Rockford Sun

Event Name: Equity in Board Representation Program: Build Your Personal Power for Board Leadership

Event Type(s):Community Event

Description:

Build your personal capacity for nonprofit board leadership and make a difference in your community! Join this free Equity in Board Representation program with Martesha Brown, MBA.

Join Martesha Brown, MBA for a five-week Equity in Board (EIB) Representation certification program focused on building diverse leaders in our community and advancing equity on local nonprofit boards.

Dates: Wednesdays, April 5, 12, 19, 26 and May 3. Graduation ceremony and public networking celebration to be held on Wednesday, May 17.

Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Location: All sessions will be held in person in the NICNE CollabLab at NIU Rockford (8500 E State St, Rockford, IL 61108)

Cost: FREE *This program is made possible with support from CFNIL’s Community Grants Program, the RACVB, and Workplace Staffing

Details: Nonprofit boards are at their strongest when they represent their full community, and diversity and inclusion is a prevalent goal. Real diversity allows for authentic feedback and full representation of communities served by nonprofit organizations. While diversity on boards is at the forefront of many nonprofit organizations’ goals, ensuring equity and empowering minority board members is essential to move from inclusion to belonging. This program is intended to advance and support development of board leadership for black and brown communities while bridging connections with boards looking for diverse leaders’ professional and personal experiences to add value to the organization’s mission. This program is intended to remove barriers and provide opportunities for newer board members or individuals seeking to join a board now or in the future through providing a supportive and authentic environment.

Participants will have the opportunity to assess their personal skills and passions, hear from community leaders, engage in conversations, examine case studies, and shadow a nonprofit board of directors to build skills to empower them to serve on high-impact nonprofit boards. This certification program encompasses five 90-minute sessions and will end with a certificate award ceremony and networking celebration. Each session will be led by Martesha Brown with special guest speakers.

Learn more and register to join this free board leadership program HERE on Eventbrite.

Event Date: 4/5/2023 - 5/17/2023

Event Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM Central

Location: NICNE - Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence at NIU Rockford

8500 E State Street Rockford, IL 61108

Contact Person:Billie Callahan

(phone: 8157538793)

Details:

This program is intended to advance and support development of board leadership for black and brown communities while bridging connections with boards looking for their professional and personal experiences as added value to the board’s mission. This program is intended to remove barriers and provide opportunities for newer board members or individuals seeking to join a board now or in the future through providing a supportive and authentic environment.

Participants will have the opportunity to assess their skills and passions, hear from community leaders, engage in conversations, examine case studies, and shadow a nonprofit board of directors to build skills to empower them to serve on high-impact nonprofit boards.

This five-week certification program encompasses five 90-minute sessions and will end with a certificate award ceremony and networking celebration. Each session will be taught by Martesha Brown with special guest speakers. Program sessions will cover:

Session 1: Setting Foundations and Finding Your Voice (April 5) Finding your voice begins with understanding your unique value. Participants will identify and refine their talents and passions, while finding their voice through their skills and talents. This facilitated exploration will help to solidify ways that each participant can impact the nonprofit sector and the community and will teach them how to select a board that aligns with their talents and passions. Dr. Sheila Hill, Co-founder of Think Big and Women in Wealth, will join as a special guest speaker.

Session 2: Board Governance, Bylaws and Best Practices (April 12) Examine research-based best practices for purpose-driven boards and for leading with intent. Participants will learn basic roles and responsibilities for nonprofit board members, as well as legal duties, bylaws, parliamentary procedure, board culture, and effective communication. David Sidney, co-founder and CEO of Place Foundry, will join as a special guest speaker.

Session 3: Evaluating Success and Leadership (April 19) As a board member, you will be required to evaluate the success of the organization and the effectiveness of the Executive Director or CEO. Participants will build an understanding of the board's role in strategy, goal development, organizational evaluation, and evaluating leadership. Additional topics will include grant reporting requirements, outcomes measurement, and organizational performance. Dana Martin, Community Leader & HR Specialist, will provide additional insights as the session’s guest speaker.

Session 4: Fiscal Responsibility and Fundraising (April 26) Board members, as stewards of public trust, must always act for the good of the organization. The board is responsible for ensuring adequate financial resources are available to meet mission and must be comfortable reading financial statements and audits. Participants will learn about the board’s role in fundraising, donor relations, and learn best practices around donation solicitation. Bridgett Coleman, CPA, Principal of Coleman CPA & Consulting, Inc., will provide additional insight as this session’s guest speaker.

Session 5: Professional Head Shot and Online Group Engagement (May 6) Each participant will receive a professional headshot photo to use when marketing themselves as a potential board member. Photos will be taken by local minority-owned business and photographer Royce Dixon, owner of Be Blessed Photography.

Special Component: Case Studies and Board Shadowing Opportunity During the program participants will be provided an opportunity to shadow a board to see real boards in action! Martesha will engage the group in discussion throughout the program to illustrate how boards operate and how board members participate in governance.

Session 6: Completion Ceremony and Networking Celebration (May 17) The EIB cohort, nonprofit community, and community leaders will gather to celebrate participants’ completion of the program. Martesha Brown, Keynote Speaker, will share words of inspiration. Pam Clark Reidenbach, President & CEO of NICNE, will help to present each participant with their certificate of completion. The evening will close with a networking celebration for participants to connect with area nonprofit organizations and foster professional connections to support them as they seek and accept board leadership opportunities.

About the Facilitator: Martesha Brown, MBA is a Rockford native and MBA Graduate of Rockford University with a passion for community engagement. She is the Northwest Illinois Regional Development Community Relationships Manager at Midland States Bank. She was previously the Director of Advancement for the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, with prior leadership roles in economic development, public relations, marketing, and operations for Alpine Bank/Midland States Bank and the Rockford Park District.

Martesha is passionate about mentorship, empowerment, and serving her community. She has held various volunteer committee and board roles for agencies such as the Goodwill of Northern Illinois Board, Think Big Expo & Festival Board, Transform Rockford, Habitat for Humanity, Community foundation of Northern IL, Chairman’s Bridge Committee, State of IL Governor Pritzker’s Capital Development Board, Leadership Rockford, and the NAACP. She has been recognized and awarded as one of Rockford’s “Forty Under 40,” as a Rockford Register Star “people you should know,” and is a recipient of the “25 Black Leaders to Watch” by Soul News Network. She is Rockford grown, Rockford committed, and proud of it.

Original source can be found here