Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nnaemeka Anene. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nnaemeka, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Things That Matter Foundation started from a simple hashtag I started using on social media in 2019 while attending college at The Ohio State University. #ThingsThatMatter tagged stories that I felt were important, and, moreover things that were not getting the attention they should. In a world where we tend to highlight the negatives, this small attempt at shedding light on people, communities, and organizations that were doing meaningful work in the world. Eventually, and thankfully, I graduated and started to work as a quality engineer. There was a desire to continue highlighting these stories, though, as well as finding my way to add to these transformative feats. Slowly, I started to lead different volunteer opportunities, collaborating with friends along the way. The model? Get young adults, tunnel-visioned on their careers, to still give back. How do we make this attractive? Incentives. Whether a gift card to a local coffee shop or free entry into the hottest party in the city, we created a space to do good, feel good about it, and be rewarded in the process. In short, we “merge what you need to do with what you enjoy,” or in other words, have fun while doing the #ThingsThatMatter.

Nnaemeka, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I often coin myself as a “doer of many things.” Between running my non-profit, Things That Matter Foundation, organizing events and creating experiences with Nnaem & Friends, being a Continuous Improvement Ops Supervisor at OTC, and being an integral piece of a 360 photo booth business, Premier Photo Booth, and a tech company, More4Tech, amongst other things, I definitely have a full calendar 200% of the time. Affectionately called “Nnaem (nem)” by a majority of my friends, I hail from humble beginnings. The oldest of three including my twin brother, Nnamdi, and little sister, Isabella, our parents, John and Kate Anene, immigrated from Nigeria before getting married in 1993 and starting a family in Dayton, Ohio a few years later. A student to this day, I stayed involved in extracurriculars and athletics throughout my experience. Graduating in the midst of COVID-19 in December 2020, I earned a degree in Materials Science & Engineering from Ohio State University and began working as a quality engineer. At the time I also volunteered as a varsity assistant and was finishing up my time with a clothing brand I helped to successfully get off the ground in Social Introvert.

I listed numerous services earlier but to simply highlight the things I do, I take the highest pride in the non-profit. We create spaces for incentivized volunteerism for young adults to give back to communities that helped make them the great people they are becoming. We partner with both small and large organizations to achieve this goal. We also host various fun events to help fundraise for this 501(c)3. In the same vein, I have been among the lead planners for OSU Homecoming activities for over 3 years now, and have ventured into providing spaces for watch parties, as well as other notable holiday functions. I always had an interest in being a free creative, even self-proclaiming myself as a nomadic creative director. So having these vehicles to create and do positive work has been very rewarding for me personally.

The problems we solve are simple to state. Things That Matter Foundation targets Homelessness, Education, and Professional Development directly. Nnaem & Friends seeks to provide spaces to have a good time, with the focus being on the customer’s experience. Setting us apart from others are the incentives for our volunteers. Most non-profits ask for something without anything in return. Although we feel doing good should not require a reward, we know time is valuable, and for that reason, we desire to find a way to appreciate the people who work with us; we also have a professional development focus that helps us enrich our volunteers and communities to become better versions of themselves.

When it comes to Nnaem & Friends, creating events that are experience-focused helps to separate our undertakings from others. Throwing events while school was a fun and fulfilling thing I did with both friends and my Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity brothers. Helping lead some OSU homecoming festivities with friends took things to another level. A couple 1000+ attended events with great reviews later and there were requests to create a legit entity out of the event curation from the following we were attracting, and thus “Nnaem & Friends” was born. A setting that allows anyone to be “friend,” as long as they enjoy valuable experiences and creating lasting memories.

With both of these endeavors, though, I think the biggest thing that sets us apart is the willingness to collaborate. We aren’t to big for anyone and are always willing to work together to create something better than we could do alone.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

In April 2013, my family and I sat together and listed our core values. We came to a consensus on five: Accountability, Hard Work, Honesty, Respect, and Trustworthiness. To this day, these values guide me in everything I do. I feel that this has allowed my reputation to remain positive. I take pride in being genuine and transparent, even at times to my detriment, to stay true to peers, customers, mentors, mentees, and the like. I have created channels to “be about what I say I’ll do;” with my non-profit, there’s true work we can show being done, real impact being made. Through Nnaem & Friends, I take into account people’s compliments and critiques the same, attempting to curate settings that promote an enjoyable time for every attendee. I feel that my intentional interactions with people, concerning all my business ventures, has allowed my reputation to grow positively. Finally, I am myself all the time. I can be in a state of nervousness to extreme excitedness, regardless I’ll be my true self in any setting, and I feel that is attractive and promotes a sense of comfort with whoever I come in contact with.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team and maintaining high morale is not a one-trick-pony ordeal. I would not even commit to being an expert at either, but from my successes, I can share what I think was helpful. The best leaders are approachable and transparent. Earlier, I mentioned core values my family and I practice, these values are also necessary in order to be a good leader. The ability to work with your team is invaluable. I never ask a team member to do something I would not be willing to do, and I would never expect something that I did not feel I could deliver. There has to be a feeling of ownership amongst the team, I venture far from being a micromanager. Meeting people where they are and helping them grow from that position is key. Morale is maintained when there is an understanding of the goal. Nothing is overnight, and nothing worth attaining comes easy. Creating an environment where gradual growth is not only accepted but appreciated, makes the workplace and job easier than it would be otherwise. I am not one to embarrass someone, private conversations can be had if something needs to be addressed versus mentioning it to the group. In my meetings, I make it a point to expose my shortcomings in whatever we are working on, eliminating the narrative that the leader cannot do wrong. I congratulate and reward my team as much as I can, but I make sure it is evident why it is happening, creating another vessel of appreciation, which continues to build morale. Again, I am no expert leader, but I do my best and have been grateful to have some success with these tactics and structures.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ttmfoundation.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ttm.foundation www.instagram.com/nnaemandfriends
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Things-That-Matter-Foundation/61569464489892/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/things-that-matter-foundation
• Other: Donate to Things That Matter Foundation on Zeffy!: https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/12b2cceb-ba2d-4e1a-bf97-7916a3dd7699