Providence House was always in Natalie Leek-Nelson's orbit.

The organization's founder — Sister Hope Greener — was a teacher at Saint Joseph Academy, Leek-Nelson's high school and ultimate employer. And while running the marketing shop at the Cleveland-based all-girls school, many of her students volunteered at the crisis nursery. And after a stint in the corporate realm, Leek-Nelson's consulting business took on a familiar client — Providence House.

After initiating a turnaround of the sleepy nonprofit, Leek-Nelson was encouraged to apply for the top job. That was 16 years ago.

"Donors were saying, 'Don't tell me a story that's going to make me cry. Tell me what my ROI is,' " she said. "Outcomes? Outputs? It was like a foreign language. I came out of this ROI-driven, publicly traded company. The transition was quick."

Today, the beloved crisis nursery is often called upon to lend its experience to others doing similar work.

What's the biggest challenge you saw when you started working at Providence House?

In general in the nonprofit sector, the biggest challenge is the speed of business. Boards are big and hard to move. I could get into all the crazy stuff. The interim executive director and I used to joke, "Did you find a bomb or skeleton today?" The care of the kids was wonderful. The work was good. It was the business. The challenge was creating a mission-driven business.

What was the biggest change you brought to the organization?

The mission stated that we cared for abused and abandoned children. But if they were abandoned, why were we giving them back to their parents? The thought was that these were bad parents who did bad things. We wanted to change the thinking. These were families in bad circumstances who need our help and have chosen to get their children to safety. Some people in the organization thought we were here just to rock these babies. It was a big shift organizationally. We needed to do everything we could to help these families who have chosen to break a cycle. For 20 years, we were a shelter for kids. Now we are this amazing, two-generation program. We had to re-educate the entire community.

I'm sure it can be emotionally draining to work with these kids and their families. What's kept you going for the last 16 years?

Part of the reason I still love it is because it is such an innovative organization. If I had to just manage what was there when I walked in, I'd be no good at this job. I always say I've had five different CEO jobs in the 16 years I've been here. There was the rebuilding, innovating around new programs, expanding, becoming an advocate for families. Now we're this phase of growing again. We're talking to places all over who want this program.

I imagine you could have just stayed the course once the turnaround was complete. Why keep innovating?

We have to respond to the community need. We're always reading the research and trying to understand how to communicate the value of why the community should invest in us. We have to be responsive and agile. We're dealing with the kids that get affected by this change. As we scan the landscape, not just local nonprofits, but programs trying to help kids, we're energized because we believe we're pioneering something that isn't happening anywhere else. Most nurseries in the U.S. are still rocking babies. They're emergency shelters. They're not looking at this by asking, "How can we save a family and rebuild communities?" That's our headspace all the time.

Are you still fighting that perception that you're just here to rock babies?

Yes, and we do so much more than that. We even have donors who love the work we do with these kids but still believe these are all bad parents and say they should stop having kids or have their kids taken from them. We work so hard to change the thinking around that.

How has the opioid epidemic hit your organization?

We see a mom who's using who needs treatment and has no one to watch their kids. We'll work with that treatment provider. Then, we see referrals for babies who we were born addicted. We're also seeing a lot of single dads in this population where the mom just walks, and you've got a dad who isn't using take that responsibility. We put them through our parent program. We've had some pretty amazing families reunited where dad stepped up. Opioids are scary. They can break that maternal bond. It's really tough.

You obviously can't do everything to help these families. How do you ensure you're not just handing off these kids?

There is so much redundancy in the nonprofit sector. There are these siloed systems where agencies think they can do everything. But, do they do it well? Last year, 99 different organizations were connected to our families in Cuyahoga County — drug treatment, housing programs, hospitals, job training and more. Our core competency is holistic care of children and strengthening families. We know what we do well. Do I have families with behavior health or mental issues and addiction issues? Yep, but guess what? I'm going to leverage a network who can do this work really well — way better than I can. Honestly, the funding community appreciates that.

Le Petit Triangle

1881 Fulton Road, Cleveland

The meal

One ordered the mushroom crepe on buckwheat with a side of sautéed kale. The other ordered the roasted chicken croissant.

The vibe

Modeled after a true Parisian cafe, this quaint and versatile Ohio City eatery is suitable for a quick lunch or a satisfying dinner with imaginative cocktails.

The bill

$30.92 with tip

Bucket list?

Aside from raising teenagers — two of her own and a foster child — this Cleveland Institute of Art grad wants to start showing her artwork again.

Tool time

Growing up, her boys would ask why she was the one always working with the tools. She's done complete rehabs and renovation work.

Most important quality for a leader?

"Tenacity. If you get knocked on your ass, get right back up and keep going."

Favorite Cleveland spots

Cleveland Museum of Art, the restaurants, the theaters, Cleveland Metroparks

Bookworm

She's a voracious reader who will plow through three or four books a week. She'll have four or five books going at any one time.