Built by Margin
Built by Margin is the podcast at the intersection of risk, numbers, and decision-making for founders, CEOs, and high performers. Hosted by CPA, fractional CFO, and author of the upcoming book Risk Worthy, Laurie Chen, CPA, MBA, the show explores how better decisions create better businesses, stronger leadership, and more meaningful long-term outcomes. From financial strategy and entrepreneurship to intelligent risk-taking and growth, each episode helps you think sharper and build with intention.
Built by Margin
Leading With Mission: How Roller Coasters, Community, and Risk Shape a 7,000-Member Nonprofit with Elizabeth Ringas
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In episode 46 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen talks with Elizabeth Ringas, president of American Coaster Enthusiasts, an international 7,000-member nonprofit dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and educating people about roller coasters.
Elizabeth shares how a lifelong love of roller coasters grew into more than two decades of volunteer leadership, eventually leading her to guide ACE through a major technology and member engagement transformation. She explains how the organization balances fun, preservation, fundraising, and community while serving an incredibly passionate membership base.
The conversation explores the numbers Elizabeth watches most closely, including membership renewal rates, regional fundraising participation, and annual preservation donations. She also discusses the risks of modernizing a 48-year-old organization, especially when introducing a new website, app, automation, and AI-powered personalization while still honoring longtime members who value tradition.
Laurie and Elizabeth also dig into the deeper leadership questions behind nonprofit growth: how to measure trust, how to protect volunteer time, how to make mission-aligned partnership decisions, and why strong communities require both data and intuition. Elizabeth reflects on the personal and professional risks she has taken, including choosing flexible and volunteer-heavy roles to support her family while building a meaningful leadership path.
At its heart, this episode is about more than roller coasters. It is about preserving joy, leading through change, and making mission-driven decisions that keep a community thriving across generations.
QUOTES
- "As an all-volunteer organization, it's meant to enhance our love of roller coasters, not be a burden. And that's a really delicate balance." – Elizabeth Ringas
- " Ideas are so important because without a random idea like, hey, let's run the coaster an hour before the park opens, I don't know where we would be as a club." – Elizabeth Ringas
- “My questions are always based around risk, numbers, and decision making. That's really the theme, the angle that I'm trying to come at it.” - Laurie Chen
Laurie Chen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/
Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/
Elizabeth Ringas
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coastr_gal/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explorationandthrills/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethringas/
Website: https://www.ridewithace.com/home