Leaders aren’t born—they’re made. Spend a day with Nash Mahupete and you’ll quickly see what leadership in action looks like. From meetings to late-night shifts, quality time spent with residential team members to checking in with clients and their families, and lending a hand wherever needed, Nash shows up. He connects with everyone in a genuine, intentional way and is invested in their success.
Nash can look back on how disconnected his 19-year-old self was with a laugh. If you were to talk to the Nash who started at QLI as a direct care team member back in 2000, and ask him where he’d be in five years, he’d probably answer “anywhere but here.” QLI was low on his priority list. It was not his destination.
“I remember Nash being very clear in where he spent his time and where he wanted to focus on working,” recalls Coordinator of Family Housing Kinyarie Dethloff, then Nash’s supervisor of QLI’s
East Campus. Kinyarie laughs—“he was so straight up, he said he preferred another job he was working at the time because it paid more.”
Like many of us in our early years, the jobs we work don’t appear to us as holding much significance. They’re a stepping stone along a hopefully brighter path. We might be resistant to the notion of growing. Such an attitude, though we may carry it for a good while, does not mean that potential isn’t in us. It is often the case that the person we want to be is already here but we need the right support, the right leaders, and mentors. These individuals with experience can recognize and help us address our deficits and also show us how to bring forth our better selves.
Kinyarie and the other leaders around Nash saw not just his natural strength, but the strong bonds with the clients and their families he served. Instead of turning aside from Nash, his mentors and team invested in his growth. “We led Nash towards growing in his dedication and focus, his building relationships with his team, and learning to both give and receive constructive feedback,” says Kinyarie. Nash’s future was at hand; he just needed to realize it.
25 Years Later
In January 2025, Nash became QLI’s third President & CEO. The occasion has offered a chance to look back and reflect on his journey. “Growth is within everything we stand for in our clinical model,” says Nash. “Our mission stands for the individuals we serve and their families, but the same principle extends to our team members. My story—the growth I’ve had over the past 25 years—is not indigenous to me.”
QLI’s culture of growth did not develop by accident. Rather, it was intentionally built through an effort to reinvest in the team, guiding them in their professional development, fostering skills, and expanding their 
interpersonal connections throughout the organization, allowing them to offer the best they can for the entire QLI community. Someone’s starting position does not dictate their career trajectory. If the individual has the desire to grow and has demonstrated determination to do so, QLI’s mentors and leaders will provide them with the support and guidance to grow and thrive. As individuals become leaders like Nash has, the trust and relationships built lend themselves to a “pay-it-forward” reality.
So take a stroll through QLI’s East Campus—through the wings of the Summit or the Lied Assisted Living apartments. Hop down to the Rehabilitation Campus, see the team at work in the Colladay Center, in the houses, in the Lied Life Center. Talk to everyone, everywhere—no matter the position they’re in today, the future leaders of QLI are waiting. The chances are high that QLI’s next President and CEO is already here, already learning and growing, with a team fully invested in their success.
Categories: Corporate Culture