It has never been easy running the Sustainable Business Network, especially post-Covid when small companies around the region were struggling to bounce back and make ends meet. But in February, SBN Executive Director Devi Ramkissoon’s job got even harder when the Trump administration cancelled a federal grant that makes up nearly half the nonprofit’s budget.

“Already I felt like I was running on fumes,” says Ramkissoon, whose nonprofit aims to build a “just, green and thriving economy” in the Philadelphia region. “Then this happened and set us back in such a big way.”

Around this same time, Ramkissoon got other, more heartening, news: She was selected as one of Fitler Club Foundation’s inaugural cohort of Impact Residents, giving her a year-long membership as well as several health-focussed offerings to help her take care of herself. The timely award is unlike any other Ramkissoon has experienced in her career.

“Most programs are around professional development and networking, and helping you to do more work,” she says. “This one is invested in the wellness of leaders, so we can become more productive and better able to serve the people we are looking to serve because we are more whole as people.”

Ramkissoon is one of 10 small nonprofit and B Corp leaders named as Impact Residents this year by a group led by Fitler’s Vice President of Social Impact and president of the Fitler Club Foundation Kimberly McGlonn. McGlonn, herself a social impact entrepreneur of Noor by Grant Blvd, established the program to give leaders like Ramkissoon the opportunity to rest, strengthen their minds and bodies and take some time to rejuvenate as they continue to the hard work of serving Philadelphians.

It is much needed: A 2024 survey from the Center for Effective Philanthropy found that 95 percent of all nonprofit leaders cite burnout among staff — and themselves — as a top concern.

“They are champions of things that are worthy of our attention. It behooves us to invest in their long term success and also their succession.” — Kimberly McGlonn.

The 10 Residents were selected from 150 public nominations and 40 applications from potential participants. Once applicants met the criteria for the Residency, McGlonn says she worked to ensure the group was diverse in as many ways as possible — age, ethnicity, gender, area of work and populations served.

“They are champions of things that are worthy of our attention,” says McGlonn. “It behooves us to invest in their long term success and also their succession. A lot of them have said they felt a lot of physical relief just in the recognition that someone cares about their well-being.”

The 2025 Impact Residents are:

• Iola Harper, CEO of The Women’s Opportunities Resource Center
• Jamila Harris-Morrison, Executive Director of ACHIEVEability
• Tess Hart, Founder & CEO of Triple Bottom Brewing
• Jennifer Kebea, President of Campus Philly
• Garry Mills, Founder/ National Executive Director of Shoot Basketballs NOT People
• Rosalind Pichardo, Founder and Director of Operation Save Our City
• Devi Ramkissoon, Executive Director of Sustainable Business Network
• Michael Schweisheimer, Founder of PWPvideo
• Zach Wilcha, CEO of Independence Business Alliance
• Tonie Willis, Executive Director of Ardella’s House

In addition to a club membership, Residents will receive personal training and nutritional counseling; a curated library of books; a hotel staycation at Fitler; spa credit; and quarterly meetings with Fitler Foundation board members — including creative strategist Natalie Nixon and Arun Prabhakaran, president of Urban Affairs Coalition — for advice and mentorship. The total monetary value of the residency is $8,000, but McGlonn says the real value goes beyond what happens at the Club. (Full disclosure: Fitler Club is an events partner of The Citizen.)

“The hope is not that they all decide that they want to stay in their careers longer, that they want to double down on their work,” she says. So far, the group has met twice — one initial session to get to know each other, and one to learn about what the Club has to offer.

Ramkissoon says she plans to make use of the benefits as much as possible, understanding that the one year membership will go by fast. It’s a leap for her — and other nonprofit leaders like her — to take time away from her day to day work for something intangible like her own health. It is also, critical right now.

“It’s very normal to not have time to focus on myself because it feels like I shouldn’t be taking time away from the mission of the organization,” Ramkissoon says. “But you know what they say: You have to put your own mask on first when you’re in an airline issue before you can help other people. You need oxygen in you to keep going.”

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