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For this year’s class, the Executive Preparation Institute had some unique challenges. After only holding one day of the series in person, we had to move everything to a virtual setting. We worried about how this would impact the experience and that there would be less of a chance to have peer-to-peer networking. Luckily, our participants were willing to roll with the punches, and our attendance stayed high throughout. Our presenters worked to make their sessions more interactive and incorporate Zoom functions like polling, annotating and breakout rooms to ensure participation. Participants were encouraged to use the chat functions, as well as chiming in to the whole group with any comments they may have had.
Presenters included Center faculty members who spoke on a wide range of topics according to the focus of each day: board governance, fundraising, finances, strategic planning and program evaluation. This year, we started the series with a brand new session on implicit bias to help ground everyone and reveal their own biases so they could be more open to understanding their peers’ experiences and perspectives. The participants also took a DISC Assessment to better understand their own workplace behaviors.
On the last day of the series, our Coaching program facilitators at ProInspire explained the benefits of executive coaching and how the program would function moving forward. Participants also heard from a panel of previous EXCEL Award winners to get firsthand accounts of what it is like to serve in an executive role.
We were happy to be joined this year by a representative of the Coaching program’s funder, American Express. Rebecca Gnessin, Manager, Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility, was able to join us at the end of our coaching discussion and even shared a little bit about her own journey into her current role. This is the 4th consecutive year American Express has funded the program!
As always, the cohort was tasked with reading a book that was to be discussed on our last day. This year’s book was Take Me With You by Scott Jackson, President and CEO at Center Member Global Impact. His book discusses his personal journey to find the charity within, a great way to end the series and remind us all why we choose to work in the nonprofit sector. We were excited to have him on hand to lead actual discussion!
Details for EPI 2021 will be available in Fall 2020. Registration is scheduled to go live by the end of September.
On August 3, 2020, The Washington Post published an article about how the twin crises of pandemic and recession are straining the region’s philanthropies and could force as many as a third of nonprofits to close or merge before the economy recovers … Read more.
Charities Aid Foundation of America found that nearly a third of nonprofits could potentially shut down as a result of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, O’Gilvie talks about his passion for nonprofits and how the Center is helping nonprofits survive and thrive through the ongoing challenges to maintain operations and sustainability.
Read a portion of the article here. Visit the Washington Business Journal for the full article.
Swafia Ames, Brighter Strategies
Sharon Anderson, The Anderson Difference
Flannery Berg, FMA
Sarah Bowman Ratjik, Human Resources, Inc.
Octavia Caldwell, Caldwell Group
Maria Carrasquillo, MJH Consulting
Alfreda Edwards, Edwards Consulting Services
Amir B. Eyal, Mylestone Plans
Lewis Flax, Flax Associates
Javier Goldin, Goldin Group
Mike Gellman, Fiscal Strategies 4 Nonprofits
Carol Hamilton, Grace Social Sector
Britt Hogue, The Collective Good
Barbra Kavanaugh, Brighter Strategies
Sergei Khadjiev, Goldin Group
Emma Kieran, Pilot Peak Consulting
Debbi Lindenberg, Cafritz Foundation
Stefanie Lomax, HR Pro 4 You
Payal Martin, Brighter Strategies
Daniel Mushala, Training Works
Fiona Oliphant, Healing Equity United
Barbara O’Reilly, Windmill Hill Consulting
Larry Robertson, Consultant
Mark Sachs, Mark Sachs & Associates
Will Schermerhorn, AtomStream Communications
Elizabeth Scott, Brighter Strategies
Alex Suchman, Brighter Strategies
Kathlyn Taylor Gaubatz, Consultant
Don Tebbe, Strategic Planning and Succession Planning Consultant
Gretchen Upholt, FMA
Rachel Werner, RBW Strategy
Meico Whitlock, Mindful Techie
Peter Wolk, National Center for Nonprofit Law
The Upper Georgia Avenue Main Street (UGAMS) awarded a total of $35,000, with grants going to the Missouri Avenue Market, PRMP Brow and Beauty Studio, Creative Ways Therapy, Galaxy Healthcare Solutions, Two Macs Barber Shop, J & J Mex Taqueria and Mail Ship and Print.
The Parks Main Street (TPMS) awarded a total of $34,000, with grants to De Colores Learning Center, Ramdass Pharmacy, Peaches Kitchen Restaurant, Senbeb Cafe’ and Natural Foods, the Davis Center, Integrative Bodywork, Troka Insurance and Manor Park Barber Shop.
The UGAMS and TPMS are members of DC Main Streets, a comprehensive program of the city’s DSLBD to revitalize neighborhood business corridors in the District of Columbia. The Center for Nonprofit Advancement provides fiscal and organizational management, leadership and technical assistance to each of them.
We invite everyone to come see the amazing, meaningful work of local artists capturing life in the DC area. Join us for the Opening Receptions, or stop by during the day. Located at 702 8th Street, NW in Washington, DC, the Gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Friday, noon to 4pm.
This powerful series of portrait photographs, captured by DC artist Reginal Cunningham, envelop the observer with the personal, vulnerable and dramatic character of Pepco’s line professionals who are recent D.C. Infrastructure Academy (DCIA) graduates. This exhibit brings the public face-to-face with the people delivering the area’s critical resource and asks us to consider the life beyond the line. Through sound and visual elements, this immersive multimedia exhibit encapsulates what life is like for these individuals beyond the transmission lines, and demonstrates how participating in the DCIA program has changed the lives of these local Washingtonians.
The Everyday DC photography exhibition aims to make positive contributions to media representation of DC by visualizing everyday life in the District through the eyes of DC public middle school students. The exhibition is the culmination of a photojournalism unit that was inspired by Everyday Africa, an Instagram feed aimed at countering negative media coverage of the continent.
The goals of the Everyday DC unit are to teach students to evaluate the composition and intent of the images they see, and to compose images that visualize underrepresented moments from everyday life in the District. By the end of the unit, students master photography techniques, caption-writing skills and exhibition curation. They are also able to articulate how they can compose photos that tell underrepresented stories about their city, and how the images they compose can work to combat dominant media representation of DC.
DC Public Schools and DC Public Charter Schools students will embrace their community “Home is where the Blossoms Are” with a focus on friendship, exploring what’s in their backyard and embracing cherry blossoms beyond the Tidal Basin. They will be encouraged to discover art and blossoms in their community and find other ideas through the Resource Guide.
Students are directed to create artwork that tells their “Home is where the Blossoms Are” story by discovering what cherry blossoms mean to their perspective communities, find similarities—via symbols, murals, patterns and culture, and think of how to express their thoughts in the framework of their own backyard. In the “group submission” category, a class can create a collaborative piece that tells a story with collaboration at heart.
This show will feature amateur artists over 50 who live throughout the Pepco service area and whose work has been selected through the online Celebration of the Arts competition conducted by The Beacon Newspapers. Artwork will include paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculpture, stained glass, jewelry, mixed media and photography that have been selected for prizes by professional artist jurors.
The Creative Expression Art Competition (CEAC) was created to provide opportunities for youth in the District of Columbia Public and Charter Schools to experience the arts. The Inaugural Event on June 2014 was called Civil-Tea Citywide Creative Expression Competition with over 100 art exhibits and 22 schools participating. The experience provided a medium to give our youth a voice to express the effects of civility and incivility on their lives. The event also gave teachers a teaching moment to use various teaching methods to engage students in all aspects of civility.
Paul W. Ruppert is an innovative entrepreneur who builds diverse teams that collaborate to create noteworthy projects. As president and founder of Warehouse Industries, Paul oversees the day-to-day operation of a restaurant and retail development company that conceives, builds and operates restaurants, art centers and retail outlets in Washington, DC. Recent projects include Slim’s Diner, Cappy’s Crabs, Crane & Turtle, Upshur Street Books, Petworth Citizen & Reading Room, Hogo and Room 11.
Paul grew up and currently lives in Ward 4. He is a former nonprofit executive and founding Treasurer of the Shaw Main Streets board. Through opening small businesses, he has connected with city agencies since the early 1990’s and is currently the Co-Chair of Councilmember Brandon Todd’s Ward 4 Business Advisory Committee. Recently, he was named a Distinguished Fellow at the Catholic University’s Busch School of Business, and advises students in the area of business development and entrepreneurial projects.
“This section of Georgia Avenue is one of the heartbeats of our city—a city where I have spent several decades working to build community through private enterprise. To be sure, the challenges for small businesses on Georgia Avenue are real. With Walmart at one end of the corridor, Target at the other and the Walter Reed project in the middle, our local independent businesses have to operate at their highest level in order to be successful,” observes Paul. “By supporting existing businesses through the proven Main Street framework, we can do our part to strengthen the business community. This increased vitality will in turn help attract new businesses and contribute to a thriving neighborhood. As the executive director of the UGA Main Street, I am excited to be a part of this challenge.”
The Center has been awarded a grant from DSLBD to help create the new Upper Georgia Avenue Main Street, as well as provide fiscal and organizational management, leadership and technical assistance. The Center is currently conducting a leadership search to fill the position of Main Street Executive Director for the UGA Main Street. We encourage all who are interested to review the job description and apply by the deadline—5:00pm on Wednesday, January 22, 2020.
For more information, please email Carla Trussell, Interim Executive Director, Upper Georgia Avenue Main Street, or call 202.247.1521.
Progressive Life Center (PLC) has been awarded the grant to serve as the Administrative Partner for the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) 2020 Community Programming Initiative (CPI) Service Coalition. The Center is partnering with PLC to deliver training and capacity building support to the selected coalition of providers.
This program serves as a bridge between youth, families and the community through outreach, engagement and other supportive services. Learn more about its positive impact and the Center’s new role in this collaborative effort.
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