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Founded by my friends, Josh Kwan and Dave Blanchard, Praxis is an innovative organization which exists to equip and resource faith-motivated entrepreneurs “who have committed their lives to cultural and social impact, renewing the spirit of our age one organization at a time.”
Rather than aiming to serve all organizations everywhere, Praxis works within very defined constraints: They serve 12 nonprofits and 12 businesses each year. And not just any business or nonprofit. Even within that broad definition, Praxis holds high levels of specificity of entrepreneurs who thrive within the Praxis community. Kwan and Blanchard believe they can add the most value at particular stages of the organization’s lifecycle.
Each year, the number of quality applications exceeds the number of available slots they have open. More than once, candidly, Praxis has declined to pursue an opportunity I’ve proposed to them. Be it new partners they could work with or nominees we think they should consider for the program, we’ve regularly been denied. At times it’s been frustrating. I’m a mentor with Praxis, after all, and wonder why I don’t have more sway!
But, Praxis is a temperance-practicing organization. Nobody who knows Praxis’ team and vision would accuse them of having their sights set too low or of being risk-averse. They’re growing and expanding in unique ways each year.
But their growth is within the boundaries of their vision and guided by clear constraints. This posture of temperance creates the opportunity for them to invest deeply in the lives of the entrepreneurs, staff members, donors, and investors they serve. One way this manifests is in how they celebrate.
Part of what makes Praxis events unique is their “pitch night,” where the 12 entrepreneurs share the vision of their organizations in five minutes or less. Even in this setting, they’re challenging these entrepreneurs to distill their organization into five minutes or less. They’ve seen this constraint generate creativity and punchiness simply not realistic in an hourlong address.

Praxis pitch night (photo credit: Praxis web site)


In these pitch sessions, they’re sharing their vision with potential high-impact donors and investors. And, Praxis appropriately celebrates the courage it takes to do so. Without fail, when the pitch night concludes, the pizza arrives. And, the cohort of entrepreneurs and mentors heartily celebrate this key milestone in the Praxis journey. In a surprising way, instilling clear constraints and limits seems to allow the celebration to hold more meaning. When every meal is a feast, no meal is. Likewise, when an organization practices temperance, it makes indulgence all the more special. 
Their first cohorts began in 2010. Since then, their fundraising revenue, staff size, and organizational reach have grown steadily and surely.
Who knows? Praxis might double their constraints this year, expanding to serve 48 entrepreneurs. They might stop holding pizza parties. They might begin enacting all of our wonderful ideas for how they can expand. But they won’t do it because they can, but because they should.
Leaders like Dave Blanchard and Josh Kwan practice temperance. And, they provide examples of how we can too.