NICRO
What does your company do?
NICRO is a South African non-profit organisation committed to building safer communities through social crime prevention, mental health support, and the reintegration services. With a strong legacy in human rights and criminal justice reform, NICRO offers innovative and custom interventions and support services for both adults and children. Our mission is to end crime and violence by addressing root causes and promoting rehabilitation and restorative justice.
What is your biggest success?
Elizabeth Pierce (Betzi) is a seasoned leader in the social sector with a long-standing commitment to NICRO. Since joining in 2007, she has held key leadership roles, including Area Manager, Regional Manager, National Operations Manager, and Director of Operations. Appointed CEO in June 2021 after serving as Acting CEO.
Betzi's leadership both as operations manager and as CEO delivered NICRO through COVID without having to cut her team's salaries. She invested her own time and that of her team to onboard robust online client systems so that NICRO is able to reach South Africans via smart devices for court and mental health services.
Despite what may be happening for her personally, she always puts her team and the wellbeing of the organisation first. Advocating for and building on the NICRO service offerings so that the organisation can see many more years- which is unheard of for an NGO.
What has been your biggest hurdle?
The biggest hurdle of any NGO/NPO is funding and sustainability, especially in the current economic climate it becomes ever more challenging to secure funding. It is imperative to ensure that the organisation is sustainable so that it can continue delivering impactful services to so many people and then also to ensure that the NICRO team and their loved ones are also looked after and provided for.
