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Pictured are non profit leaders discussing emerging community issues and workshop participants learning about the Foundation Center.
Community Foundation Hosts Nonprofit Leaders
Easton, Maryland - September 2009
More than 60 Mid-Shore nonprofit board members and executive directors recently gathered at Chesapeake College for a leadership roundtable hosted by the Mid-Shore Community Foundation. The nonprofit leaders represented a wide range of organizations in the five counties served by the Community Foundation – Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Dorchester counties.
The nonprofit community identified a number of critical issues facing the Mid-Shore region as well as additional support services especially important in dealing with the challenges of the recent recession, which has heavily impacted the nonprofit community and the services they provide to the region. Beyond the basic human needs essential in this economy – food, clothing, and shelter – the group listed health care, protection of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, substance abuse, workforce training, services to seniors, public transportation, and especially mental health services.
Equally important, the nonprofit leaders felt it was critical that the region develop the capacity to mediate conflict in key public policy areas to help move issues toward resolution. The group looked to the Mid-Shore Community Foundation to help provide support and leadership in this area and to expand its services to nonprofits. Among the services most critical to the nonprofit community were training opportunities for board members and staff, cost containment strategies and back-office services, event clearinghouse for nonprofit agencies, and opportunities for further networking among nonprofit leadership.
Participants also heard presentations from Eric Brenner, Director of the Governor’s Grants Office, Dawn Edwards, Managing Director of Development for the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, and Ginny Capute, Instructional Librarian, Chesapeake College. The presentations focused on grant writing, grant opportunities, and on the Foundation Center, sponsored by the Mid-Shore Community Foundation and hosted by Chesapeake College.
