between generations, and pathways to belonging - especially for immigrant and underrepresented communities navigating unfamiliar social landscapes.
Culture as a Form of Care
In the nonprofit sector, mental health and well-being are often discussed in structured terms: services, systems, and interventions. These are essential. Yet through my work, I’ve learned that well-being also grows in quieter, deeply human moments - when a child learns a traditional dance, when an elder hears a familiar melody, or when a story from “home” is finally heard and valued in a new country.
Through AzCAR’s programs, I’ve seen how cultural spaces - storytelling circles, rehearsals, and community celebrations - create emotional safety. They allow people to reconnect with their roots while forming new relationships. For seniors, newcomers, and families, these moments reduce isolation and affirm identity. They send a simple but powerful message: you matter, and you belong.
This sense of belonging is inseparable from mental wellness. Culture becomes care when it helps people feel seen, grounded, and connected.
Intergenerational Healing Through Arts and Storytelling
One of the most meaningful aspects of our work has been its intergenerational nature. Children learn traditional dances from elders. Older community members share stories carrying history, resilience, and values. These exchanges do more than preserve heritage - they foster healing on both sides.
In a society where generations are often separated by pace, technology, and expectations, cultural programs bring them back into dialogue. Young people gain confidence and a stronger sense of identity. Elders regain purpose and recognition. As a leader, witnessing these moments reshaped how I understand community well-being: healing does not always require formal intervention. Sometimes it begins with shared memory, movement, and meaning.
Cultural Organizations as Bridges
Small cultural nonprofits often operate quietly, yet their impact can be profound. Through partnerships with libraries, schools, festivals, and senior homes, AzCAR has served as a bridge - connecting communities that might otherwise never meet.
Thoughtful cultural storytelling becomes a tool for equity. It challenges stereotypes, humanizes difference, and invites curiosity instead of fear. When children experience another culture through dance or stories, inclusion becomes lived and felt, not theoretical.
Women frequently lead this relational, connective work. We translate experiences, hold space for dialogue, and build trust across differences. This kind of leadership may not always be visible, but it is essential to social cohesion.
Building a Nonprofit from Cultural Roots
Founding and sustaining a grassroots nonprofit without paid staff or significant funding has taught me lessons no textbook could. Volunteer-led organizations run on trust, relationships, and shared purpose. Leadership in this space is less about authority and more about stewardship.
I’ve learned to lead with clarity and flexibility, to respect people’s time, and to recognize that sustainability depends on care - for the community and for ourselves. Burnout is real, particularly for women who often carry emotional labor alongside operational responsibilities. Creating joy, celebrating small wins, and returning to purpose are not luxuries; they are survival strategies.
Our strongest partnerships grew not from formal pitches, but from genuine collaboration. When people feel included in the “why,” they commit to the “how.”
Reflections for Women Leading Small Nonprofits
For women leading emerging or under-resourced nonprofits, I offer this reflection: your lived experience is not a limitation - it is your strength. Cultural knowledge, empathy, and relationship-building are leadership skills. Small organizations may lack scale, but they excel in depth, adaptability, and connection.
When culture becomes care, nonprofits become more than service providers. They become spaces of belonging, healing, and shared humanity.
In a sector often shaped by urgency and scarcity, choosing to lead with heart, creativity, and cultural wisdom is not only valid - it is necessary.
For women navigating nonprofit careers - especially in small or emerging organizations - leadership is not conferred by titles or organizational charts. It is earned through values in action: leading with care, building trust, making space for others, and delivering impact long before recognition arrives. These practices do more than strengthen communities; they build credibility, resilience, and influence. Over time, values-based leadership becomes not only a pathway to belonging but a powerful engine for sustainable, purpose-driven career growth.
About the Author
Rena Farajova is the President of the Azerbaijani Cultural Association of Regina (AzCAR), a grassroots, volunteer-driven nonprofit dedicated to cultural preservation, community connection, and inclusion. With a background in international journalism and human resources, she brings a people-centred, values-based approach to nonprofit leadership. Rena has led cultural, educational, and intergenerational programs in partnership with libraries, schools, festivals, senior homes, and community organizations across Saskatchewan. Her work explores how arts, storytelling, and cultural engagement foster belonging, mental wellness, and social cohesion. Rena is passionate about empowering women leaders, building inclusive communities, and advancing leadership rooted in care, collaboration, and lived experience.