Meet Jesse Grossman: Community Builder & Nonprofit Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jesse Grossman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jesse, can you share the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career?
I’ve learned that having integrity and maintaining good relationships is the most important element to success over time. These may not be enough on their own, in that it also takes more to succeed. But I feel strongly that without both of these values, any business or career will eventually cease to thrive. Building trust with others takes time and work, and so does building a business. So, it’s important to keep the long view and not expect any overnight successes or immediate trusted relationships to form without hard work.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
It’s been a true gift to operate my nonprofit, Community Bucket, because of the relationships it’s forged and the impact it’s created. We exist to make it easier for people to thrive and to inspire a mindset of giving back. Our mission is to cultivate community through social volunteering. We have learned along the way that people often lack a closeness of community that should really be within reach for everyone, and it brings us satisfaction when we see the seeds of such genuine connection formed among our volunteers. Like every nonprofit, we face the challenges of having big dreams that outnumber the resources on hand. But we don’t let that stop us. We’ve prospered primarily through the countless hours from volunteers and leaders that make Community Bucket what it is today. I like to think that bottom-up approach has been our recipe for success since Day 1. And we are in a transition period, also not too dissimilar from what other nonprofits experience. As we seek to scale our impact, we will hopefully start layering in a level of organizational maturity and add staff to support these volunteers that form our backbone. We have had to take a step back from normal operations during Covid times and rethink some of our core operations. Yet it’s given us a renewed sense of just how important personal connections and in-person gatherings are for our wellbeing. People are better off, nonprofits are better off, and cities are better off when Community Bucket can exist. So we keep on going from here and welcome all who believe in our mission to join the journey!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Most importantly, I have to shout out my parents for instilling core values in me that have laid the foundation for everything I’ve done and guide me in my career. It’s from them I’ve learned to see the world for what it could be tomorrow and not accept the unacceptable of what might be today; to put loved ones before anything else; to do the right thing when no one is watching; and of course, to work hard at whatever dream I’m pursuing.

Website: communitybucket.com
Instagram: @communitybucket
Facebook: @CommunityBucket