Turning compassion into impact: How Zoe Black scaled her NFP

When she built her dog rescue not-for-profit beyond pilot stage, the next step for Zoe Black was to scale it, but that had some unexpected challenges.

Zoe Black grew up in a northern NSW household where animals were part of the family ecosystem. Her parents, both with careers rooted in service and environmental stewardship, volunteered as wildlife carers, so Black was bottle-feeding baby joeys when she was a toddler. Family camping trips involved animals, rescues were routine, and responsibility and care were embedded in her DNA. “Animals were always a big part of my life,” she says. “Anyone who’s had a pet can really appreciate this pure form of unconditional love.”

In early adulthood, Black survived a period of domestic violence that threatened her life and left lasting psychological trauma. A diagnosis of complex PTSD was another blow.

“I felt like the world view I had about humans had been shattered,” she explains. “I’d lost hope and trust in other people.”

So she turned to volunteering. And naturally, she started at her local RSPCA. “The dogs immediately brought me joy.”

The volunteers and staff also made an impression. “It gave me a view of amazing human beings. I knew one day I’d give back to the organisation that restored my faith in people and put that trust back in my life.”

When the RSPCA established a program to support women and children experiencing domestic violence by taking their pets into crisis programs, it all fell into place for Black. “It cemented for me that this is where I was meant to be.”

She began supporting Australians with hearing and speech impairments to access technology, while separately fostering animals for the RSPCA. “Sometimes,” she says, “those two worlds would collide.”

It was through this work that she saw millions of Australians struggling with loneliness while hundreds of animals sat in rescue centres — and the idea for Happy Paws Happy Hearts (HPHH), a not-for-profit dedicated to pairing socially isolated people with animals to foster connection and healing, was born. It officially launched in 2015 after a philanthropist, impressed by her work with hearing-impaired teenagers and her HPHH concept, provided seed funding. “I did a pitch without knowing I was doing a pitch,” she recalls.

With funding in place, she struck a deal with the CEO of RSPCA Queensland and began recruiting volunteers. “We got going a lot quicker than I’d anticipated.”

As the organisation expanded, Black encountered the challenge of scaling beyond the pilot stage. “That’s still a block for many organisations. Probably all the solutions you can imagine have already been tested in this country. The problem is, we’re not scaling them.”

Get the governance right

Black connected with her chair, entrepreneur Mark Osborn, who now focuses on supporting NFP initiatives. He is also chair of global supply chain verifier Veridapt and domestic violence support group Humans of Purpose. His corporate skills and guidance proved pivotal in advancing the organisation. Together, they developed strategic plans, financial models and frameworks for scaling the charity. “I was looking for someone who had built their own business before,” she says. “He helped me to lift my gaze and say, ‘This should be supporting tens of thousands of people, so let’s go.’”

The decade-long journey building the organisation has been marked by continual learning and adaptation. Central to that success, says Black, is a board aligned in values and culture. “That is my key recommendation. Yes, you need to do your skills metrics, but in deciding whether to bring people onto your board, you’ve got to make sure you have that values alignment and you genuinely can trust them.”

Beyond assembling the right board, she emphasises personal wellbeing is equally critical. As founder and CEO, she has learned the organisation’s health is closely linked to her own, and effective leadership requires practising empathy with clear boundaries. Had Black understood that earlier, she says, “it would have left me with even more energy in the tank.”