WITH SPECIAL GRATITUDE TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS:

ACCESS TO THE PRESENTERS' POWERPOINT SLIDES

Emotional Intelligence: Maximizing Your Leadership Potential
Presenter: Cynthia S. Paris, Founder and CEO, The People Skills Group, LLC

Gain knowledge about what emotional intelligence (EQ) is and what it is not, explore key emotional intelligence competencies for successful leadership and see how to identify, evaluate and leverage your own emotional strengths to maximize your leadership effectiveness.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW POWERPOINT SLIDES

Leadership Presence: Leveraging the Power of Your Voice
Presenter: Sheryl Williams, Chief Empowerment Officer, SheWill Lead

How to strike the most effective balance between voice for self and voice for others including insights into resolving conflict and negotiating positive outcomes. How you can develop your own “signature voice” - that unique leadership presence that is confident, authentic and impactful.
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Phenomenal Leader, That's You
Presenter: Meghan McVety, M.P.A., Principal and Co-Founder of Capacity for Change, LLC

Maya Angelou wrote, I'm a woman phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” Women are the leaders we need today and in the future so our discussion will follow Dr. Angelou’s lead to assert and celebrate women’s leadership. We’ll consider what it means to be a woman in leadership, why we need women leaders, and how to cultivate and sustain the talents and well-being of women leaders.
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FOLLOW-UP LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Aligning Your Presence with Your Situation
Thursday, February 16 - 9:00-1 0:30am (Free-of Charge)
Sheryl Williams, M.S., Chief Empowerment Officer, SheWill Lead

Like a signature, your presence is one that is recognizably unique and leaves a substantive impression on those around you and within your organization. How can you improve your leadership presence in an authentic way? What should you do first? This session will use assessments and self-reflection to develop your leadership presence profile. Using this profile, participants will identify a specific situation where their presence is being challenged or a growth opportunity has been presented. Each participant will create an integrated action plan to proactively manage the challenge or meet the opportunity.
For more information and registration: execoffice@mcfoundationinc.org (484-532-7387)

Managing and Optimizing Conflicts
March 23 - 9:00-10:30am (Free-of Charge)
Meghan McVety, M.P.A., Principal and Co-Founder of Capacity for Change, LLC

Conflict is inevitable. Leveraging the potential positives of conflicts is not inevitable. In fact, conflicts most often are missed opportunities for innovations and breakthroughs. This workshop will cover the nature of conflicts in organizations, and explore strategies to manage and optimize conflicts. We will discuss how to achieve organizational alignment (since aligned organizations handle conflict well), and techniques and skills for successful conflict resolution.
For more information and registration: execoffice@mcfoundationinc.org (484-532-7387)

Understanding Your Emotional Intelligence Strengths and Development Needs: Individual Feedback Session
Cindy S. Paris, Founder and CEO, The People Skills Group, LLC

Now that you have an idea of what Emotional Intelligence means for enhancing leadership, we are offering attendees the opportunity to take the EQ-i2.0 assessment and receive a two-hour, one-one feedback session and interpretation of your results (either on the phone or in-person) at a reduced consulting rate. During this session, you will:

• Get a 27-page comprehensive Leadership Report which will provide insight into your strengths and potential areas for development on four key dimensions of leadership;
• See how your EQ scores compare to those of other leaders;
• Start to recognize the building blocks for enhancing your EQ development efforts; and
• Highlight strategies for development that make sense for you in the context of your leadership role within your particular team and organizational culture.

CONTINUING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WOMEN
IN THE NONPROFIT WORKPLACE

Leading With Intention: Strengthening Your Leadership Strategy

The Montgomery County Foundation, Inc. presented Leading With Intention: Strengthening Your Leadership Strategy, a major event focused on women in the nonprofit workplace on Tuesday, December 1st to a full-house of highly engaged participants at Blue Bell County Club.

Keynote speaker and SheWill Lead founder was Sheryl Williams whose personal and professional passion is supporting women in leveraging their strengths and developing both the executive presence and leadership strategies to attain their goals. A luncheon followed that included the presentation of the Foundation’s Woman of Distinction Award to Valerie A. Arkoosh, MD, MPH and Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

Much appreciation to each of our sponsors this year, with very special acknowledgement to The Haverford Trust Company which has played the invaluable role of Event Partner in support of both the Leading With Intention convening and the follow-up programming scheduled for 2016. Haverford's exceptionally generous partnership has been lead by Christine E. Walker, CFP®, CIMA®, Vice President & Portfolio Manager and Robert F. Stiles, Vice President, Business Development with whom we are honored to be associated.

Introduction:

The Women's Leadership Roundtable Pilot Project was created in response to The 74% Initiative: A Conversation About Women in the Nonprofit Workplace event presented in December 2014 by The Montgomery County Foundation, Inc. (MCFI). The Roundtable Pilot was intended to provide a unique opportunity for a small group of women executive directors who each committed to convene for three sessions in a supportive, confidential environment to raise and address issues related to women in leadership within the region’s nonprofit sector. The pilot project was supported by Steel Valley Investment Group of Raymond James and MCFI.

Process:

MCFI forwarded an invitation to women executive directors distributed via the 74% Initiative attendance list, all nonprofit organizations within the Foundation’s database and a selection of other sources. Interest was immediate and vigorous. Within a short period of time the ideal maximum number of 12 spots was filled and a waiting list was created for prospective future opportunities.

The Roundtable was designed to be of significant personal and professional benefit, focused on what it takes to for a woman to successfully thrive in a leadership role within the nonprofit sphere.

It is critical to note that the framework was meant to ensure a trusting space in which each woman could feel confident that nothing revealed regarding anyone's personal or professional circumstances would be taken outside of the room. Also, it was understood that nothing shared would have an effect on any future MCFI granting considerations.

The Roundtable was ultimately comprised of a group whose diversity is characterized by age, culture/race and faith-affiliation. Represented are nonprofits ranging from small, grassroots organizations to a very large enterprise that is part of a national structure. Professional experience within the nonprofit sphere covers the spectrum from a founding executive director in the midst of formal succession after close to 40 years at the helm of her organization to a young woman at another nonprofit who has been promoted from within to the leadership role that she has just begun.

The Roundtable met first on Thursday, April 23 from 9:00-11:00am. The group chose to extend the timelines to 11:30am for the Thursday, May 21 and Thursday, June 11 sessions. Session content included what it takes to thrive in a leadership role, understanding the distinctions between management and leadership, organizational culture, managing change, board development, resolving staff concerns including termination and the benefits of developing a network of support.

Facilitator Background:

• 100% of Roundtable participants will attend each of the three sessions.
• 85% of Roundtable Pilot participants will report a positive, meaningful learning experience.
• 90% of Roundtable Pilot participants will report benefiting from the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills within the supportive comraderie of a networking framework.

Outputs:

• The attendance rate was 89%. Those that could not attend each reported their unanticipated circumstances prior to the convenings.
• 100% of the participants expressed a positive, meaningful learning experience in terms of supporting individual problem-solving and growth strategies in the written and/or verbal evaluations.
  Comments included:
  - All of this information, even if not pertinent to me at the moment, is vital to my new role of ED. I love these meetings and look forward to them.
  - Very good discussion. Supports my learning objectives as Executive Director.
  - Desire to discuss leadership and use of power from a woman's perspective.
• 100% of participants expressed the invaluable benefits of networking with other women nonprofit leaders in support of their own development and growth in the written and/or verbal evaluations.
  Comments included:
  - So appreciative to have this experience with so many talented women.
  - Excellent forum for sharing issues and experiences.
  - Very needed support and networking.
  - Great opportnity to share, network, vent and learn.

Additional Comments:

• As noted, the Roundtable participants unanimously requested, prior to the end of the Pilot, that the Roundtable be extended and each committed to participating through December 2015.
• Significant insight was proffered with regard to lessons learned that would strengthen prospective Roundtable replication. Twelve participants is an optimum number for this framework. A commitment to attending each Roundtable is critical at least for the first several sessions. The more diverse the group the better in terms of stimulating discussion and benefiting from varying points of view. Meeting at the same, “safe” place on a specific schedule appears to work well during the first phase of getting to know each other. Including a skilled facilitator and/or presenters familiar with the women and nonprofit leadership sphere is key. Balancing the presentation of content on a variety of topics with plenty of opportunity for more informal, open-ended group sharing is very clearly integral to the success of the experience. Ongoing evaluation and encouraging input on the outcomes, content and format is also critical.
• The Pilot definitively underscored that carefully-conceived, well-executed networking opportunities for women in leadership roles in the region’s nonprofit sector are highly desired and have the capacity to significantly affect each woman’s sense of professional well-being and efficacy.
  

Next Steps:

The group chose to meet once during the summer and then monthly September through December 2015. MCFI offered to provide the location and administrative support and to cover facilitation and presentation expenses.

During this phase, Roundtable members will more clearly focus their personal objectives and will report on the ways in which the Roundtable experience has supported the ability to identify and address individual professional challenges and potentially those of the organization they lead with greater assurance, clarity and success.

It is anticipated that the extended Roundtable timelines will provide valuable opportunities to further assess the extent to which this model might be replicated for a new Roundtable of women nonprofit leaders and/or a spin-off group for "ascending leaders". Further evaluation will be forthcoming as the project continues into the next phase.

July 27, 2015

The 74% Initiative Toolbox

This Toolbox is intended to provide some simple tips and resources that will support the sharing of The 74% Initiative with colleagues and board members - anyone interested in the subject of women in the nonprofit workplace.

Special appreciation to the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh for sharing their 74% - related research and materials with us here. 

Preparation:

• We suggest you begin by reviewing The 74% Initiative Keynote Address by Peggy Outon, founding Executive Director of the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh.
  
  AUDIO-VISUAL PRESENTATION:
  PEGGY OUTON Pay Equity for Women in the Nonprofit Workplace
  
  
• You may wish to also familiarize yourself with the content of the PowerPoint Presentation that accompanied the Keynote Address.
  
  
• Please feel free to reach out to The Montgomery County Foundation, Inc. via operations@mcfoundationinc.org to confer on tailor-made approaches to drawing your group into a thought-provoking, preliminary discussion on women in the nonprofit workplace.

Engaging Your Colleagues and/or Board Members:

• Consider sending an email to those you believe might have an interest in The 74% Initiative and include the introductory infographic that synopsizes the report findings related to women and pay equity in the nonprofit sector.


• The 74% Infographic: November 2013 Infographic Poster


• Invite them to a conversation about Women in the Nonprofit Workplace - perhaps within a staff meeting setting or over the lunch-hour one day. The Foundation would be pleased to make a presentation and/or support facilitation if that would be of interest.


• Screen a portion of the Keynote Address (please see above) that you think would most effectively represent the topic for your group.


• Consider using the subsequent format to jump-start a preliminary discussion. Introduce the "What, So What, Now What?" concept as synopsized below as a means of eliciting the group's reaction to the topics raised in the video.

"What, So What, Now What?"

This is a model designed to offer the opportunity to debrief a meeting topic that generates complex or controversial responses - a chance for the entire gathering to reflect on a shared experience that builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict. Here is how it works - simple, straight-forward and effective:

• Everyone is included and all have an equal opportunity to contribute.


• If you have a large group, break into tables of approximately six people each.


• After the preliminary presentation (for instance, viewing the Keynote Address video together), share that the group will now endeavor to process the content for a short period of time. Each of three stages will include:
  1.) Asking participants to reflect upon and record their feedback alone (two minutes),
  2.) followed by sharing their comments within the table setting (ten minutes) and finally
  3.) offering the table's most compelling feedback to the entire group (ten minutes in total).
  
  This process is repeated for each of the three stages, as defined below:
  
• First Stage - WHAT?: What happened? What did you notice? What facts or observations stood out?
• Second Stage - SO WHAT?: What about you heard is important? What patterns or conclusions are emerging? What hypothesis can we make?
• Third Stage - NOW WHAT?: What follow-up or actions might make sense for this group to consider?
• Depending on the outcome of this first convening, you may wish to organize subsequent sessions on this or related topics. Please share your experiences with the Foundation in order to include us in your learning process. Remember that we would be happy to confer on a wide range of "Continuing Conversations" opportunities whenever you might wish.

What's Next?:

• Check in with The Montgomery County Foundation, Inc. to make sure you/your organization are included with regard to invitations to "The 74% Initiative: Continuing Conversations" gatherings.
• Suggest workshop topics you and your group might like to see offered.
• Join the Foundation in the coordination of its late-fall 2015 Women and Leadership Major Event planning.

Other Resources of Interest