College News/Summer 2008

Tools and Vision

Short course prepares nonprofit managers to lead, succeed

Prof. Margot Cleveland

Marisa, a gifted social worker, has just been named vice president of a community mental health center. For the first time ever, she’s managing a staff and a budget. What basic skills will help her get the job done?

Ricardo has been tapped to lead a crucial job training program for Latino youth. He knows the organization needs vision, but it’s never had a mission statement or strategic plan. How can he jump-start the process?

Christina runs a nonprofit that depends on grants to fund its programs, but more agencies are competing for fewer dollars. How can agencies collaborate to build financial stability?

No doubt about it—nonprofit leaders face some tough questions in their daily work. In March, a new short course helped 40 managers from the sector begin finding answers. Nonprofit Business Excellence: Leadership Through Learning, is a joint venture of Mendoza’s Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA) program and the Cicero Youth Task Force, a coalition of nonprofits serving youth and families in west suburban Chicago. The program was underwritten by The Arthur Foundation and is the first of a series of short courses for nonprofit professionals to be offered by the Mendoza College.

The goal of the course is to help nonprofit leaders improve their strategic and managerial business skills so they can meet the demands of a changing service sector. Participants in the certificate program gathered for five days at Morton College in Cicero, Ill. and will meet again in March 2009 to continue their training. In between, they’ll do a field project with guidance from a mentor. Sessions on budgeting, leadership, strategic planning, fundraising and other topics are giving them practical tools and ideas.

“In this sector, you work with a lot of talented people, but we’re all lacking access to the knowledge and skills we need to face certain challenges,” said Silvia Villa, a participant who directs a state agency for new immigrants to Illinois. “I’ve learned everything I know by being thrown into it on the job, without a formal process. That’s not always the best way to learn, so this program was something that I wanted and needed to do.”

Most participants in the short course, including Villa, have worked in nonprofit service agencies in Cicero and the surrounding communities for about 15 years. On average, they’ve been managers for half their careers. They’ve taken on increasing responsibilities, often without mentors or reliable opportunities for professional development.

Yet a new cadre of trained, visionary leaders will be crucial to the sector in the coming decade, researchers say. According to a recent national study titled, Ready to Lead: Next Generation Leaders Speak Out, three out of four nonprofit executive directors plan to leave their jobs within the next five years. While the next generation wants to step forward, their resource-strapped organizations often lack the time and resources to prepare them for leadership roles.

“Most small nonprofits seem to be led by people who come up through the ranks and have a heart for the social side of the work, but don’t have advanced degrees in management,” explained Michelle Chalifoux, another course participant. “Meanwhile, we all have to figure out how to do more with less.”

At a session on nonprofit legal issues, instructor Margot Cleveland (JD ’92) fielded a host of questions on issues ranging from paternity leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, to restrictions on lobbying for nonprofits, and from hiring discrimination to legal liability related to volunteers.

“To be an exemplary nonprofit manager, you really don’t have to know it all, but you have to know what’s out there and how to access it to run a good organization,” said MNA Director Tom Harvey, who played a major role in planning the program and attended every session. “Nobody can do this alone. The nonprofit organizations that will thrive in the future will have visionary leaders who keep learning.”

—Elizabeth Station is a writer based in Evanston, Illinois.