About The Program

The Board Leadership Program: Elevate Your Impact at the Fox School of Business is designed to enhance the effectiveness of prospective and current members of nonprofit boards of directors. This program will be hosted virtually for the safety and convenience of all participants.

There are four sessions and each will be delivered on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. The sessions will feature accomplished speakers, structured discussions and breakout sessions designed to help participants gain and practice concepts and skills necessary to serve effectively on boards. 

For those not yet on a board, the Center for Executive Education will coach participants through a board search. The coaching process includes clarification of goals and passions.

Program Format

The program will be delivered in an experiential, virtual format, enabling participants to interact extensively with both faculty and peers; experience board dynamics and responsibilities; and practice and apply the concepts and techniques introduced during the program. The program will be delivered online monthly on four Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET.

Overview of Sessions

The program kicks off with “Introduction to Board Service: Responsibility and Vision.” In this session, participants will answer “What does it mean to serve on a board?” Participants will experience and think through board dynamics, the responsibilities that come with board service and techniques for scanning for risk and opportunity.

“Building a Great Board: Recruiting, Onboarding and Culture” will remind participants that boards are only as effective as their culture. Participants will learn how to form, maintain and contribute to a productive, inclusive and cohesive leadership team of people from diverse backgrounds.

The next session in the program, “Money and Measurement: Keeping Track of Resources and Impact,” will allow participants to develop the understanding and skills necessary for identifying and using key financial and impact measures to keep the nonprofit fiscally sound and mission-focused.

Serving on a board means finding resources. “Ensuring Sustainability: Finding the Resources Needed for Impact” will help participants learn about the board’s role in fundraising, developing and managing earned income streams, and obtaining other resources.

Fireside Chats

As a supplement to the live sessions, participants will have access to three fireside chat recordings to view between sessions. The chats feature key players in the nonprofit space and will help participants continue their learning.

The discussions will focus on the following topics

• Nonprofit Partnerships & Consolidation with Corinne O’Connell, CEO, Habitat for Humanity, Philadelphia, and Nadya Shmavonian, Director, Nonprofit Repositioning Fund and Partner, SeaChange Capital Partners
• The Leadership Partnership with Sara Woods, Executive Director, Philadelphia Futures, and Kevin Boyle, President of the Board of Directors, Philadelphia Futures
• Forging a Fundraising Partnership with Philip Fitzgerald, Philadelphia Foundation; Anne Edmunds, Clef Club; and Jean Tickell, Schultz & Williams

Eligibility

Participants must be qualified to serve on a board. Readiness criteria often includes at least 10 years of work or organizational experience, including management or leadership experience; a specific skill or expertise; a reputation of integrity and sensible decision-making, and a passion for the nonprofit’s mission.

Facilitators

The sessions will be led by Fox faculty and subject matter experts

• Kathryn Fernandez: Senior Director of Institutional Advancement, Habitat for Humanity, Philadelphia; Director of Development (2015-2017), Legacy Youth Tennis and Education
• TL Hill: strategic management professor, Fox School of Business; Managing Director, Translational Research Center and Fox Management Consulting. He also leads the Fox Board Fellows program which places MBA students on boards of directors while guiding them through a nonprofit governance class
• Jackie Linton: President, JL HR Solutions, LLC; expert in talent management solutions; board member, Women Against Abuse and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp; facilitator, Women’s Leadership Series at the Fox Center for Executive Education
• Jonathan Reiter: assistant vice president, finance, Temple University; adjunct faculty, undergraduate and graduate level accounting courses, Fox School of Business; member, Board of Directors for Volunteers of America
• Tom Tritton: President and CEO (retired), Chemical Heritage Foundation; President (1997-2007), Haverford College
• Sherry Lee Williams: financial and managerial accounting professor, Fox School of Business; Chief Audit Executive, Amalgamated Bank

Digital Badge

Participants who complete the program will receive a Digital Badge of Completion from Temple University, suitable for adding to a resume and sharing via social media. The digital badge is an excellent way to showcase your active engagement in the Board Leadership Program.