Wilmington Green Box​ ​SWOT Analysis

BHLP Tier 3

(MKT Properties, 2018)

November 13, 2019

Contributions

Nishant Chintala​:​ Introduction, Nonprofit Introduction, Finances, Branding and Marketing

Hannah Cote​: Introduction, Mission Statement, Location and Logistics, Summary

Charlie Hannum​: Introduction, Liaison Introduction, Volunteers, Comparable Agencies

Morgan Raymond​: Introduction, Short & Long Term Goals, Social Entrepreneurship, Good to
Great

Ilana Shmukler​: Introduction, Board of Directors, Work on Purpose

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Table of Contents

➢ Introduction 2
○ Team Introduction 2
○ Project Liaison 6
○ Nonprofit Introduction 6
➢ Information for SWOT Analysis 10
○ Mission Statement 10
○ Short and Long Term Goals 11
○ Finances 12
○ Branding and Marketing 14
○ Board of Directors 15
○ Volunteers 16
○ Location and Logistics 17
○ Social Entrepreneurship Ventures 18
○ Comparable Agencies 19
○ Collins and Wilmington Green Box 21
○ Heart, Head, Hustle 23
➢ SWOT Analysis 25
○ Strengths
○ Weaknesses
○ Opportunities
○ Threats
➢ Summary 26
➢ References 30
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Introduction

Let’s get to know each other.

Hello! We are JUICEWRLD and we have the privilege of working with the Wilmington Green

Box. The Wilmington Green Box is a nonprofit organization that strives to provide at-risk teens

with entrepreneurial education while supplying fresh cold-pressed, nutritious juices to the food

desert community of Wilmington. At the head of the nonprofit is Jason Aviles, a passionate

social worker who has a penchant for helping his community. We will delve a little deeper into

the organization later, but for now let us introduce ourselves:

Team Leader/Communication Lead - ​Hannah Cote

My strengths from the CliftonStrengths assessment are Achiever, Learner,

Communication, Focus, and Woo. I use my strengths on the team to facilitate effective

communication between the group and our nonprofit liaison with my dedication, focus, and

commitment to our project. Since my true color is gold, I thrive off of having organization, a

detailed plan, a schedule, and I am dependable and reliable to complete the tasks assigned to me.

These personality traits have designated me as Team Leader and Communications Lead. In my

role as Team Leader, I organize the group, delegate tasks, direct team members, facilitate

constructive communication, and monitor my group without micromanaging. As

Communications Lead, I am in charge of all communication between our nonprofit liaison and

our group. I send emails and make sure that all other group members are copied into the email or

make sure I forward text messages to all members so they are as up to date as I am. As
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Communications Lead I have to ensure that I am dependable and proactive at sending emails in a

timely manner.

Organization Lead - ​Ilana Shmukler

My top five strengths from the CliftonStrengths assessment are Restorative, Analytical,

Intellection, Input, and Context. As a team member of the JUICEWRLD, I can use these

strengths to analyze the information gathered from working with Wilmington Green Box, to

come up with a plan for a project that is impactful and feasible given time and resource

restraints. In a group setting, I thrive in situations that are structured, where what is expected of

each member to reach a goal is clearly laid out and adhered to. A downside to this is that I do not

easily adapt to change and uncertainty. Keeping open and honest communication, my desire for

an efficient output, and having trust in my team members have so far helped to mitigate this

downside. My strengths fit in well with my team role as Organization Lead. In this role, I can

schedule meetings and make sure that documents sent out are correctly formatted.

Team Health Lead - ​Morgan Raymond

My top strengths from the CliftonStrengths assessment are Positivity, Includer, Futuristic,

Woo, and Communication. These strengths along with my true color of blue aid me in my role as

Team Health Lead of JUICEWRLD because of my overarching compassion and concern for

others. The duties of the Team Health Lead include leading check-ins at the beginning of each

meeting where we talk about our highs and lows since we’ve last met, effectively mediating

conflict when it arises, and ensuring that tasks are delegated fairly. My strengths of positivity,
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communication, and includer help me tremendously with these tasks because the purpose of

having a team health lead is to remember that all group members have busy lives and other

commitments besides our project that they need to prioritize. I use my strength of

communication through regular check-ins, where we get a feel for how everyone is doing, and if

one member is struggling, we can delegate tasks appropriately so that member can be cut a little

slack while they get their bearings. Positivity and futuristic help me a lot when dealing with

intra-team conflict. When we get frustrated, I do my best to keep our focus on the long-term

outcome and the good work that we’re doing for our community. Finally, my strength of includer

helps tremendously when delegating tasks. I ensure that each group member feels that their

duties are important and that they are significantly contributing to the group effort.

Research Lead - ​Charlie Hannum

My top five strengths from the CliftonStrengths assessment are Analytical, Deliberative,

Achiever, Harmony, and Responsibility. As a member of the JUICEWRLD team and in my role

as Research Lead, I am able to effectively use my strengths to benefit the team. In my role as

Research Lead, it is my responsibility to collect and disseminate information that pertains to the

goal of helping Wilmington Green Box, from interviewing members of the nonprofit to finding

information out about other nonprofits that seek to improve communities in similar ways. In this

role, I am able to utilize my top strengths of analytical and deliberative to the fullest. As an

analytical individual, I am able to decide what information is most important as well as know

where to find the resources that will be most beneficial to our success. My strengths of harmony

and responsibility are also valuable assets to the team. Being strong with harmony allows me to
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mitigate arguments through finding common ground and solutions that benefit the team as a

whole. Lastly as a responsible individual, I am able to not only accomplish the tasks that have

been set out but to do them to the best of my ability.

Production Lead - ​Nishant Chintala

My top five strengths from the CliftonStrengths assessment are Achiever, Focus,

Ideation, Includer, and Restorative. In finding a role that is best centered around these skills, I

realized I would be a great Production Lead because of my ability to help the team produce

results and ensure that the team stays on track. The responsibility of a Production Leader

includes the following:

● Ensuring that task deadlines are being met amongst all team members

● Managing a task management system that will allow team to visualize progress

● Suggesting new ideas to add to the task board for the team to work on

● Encourage hard work and diligence among all team members even during tough

or demanding times

I am very enthused about the prospect of serving within this role for JUICEWRLD. I am

excited to be the person to ensure that tasks are getting done and that our progress is being

mapped out. I’m sure that, at times, the project that we choose to ultimately embark on will have

periods of challenging obstacles that we must persevere through. I’m ready to be the one to

ensure the logistics of the team stay stable during those tough periods so that we are still on track

and will be as much of a benefit as possible to the Wilmington Green Box.

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So far, I have helped with planning out tasks, including the retrieval and analysis of

financial statements and creation of questions to ask Jason and a board member. I am looking

forward to helping to manage more tasks related to the project and will ensure that they will be

completed as we move toward our goal of helping Wilmington Green Box.

Project Liaison - ​Jason Aviles

The liaison for our project is Jason Aviles. Jason is the current project director with

Wilmington Green Box and was a founding member of the nonprofit in 2016. Wilmington Green

Box is Jason’s vision and he has been an integral part of the nonprofit’s success. At the start,

Jason dedicated 70 hours per week to help the organization grow and brought in John Naughton

and James Thompson to help with the growth. Jason is responsible for training the teen

employees, managing the finances, and handling the everyday operations of the organization.

Despite the numerous organizations Jason is involved in, he makes time for Wilmington Green

Box and the creation of Green Box Kitchen will provide him another way to make an impact on

the Wilmington Community.

Nonprofit Introduction - ​Wilmington Green Box Introduction

Wilmington Green Box is a relatively new nonprofit, with its beginnings in 2016. Jason

started this project with a passion to empower youth and help the community around him as well.

Jason recognized that the city of Wilmington is lacking in two crucial areas: entrepreneurial job

opportunities for teens as well as healthy food options. Jason wanted to act on this, and he

formed the Wilmington Green Box as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to address these pressing issues.
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Since its inception, Wilmington Green Box has had a unique mission: to provide

entrepreneurial jobs to at-risk teens while supplying urban city communities with access to fresh

produce and healthy goods. In 2016, they launched Phase 1 of their organization which consisted

of a mobile push cart that helped to sell fresh produce to the community. Out of Phase 1, WGB

achieved some feats, including training and employing one at-risk teen, bringing on a volunteer

and an adult on to the board, and general expansion of an early nonprofit.

Phase 2 launched the summer of 2017, with the nonprofit acquiring a small public green

space of land on North Market Street in Wilmington. This time, three at-risk teens were

employed and trained, another adult volunteer was brought onto the board, and the variety of

drinks was expanded. Momentum began to build as the organization was becoming a popular

joint amongst the community of Wilmington.

Phase 3 launched the following summer, and this time WGB built an outdoor kiosk space

to sell its product. The number of at-risk teens employed and trained doubled to six and another

full-time adult employee was brought on the board. In addition, they formed a partnership with

Big Fish Restaurant Group and introduced their own line of bottled cold-pressed juices. The

addition of an outdoor kiosk allowed Jason and the organization to see just how much demand

existed for Wilmington Green Box’s product.

Although the official results of Phase 4 (summer of 2019) have not yet been released,

some insights that we acquired from Jason is that they are looking to hire a staff of 20-25 at-risk

teens, which is a drastic increase from 2018. The organization is growing rapidly, and just

recently, Jason opened up a restaurant that partners with WGB named Green Box Kitchen. Green

Box Kitchen is set to have its grand opening soon, but has already attracted lots of attention with
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the blockparty that Jason hosted for the restaurant a few weeks ago. A portion of the profits of

the restaurant will go into funding WGB and WGB will help to supply the talent and the produce

that will be sold by the Green Box Kitchen.

Over the years, Green Box has seen a number of additions to staff and the board of

directors. This is what the organizational chart currently looks like:

So throughout this incredible expansion, how has WGB managed its financials?

Acquiring adequate funding is a struggle that a lot of nonprofits have, especially when starting

out. Initially, Jason agrees that it was tough for him to earn grants and funding since WGB was

so new and did not have proof of being beneficial to the community. However, as highlighted by

the Flywheel Concept from Jim Collins in ​Good to Great​, Wilmington Green Box needed some

time to truly begin to see their impact on the community, and in doing so, was able to earn more

funding to sustain the growth. Essentially, once WGB had “proven themselves,” it made donors

more certain that their donations will actually be of benefit given that this organization is truly

making efforts to improve their local community. This has allowed WGB to gain some

momentum and the future of the organization is looking bright.

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One concern that we had with the financials of WGB was the overwhelming percentage

of overhead. Nearly 73% of the total revenue went into overhead expenses. This was a

staggering amount for us, as typically, nonprofits should only have 20-30% maximum of their

revenue allocated for overhead. Before our interview with Jason and a board member, we

reasoned that the overhead expense was such a high percentage only because the organization

has not yet reached the desired level of revenue from their sale of juices as well as their grant

awards. Once WGB increases the revenue that it takes in, that percentage will decrease by simple

mathematics. We could not find any overhead expenses that were unnecessary, and we didn’t

know exactly which ones were worth decreasing or keeping the same.

In our meeting with Jason, he agreed with us as to the reasoning behind the overhead

percentage. He expressed that the organization has been actively trying to minimize overhead

costs, but they are all necessary to sustain the organization. Even with the large overhead

percentage of revenue, Jason and one of his board members just recently began earning a weekly

salary for their work, showing their diligence in keeping overhead low. However, once the level

of revenue attains a desired amount, as the organization continues to expand and become less

seasonal, the overhead percentage will not be as staggering.

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Information for SWOT Analysis

The foundation of our project.

Mission Statement:

Wilmington Green Box’s mission is to provide at-risk teens with entrepreneurial jobs

while supplying urban city communities with access to fresh produce and healthy goods. The

activity of Wilmington Green Box is closely tied with its mission as they continuously work

toward their mission every day. The employees of Wilmington Green Box are teenagers from the

community that the director, Jason, knows personally or are referred by mutual friends. The

teens that are employed from the inner-city of Wilmington have the opportunity to work for

Wilmington Green Box, providing them a positive community and safe space to spend their time.

The teenagers are able to learn about entrepreneurship and develop their own leadership and

professional skills. To fulfill their mission, the teens employed at Wilmington Green Box are

able to be involved in many aspects of the business, including the production of juices, the

marketing for the products, running the kiosk in the summer months, handling orders, managing

sales, and distributing product. The Wilmington Green Box team serves as leadership role

models in life and in business. Wilmington Green Box also successfully fulfills their mission by

distributing fresh produce and healthy goods to the community. One way that they try to expand

access to the community is by having a delivery service with the juices during the summer

months. They have a bike to distribute juice orders, allowing people to order juices that are not

able to physically come to the kiosk themselves. A well written mission statement should include
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three things: purpose, business, and values. Wilmington Green Box has a well written mission

statement because it addresses the purpose, to supply teens with entrepreneurial jobs and supply

healthy goods, the business is through a “creative and sustainable way” which includes the sale

of juices but could be expanded to other means, and lastly values which include youth,

entrepreneurship, health, and creativity.

Short Term and Long Term Goals:

Currently, Wilmington Green Box’s largest goal is securing salaries for its employees.

Both Jason and John are unpaid, so hopefully with the opening of the Green Box Kitchen there

will be enough revenue that would create room in the budget for employee’s monetary

compensation. Jason has been unpaid for the past three years and has worked upwards of 70

hours each week. Because of this he experienced lots of burnout but kept pushing through

because of how passionate he is about his work. Getting paid for his work and being able to pay

others would be extremely beneficial for Jason on a business and personal level, elevating his

status in the business world and creating more stability in his personal life.

Another long term goal for Wilmington Green Box is to make the nonprofit autonomous.

Jason is currently doing a lot of the work for WGB himself and has to spend a lot of time away

from his family at work in order to keep things running and get everything done in a timely

manner. If WGB worked autonomously, Jason would be able to take a step back and spend more

of his time with family and working on other business ventures. One step that Jason would like

to take to move toward achieving this goal is to hire an assistant director. The aid of an assistant

director would be very useful in taking care of a lot of the clerical work such as talking to
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suppliers and coordinating schedules that Jason wouldn’t have to do. If this ends up working out,

Jason would be able to take further action in making WGB autonomous.

It is also a goal of Wilmington Green Box’s to launch Urban Farm. This is more of a

short term goal for WGB because as soon as they get it launched they can hire more teens and

expand that aspect of their mission. Although Green Box Kitchen just opened, Jason wants to

start acting on this project because it will most likely take a while to put into action anyway. The

purpose of Urban Farm is to teach at-risk teens about the work that goes into growing the

produce and then how the produce is then turned into the juices. This puts the whole process into

perspective for the teens and expands the value of the experience with the nonprofit.

Finances:

As discussed before, we reviewed the Wilmington Green Box’s income statement for the

year 2019 (not entire year, just up to this date). WGB is still a relatively small nonprofit and has

not crossed the threshold of $50,000 to justify having a 990 form, so currently they maintain and

manage an income statement.

In looking at the income statement, there are a few line items that are of interest. Sales

revenue is at $13,426 and grant and donation revenue is at around $15,219. This shows us that

Wilmington Green Box is incredibly dependant on grants as a source of revenue, with over 50%

of the revenue coming from them. We brought this up to Jason during our interview and asked if

the new opening of Green Box Kitchen will cause the organization’s dependence on grants to

decrease due to this alternate source of funding. However, Jason almost immediately said “No.”

He said that WGB will continue to try and secure grant money because of how beneficial it has
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been for them. Grant money has essentially been a huge factor in determining the success of the

organization and has allowed them to grow since their inception in 2016. However, something

that Jason is looking to add is a designated grant writer role to assist in acquiring these funds. He

discussed how repetitive and tiring it is to go after grants and how he would be able to focus on

other larger initiatives for the organization if he was able to employ a grant writer to take those

responsibilities from him. We felt that this would definitely be a step in the right direction as

long as the organization is able to acquire more funding to employ the grant writer.

Another issue that we noted with the income statement is the amount of expenses that are

going toward overhead. An alarming 73% of the organization’s revenue is going toward

overhead-related expenses, which is incredibly high for a nonprofit organization. We looked

deeper into the line items that make up these expenses and found Facilities & Utilities Expense,

Marketing & Advertising Expense, Office Supply Expense, Payroll Expenses, and other

necessary line items. The only line items that were part of the overhead that we felt may be

excessive were Business Meals Expense and Landscaping Expense. Business Meals Expense

was around $477 and Landscaping Expense was around $540. Although these numbers aren’t

incredibly high, we still felt that there was potential to reduce them to free up some cash for

other projects. We discussed these line items with Jason as we had some concerns. As for

Business Meals Expense, Jason enlightened us and told us that that expense is usually for when

the whole staff of WGB go out to eat as a celebratory/bonding event to help keep the team

together. That makes sense, as one of the fundamental aspects of a nonprofit is trust and

togetherness, which those types of dinners can really foster. When asked about the Landscaping

Expense, Jason told us that the expense was in relation to maintaining the ground and area
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around the kiosk stand. They want to make sure that the kiosk looks clean and that the area

around it also looks inviting and calm. This is also very rational, considering WGB promotes

healthy lifestyle choices and overgrown grass and weeds may not be in line with that.

As far as the rest of the organization’s financial health, we are pretty happy with how

money is being managed. There is a lot of positive outlook as well, as Jason mentioned during

our interview briefly about plans to create an Urban farm. This farm might help to reduce the

costs of the inventory, at least seasonally, and will have a positive impact on the organization’s

net income. In addition, as Green Box Kitchen, Jason’s newly-opened restaurant addition to

WGB, begins to take off, a huge portion of the proceeds will go to WGB, which provides a huge

amount of financial stability. Overall, there are no glaring concerns with WGB’s financials.

Branding and Marketing:

Wilmington Green Box definitely excels in the area of branding and marketing. As far as

their web presence, WGB has an incredibly designed website that is very easy to use

(​https://www.wilmingtongreenbox.org/​). The website is very user-friendly and also possesses a

lot of neat, modern features that showcase that the nonprofit is technology-proficient. Although

at the surface this may not seem to be a huge factor, considering their target audience is the

urban community of Wilmington and their target employees are teenagers, having a modern,

sleek website will attract that type of crowd. The results have shown as well, with their revenue

increasing year-over-year as their target audience is attracted to their product. In addition, WGB

has went from employing one teen to looking to hire nearly 20 this year. Although the website
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may not be the main driver behind these results, it certainly helps in reaching the target audience

as these results would not be possible without them.

In terms of attracting potential donors, the website meets all needs. It is very easy to

navigate between different sections, allowing donors the ability to see everything from the

product that WGB sells to the story and the results that they have achieved thus far. For a donor,

that ease-of-access to important information might mean the difference between giving grants to

WGB and giving grants elsewhere.

Wilmington Green Box’s tagline is “Healthy Goods in a Creative Way.” Although it may

not be very catchy, the tagline truly embodies what the organization is all about--creating new

and unique juices that provide tremendous nutritional value to the food desert community of

Wilmington. The logo is very simple and aesthetically-pleasing; however, it has no relation to

what the organization is about. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as lots of successful companies

and nonprofits have logos that do not line up exactly with what they do (i.e. Adidas, Goodwill,

etc.).

Board of Directors:

The board of directors are very involved and committed to the success of Wilmington

Green Box. They have a good retention rate, as only one board member has left since the

creation of the board in 2016. The board consists of Jason Aviles, the project director, John

Naughton, the construction manager, James Thompson, the creative director, and Emmanuel

Knotts, the teen supervisor. Jason Aviles and John Naughton, who came up with Wilmington

Green Box together, were interviewed about the role of the board. John mentioned that the
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relationship between board members is positive and that there is good communication

throughout. Even though his official title is construction manager, he is involved in many aspects

of the board, such as strategic planning and fundraising. He said that anyone who joins the board

should expect to hit the ground running, as things happen very fast.

A powerful insight gained about the board of directors is in regards to the time

commitment involved, which connects to the responsibilities of each board member. Jason’s

responsibilities include managing the finances, grant writing, training the teen employees, and

handling the everyday operations of the organization. When he first founded Wilmington Green

Box, his time commitment was upwards of 70 hours a week. There is a desire to expand the

board to balance out responsibilities, which would hopefully lessen the time commitment of each

board member. However, Jason would still like each board member to be hands on in different

areas, such as grant writing and bookkeeping. Jason also mentioned that the board doesn’t do a

good job of having formal meetings, and instead meet informally almost every day. The fact that

there weren’t many formal meetings was evident when, with our phone call with Jason in

October, we asked to sit in on a board meeting but were unable to do so. This information is

useful in our SWOT analysis as it helps to identify an area to potentially improve upon.

Volunteers:

Wilmington Green Box does not feature a formal volunteer program. Occasionally,

people will come to Wilmington Green Box looking to volunteer. The main volunteers for the

organization are Jason and John, as both dedicate much of their time to the success of the

nonprofit and are the reason it has made such an impact. The other source of volunteers is from
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BHLP with students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 working on projects to benefit Wilmington Green Box

the past several years.

This is an area that Jason looks to build on in the future. Following up on building the

board in general, he envisions the potential of a volunteer organizer. This role would have an

individual solely focus on finding people interested in volunteering for Wilmington Green Box.

This would be a large undertaking for someone within the organization currently as it requires

time to conduct outreach. If this were to be accomplished, it could aid in the ability of

Wilmington Green Box to produce juices to allow for an increased sale.

Location and Logistics:

Wilmington Green Box is located on Market Street in downtown Wilmington. This is a

unique location for the nonprofit because the city of Wilmington is a food desert, and 65% of the

community is not within a half a mile from a grocery store. The location of the nonprofit is very

important to tie into their mission of providing the urban city community with healthy goods.

Wilmington Green Box’s location is at an intersect part of the city where the business district

meets the local community. This provides the opportunity for both the community and members

of the business district to benefit from purchasing juices from Wilmington Green Box. During

the summer, Wilmington Green Box operates from an outdoor kiosk space, where there are

benches and umbrellas and enough space for people to connect and socialize. The kiosk is open

dependent on the weather in the spring, but typically starting at the beginning of June and

continuing through August. The space is functional for the summer, but unfortunately due to

weather the kiosk cannot be open for the entire year.

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Other aspects of Wilmington Green Box’s location underwent significant change in the

last few months. Before October 2019, the juices were being produced in the kitchen of The

Queen limiting Wilmington Green Box to producing juices only at certain times and days of the

week. However, after the opening of Green Box Kitchen, Wilmington Green Box is now able to

operate out of their kitchen and produce juices after Green Box closes at 3pm. The ability to

make product without restraints from other third-parties makes a significant impact on

Wilmington Green Box, improving their location and making it more suitable for a functional

nonprofit that is more sustainable on their own. The functionality of the kitchen is suitable for

the production of the juices, but due to the recent opening of Green Box Kitchen, the weaknesses

and flaws of the process of sharing the space have yet to be identified.

Social Entrepreneurial Ventures:

Wilmington Green Box’s greatest social entrepreneurial venture currently is Green Box

Kitchen. Green Box Kitchen is a for-profit sector of Wilmington Green Box that generates

revenue through the Green Box Kitchen restaurant that feeds back into the nonprofit

organization. The purpose of having Green Box Kitchen is to create more financial stability for

Wilmington Green Box and minimize reliance on grant funding.

Green Box Kitchen was a major risk for Wilmington Green Box. Jason had no prior

knowledge on opening and running a restaurant but they have already had small successes during

trial runs and are confident that it will be profitable. The biggest component of success for Jason

is having a strong and reliable team working the Kitchen. That is why it was important for Jason

to hire someone who knows their way around the restaurant industry to balance out his
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connection to the community and John’s hands-on skills. On top of this, quality Kitchen staff is

also extremely important because they will need to be able to keep things under control during

peak hours of business. All of the aforementioned personnel make Jason’s job much easier, it’s

not 2016 anymore, he can’t be doing everything on his own, so building an efficient and reliable

team is critical.

Comparable Agencies:

There are several organizations around the country working towards similar missions to

Wilmington Green Box. Their methods of outreach and success can serve as a comparison to the

work that Wilmington Green Box has done and how other successful ideas could be

implemented. The first of these organizations is Wholesome Wave. Wholesome Wave is a

nonprofit that seeks to increase affordable access of fruits and vegetables to people who suffer

from hunger. Founded in 2007, the organization has grown to be active in 49 states and benefits

over 500,000 people annually. The biggest program for Wholesome Wave is their Doubling

SNAP which helps provide individuals on food stamps with healthy food. The program works by

doubling the value of SNAP (Food Stamps) and is simple to use. First, a SNAP shopper goes to a

grocery store that participates in this program. Then, they shop as usual and for each dollar spent

on regular food items, they get a dollar that can be spent on fruits and vegetables.

Another similar nonprofit is the DC Central Kitchen. Their goal is to tackle the issues of

hunger, healthy food access, and unemployment. One way that the DC Central Kitchen operates

is through Healthy Corners. Healthy Corners work by delivering fresh produce and healthy

snacks to corner stores in low-income areas of the communities as lower prices. The stores can
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then sell these healthy options at discounted prices to usual stores and allow for low-income

individuals to enjoy healthy food options. In the past year, they have sold over 240,000 healthy

snacks and have worked alongside 67 stores to bring healthy food into the community. The DC

Central Kitchen also works to bring children healthy food options through local ingredients in

school provided meals. In the past year, 3,600 students have eaten healthy meals at 15 schools.

The last program they have is their Culinary Job Training program which helps people facing

high barriers to employment careers in food service. Their Culinary Job Training helps young

adults that are not in school and unemployed. Donations and grants allow the DC Central

Kitchen to meet all financial need of those learning in the program. In the past year, 104

individuals have graduated from the training program and 86% have found employment as a

result.

A final organization doing similar work to Wilmington Green Box is Bright Spot Urban

Farm. Located in Delaware, Bright Spot Urban Farm works with 25-30 youth with a paid

employment experience by working on an agriculture program. The food produced is sold at

farmers markets in Wilmington and New Castle as well as restaurant partners. The GROW

training program will help young adults with the completion of their GED as well as learn

practical business skills like customer service and retail. They also feature a Young Farmers

Crew which provides young adults with a summer program to learn about growing food and food

justice.

These three organizations do work similar to Wilmington Green Box but in their own

unique way. Wholesome Wave seeks to tackle lack of access to healthy food by building off of

the food stamp program. DC Central Kitchen provides access to healthy food by selling it at a
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discounted price to vendors in food deserts to allow them to in turn sell the fresh food at

discounted prices to members of the community. DC Central Kitchen also looks at the

unemployment of adults through their culinary training program. Bright Spot Urban Farm helps

to empower youth through agriculture and then selling the vegetables raised at farmer’s markets.

Bright Spot Urban Farm is the most similar to Wilmington Green Box as both operate in

Delaware and employ teens with jobs. However, they each approach the issue differently as

Wilmington Green Box has the teens more involved in the community with selling the juice

when Bright Spot Urban Farm has them produce the food. It is important to use analyze these

different organizations as it can provide a look at potential opportunities for how Wilmington

Green Box can continue to grow and make an impact on the community.

Collins and Wilmington Green Box:

First Who: Jason really emphasizes how important it is to have a quality team of hard

workers that he can rely on. This aligns with Collins’ concept of “First Who” and getting the

right people on the bus. As mentioned previously with the Green Box Kitchen staff, Jason wants

to make sure that his staff is balanced in terms of skill and expertise, as well as effective at

managing high pressure situations.

The Hedgehog Concept: It is obvious through his work that Jason is passionate about

helping others. Specifically, what got him involved in the Wilmington community was that he

experienced unsolved issues that he had already seen get solved in other communities. He

wanted to do his part to help the Wilmington community reach their full potential and begin to

solve some of those problems. Wilmington Green Box is unique because they tackle the issues of
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food deserts, unhealthy diets, and at-risk teens all in one. This is what they are “best at”. WGB

employs at-risk teens to sell fresh produce as well as hard pressed juices in a community that

doesn’t have a lot of access to these types of foods. Additionally, WGB’s resource engine is

something that Jason has worked tirelessly to bring to life. Jason has committed essentially all of

his time in the last three years to build WGB into what it has become. Now that there are more

projects such as Green Box Kitchen and Urban Farm, Jason has to spend more and more of his

own time working on them because he doesn’t have enough money in the budget to have a salary

himself, let alone pay someone else to come in and do the work for him. However, the financial

aspect of the nonprofit is looking up now that Green Box Kitchen has officially opened. This

hopefully will create more financial stability for Wilmington Green Box and maybe even allow

for small salaries for the board members. When it comes to branding, Jason has it down. He

speaks of his extensive network of resources not only in Delaware but all over the country and

this is an incredible part of his resource engine especially as a small, new nonprofit in Delaware.

Flywheel: When Wilmington Green Box first got on its feet, grant funding was extremely

difficult to acquire and maintain because of the competitive pool of established nonprofits in

Delaware. However, because of Jason’s extensive networking he was able to create a

relationship with (bank) who gave him a certain amount of money to complete a set of tasks for

the year and promised him more if they liked the results. This started building momentum for

Jason and he mentioned how he used the situation to his advantage by asking for a certain

amount of money to do a set of tasks knowing full well that he could accomplish more with the

same amount of money. Therefore, during review at the end of the year, (bank) would be
 23

extremely impressed with him and give him more money. This relationship with (bank) has

continued to turn the Flywheel and breed financial support for Wilmington Green Box.

Level 5 Leadership: As Collins explains in “Good to Great”, a Level 5 Leader is someone

who exemplifies personal humility and professional will, both of which I believe Jason

exemplifies as Project Director of Wilmington Green Box. His willingness to work on

Wilmington Green Box for upwards of 70 hours per week unpaid for the past three years

demonstrates his undying love of and dedication to his work and his cause. Not only this, but

also his involvement with other organizations such as BHLP prove that he will do whatever it

takes to make his nonprofit the greatest it can be and that he will work tirelessly until it gets

there.

Heart, Head, and Hustle:

Echoing the words of Laura Galinsky in her book Work On Purpose, one should have

head, heart, and hustle, and be able to strike a balance between the three. Jason is a perfect

example of embodying these three principles in the work he does every day. He demonstrated

heart from the beginning by seeing the struggles of his community in Wilmington in regards to at

risk teens and a lack of nutritional food, and wanting to do something about it. Many people have

heart, when they see issues or voids in their community and want to help, but few take the steps

to create change, or even know where to begin. This is where head comes in. It’s more than just

having or acquiring knowledge and skills- it’s knowing how to apply that knowledge and skill to

effect change. Jason took the knowledge that over 65% of Wilmington is a food desert, and that

there are many at risk youth in Wilmington, and thought of a creative solution with his
 24

co-founder John Naughton to tackle both issues at once. His head and his heart were aligned to

support the success of the organization, and through that hustle was achieved. He knew that he

couldn’t do it all on his own, and so he recruited the help of two more board members. They

became part of the hustle that maintains the success of Wilmington Green Box. From board

members working long hours, to being versatile and willing to tackle challenges in different

areas such as fundraising and accounting, this hustle is what pushes Wilmington Green Box to

grow each year and reach more of the community.


SWOT Analysis
What are we good at? Where do we need to improve? How can we capitalize on opportunities
and avoid any potential threats?
STRENGTHS
● Board is passionate, committed, and open
to new ideas
● Strong financial model with profits
feeding back into the mission
● Teen employees are committed
● Are working towards accomplishment of
mission statement
● Good ties with the community in
Wilmington
OPPORTUNITIES
● Emergence of Green Box Farm
● Increased revenue and juice production
from the opening of Green Box Kitchen
● Become more autonomous - able to hire a
new full time staff member
● Hiring more teens with revenue and have
teens work on the Green Box Farm
● Acquire a grant writer
25
WEAKNESSES
● No volunteers - rely solely on board
member and teens
● Low revenue and high overhead
● Little board structure - consists of only 3
members are all are fully engaged in
WGB
● No appearance of a documented strategic
plan
● Board members are unpaid
THREATS
● Jason’s new family requiring more time
from him
● Managing time with the Green Box
Kitchen
● Having to hire new teens when students
graduate high school
● Green Box Kitchen fails to achieve
predicted results or faces competition
● Lack of farming education
● Lots of big businesses are moving to
Wilmington which leads to an increased
population. This could result in grocery
stores which can limit WGB
 26

Summary

A recap of the key details of this report.

Wilmington Green Box has weaknesses in the organization where if improved, could lead

to significant positive change within the nonprofit. Identified weaknesses throughout

Wilmington Green Box include a lack of a structured board of directors, lack of organized

volunteers, and low revenue due to high overhead costs and low profits. Below are three possible

project ideas that would benefit Wilmington Green Box and expand their nonprofit so they can

continue to fulfill their mission and increase sustainability.

Board of Directors Reconstruction

An identified weakness of Wilmington Green Box that was discovered through the

interviews and analysis of the nonprofit is the lack of structure on their board of directors. This is

one of the nonprofit’s greatest needs because without a functioning board, the nonprofit will not

succeed in the long run. The board of directors includes Jason Aviles, John Naughton, James

Thompson, and Emmanuel Knotts. Jason serves as the Project Director which also translates to

him being President of the Board. This is common in new organizations, but is not sustainable

long-term. The board of directors should be working as a governing body to oversee the

nonprofit’s mission, strategy, and goals, and the staff should be implementing the mission. To

have the staff members serve on the board often leads to problems further down the road and is a

conflict of interest. It is often advised that the executive director serves as a guest at board

meetings and not a voting member that is making decisions, or to exclude them from making
 27

decisions about budget and compensation. This is complicated when it comes to Wilmington

Green Box as right now with the low revenue of Wilmington Green Box, Jason, John, and James

are sacrificing the compensation of the staff so Wilmington Green Box is able to be more

financially sustainable. The board of directors should also be overseeing and evaluating the

performance of the executive director. If the executive director is implementing programs that

are not tied in with the mission statement of the organization, there is nobody to evaluate these

decisions other than the board of directors, which includes all of the staff.

A reconstruction of the board of directors would include recruitment of community

members with professional skills to benefit the nonprofit. There would be a formal and organized

application and recruitment process that ensures candidates are qualified, with the specific duties

lined out for each board member position.

Volunteer Website

An identified weakness of Wilmington Green Box that was discovered through the

interviews and analysis of the nonprofit is the lack of coordinated volunteers. Meeting this need

would greatly benefit Wilmington Green Box because it would allow Jason and John to delegate

work that could be done without them so that they could focus on more important tasks. One way

that we could meet the need for volunteers is by adding a “Volunteer” feature to the current

Wilmington Green Box website. This feature would include standardized individual and group

applications for volunteers that could be submitted right on the website and would be available

for the board to review and to accept/deny the application. Once an individual or group was

accepted for volunteering, they would navigate to the calendar feature where work would be
 28

posted (by Jason or another board member) fitting for the size and ability of the individual or

group. Once a job was selected and confirmed for a certain date, both Jason and the volunteer

would get confirmation emails notifying them that the schedule was set.

This project would be beneficial to Wilmington Green Box because it would create more

autonomy and efficiency within the nonprofit. The board would have to stay on top of reviewing

applications and posting volunteer opportunities for work that needed to get done, but by doing

those things they would be saving themselves much more work long-term. This project would

also help WGB align more with their mission by enabling more at-risk teens to get involved in

the nonprofit through volunteering. Even though it wouldn’t be a paid position, the volunteer

position could potentially turn into a paid position.

WIC & EBT Integration and Marketing

An identified weakness of Wilmington Green Box that was discovered through the

interviews and analysis of the nonprofit is the low revenue and financial instability. If

Wilmington Green Box became an authorized vendor for the Special Supplemental Nutrition

Program for Women, Infant and Children (WIC), it would increase the number of people in the

community that could access fresh produce and healthy goods. The WIC program provides

supplemental food and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and

non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are at

nutritional risk. This integration of accepting the WIC benefits program would align with

Wilmington Green Box’s mission of providing the urban city community with fresh produce and

healthy goods in the context of Wilmington being a food desert. This project proposal idea would
 29

also include the integration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) electronic

benefits transfer (EBT). Obtaining authorization to become a SNAP EBT vendor would require

authorization from the USDA Food & Nutrition Services through an application, as well as

obtaining the equipment necessary to be able to receive EBT debit cards. If Wilmington Green

Box became a vendor to accept WIC coupons and EBT, this would increase the population who

would be able to benefit from the nonprofit. This would also increase the sales of Wilmington

Green Box’s juices, and address their weakness of low revenue. If this program went through,

there would have to be marketing techniques implemented as part of the project so the

community would know about the WIC and SNAP benefits that Wilmington Green Box has. The

strength of Wilmington Green Box having a well-planned financial model that is driven toward

the mission would be able to support this project.

 30

References

1. MKT Properties. image. 2018,

https://residemkt.com/quench-your-thirst-at-wilmington-green-box/31967888_58214684

5503843_4110038347970248704_n/. Accessed 13 Nov 2019.

2. Wilmington green box. Wilmington Green Box Website Web site.

https://www.wilmingtongreenbox.org/.

3. Bright spot urban farm. Bright Spot Urban Farm Website Web site.

https://www.brightspotfarms.org/about_us.

4. DC central kitchen. DC Central Kitchen Website Web site. https://dccentralkitchen.org/.

5. Wholesome wave. Wholesome Wave Website Web site.

https://www.wholesomewave.org/.