NYCON Hosts Peer Group Meeting for Capital Region Executive Directors

From the New York Non-Profit Press
Written by Marissa Fariello   

The New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. (NYCON) held an Executive Director Peer Group Meeting on Friday, April 19th, bringing nonprofit leaders together to discuss what the main focus should be of the local nonprofit sector and its executives. The meeting marked the start of a collaborative initiative between nonprofit executive directors in the Capital Region.

The informal discussion, led by Laura Ladd Bierman, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters, focused on how a peer group will benefit nonprofit leaders and organizations as a whole in our community. The attendees discussed a set of questions concerning the logistics of creating a collaboration of area executive directors, including:
-What would nonprofit leaders in the community group do with a peer group and and how it can best serve them in their job?
-Do executive directors want to have formal meetings & programming? Do they want to meet up for informal networking breakfasts?
-How will group members make sure that communication is both on-going and peer led?

Tom Tipple, Executive Director at Community Caregivers, emphasized the overall message of the group discussion: "We should sharpen our advocacy arrows through collaboration."

The executive directors in attendance agreed that the creation of a peer group for Capital Region executive directors will eliminate their "feelings of isolation" as leaders and provide a significant opportunity for holistic approaches to tackling the issues that face their organizations.

"We have a great need for more people to collaborate in an effective way," said Bill Dessingue, Executive Director of ROUSE, Inc. "It's how we're going to get things done on a regional level."

Amy Klein, Executive Director of Capital District Community Gardens, expressed more urgently the need for nonprofit leaders to come together at a time when many organizations are struggling at the budget level, suggesting that such a peer effort could bring larger grants into the area. "We don't have the money that large groups like the NRA have. The only way we will get anywhere is through numbers. We as a group should come together to bring more into the area instead of fighting against each other for what limited resources are available to us."

“This emerging group reflects what is becoming a renewed interest and energy, particularly from an advocacy and peer support perspective, for nonprofits executives across the state to develop collectively a stronger leadership presence,” said Doug Sauer, CEO of NYCON. “It is very challenging as our sector is largely on the defensive these days with government funding streams, regulations and pressures fostering division among us.”

The Executive Director Peer Group Meetings will be held exclusively for executive directors. The next Executive Director Peer Group Meeting is scheduled for May 17th from 8am to 9:30am at the NYCON office, 272 Broadway, Menands. At the next meeting, the group will choose discussion topics for future meetings and further discuss what the group's main focus should be now and going forward. The group also plans on creating a listserve to facilitate communication between area executive directors.

For the online article click here.