A 2024 cohort will be formed; the application and schedule of sessions will be posted by November 2023.
The Center for Healthy Nonprofits is hosting a 9-session Survival Series for newer nonprofit Chief Executive Officers and Executive Directors.
Paula Van Ness, Director of the Center, will be joined by a roster of experienced nonprofit leaders who will draw upon their collective decades of experience as senior nonprofit leaders. The program will give a cohort of ED/CEOs practical information to not only survive—but to thrive—as extraordinary leaders of successful nonprofits.
The program will kick off in January and consists of nine two-hour sessions and an additional one-on-one coaching session.
Facilitated conversations will cover the competencies and key relationships required of nonprofit executives, including tips for effective management of your board and staff, building and maintaining a culture aligned with your mission and values, problem-solving and decision-making, managing change and healthy time management, and cultivating work-life balance. Each session offers opportunities to network with your counterparts, creating relationships for continued sharing of successes and challenges.
2023 Executive Director/CEO Survival Series (January to October 2023)
Trainers/Coaches Paula Van Ness and Guest Presenters (see details below)
Location: CFSA Campus for Session 1 and Session 9; Zoom for Sessions 2 through 8.
Fee: $450 co-pay per participant. Full and partial scholarships are available.
Tentative Schedule and Topics
(All sessions are from 9:00 to 11:00 AM)
Session #1: Thursday, January 12
Overview, introductions, group agreements, SHAPES session with Rose Snyder. This event takes place in person at the CFSA Campus.
Session #2: Thursday, February 9
Effective Boards. Learn about effective board management, meeting facilitation, structure, and more with Beth Morrison.
Session #3: Thursday, March 9
The Board/CEO Partnership. How to work effectively in partnership with your board with Beth Morrison.
Session #4: Thursday, April 13
Four key roles of the nonprofit ED/CEO. How to serve as your organization’s operational and strategist analyst, fund development and donor stewardship leader, organizational thought leader, and mission advocate in the community with Aimee Graves.
Session #5: Thursday, May 11
Operational issues, finance, business, and spending plan with Joan Hubele.
Session #6: Thursday, June 8
ED/CEO self-management, self-care, managing time with Beth Morrison.
Summer Break – No July Session
Session #7: Thursday, August 10
Leadership, management, supervision, and teams with Michael McDonald
Session #8: Thursday, September 7
Organizational and workplace culture with Michael McDonald
Session #9: Thursday, October 12
A potpourri session covering topics suggested by participants including managing change, cultivating resilience, legal issues, advocacy, and media spokesperson tips with Terry Perl. This event takes place in person at the CFSA Campus.
About Our Presenters
Rose Snyder, Consultant/Coach, Coordinator for the Center for Healthy Nonprofits
Rose Snyder is passionate about helping leaders discover their own unique gifts and how to use these gifts to live an integrated and authentic life. She has her own consulting and coaching practice and works part-time for the Center for Healthy Nonprofits at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.
Rose has a master’s degree in organizational management and a bachelor’s degree in education. She has trained extensively with BoardSource, formerly the National Center for Nonprofit Boards, and is one of only a handful in the world trained to conduct Psycho-geometrics® (Shapes) communication seminars. In 2020, Rose received her ACC credential through the International Coaching Federation.
Beth Morrison, Consultant/Coach
Beth Morrison has 40 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, having recently left the CEO seat with over 25 years as a CEO. Beth has led organizations, large and small, and is recognized as an accomplished turnaround specialist, with vast experience in operational and functional restructuring. In short, Beth has been in the thick of it – merger successes, merger failures, rightsizing, leading through difficult culture shifts, hands-on leadership during the pandemic, and building new buildings and new teams.
Beth’s purpose in her nonprofit consulting work is to enhance the value of the organization she is assisting, working to support struggling or growing organizations to strengthen and better serve their mission.
Beth is a graduate of Central Michigan University and the University of Arizona. She holds certifications in Professional, Positive Psychology and Well-Being Coaching; Interim CEO; Lifecycle Capacity consultant; and Playing Big Facilitator. In her spare time, Beth loves to swim, be in nature, read ALL the books, dabble in writing, bake for others, and spend time with her family.
Aimee Graves, MA, Executive Director, The Haven
Aimee Graves joined The Haven in February 2022 as Executive Director. She brings over 15 years of executive-level positions and a career spanning over 23 years in community-based nonprofit organizations that serve people recovering from addiction and mental health disorders. Her experience encompasses a broad range of prevention, early intervention, and treatment services for children, adolescents, adults, and families. Aimee is an alumna of the Survival Skills program.
Joan Hubele, MBA, Founder/Owner, Hubele Accounting and Consulting.
Joan Hubele received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arizona and majored in Finance and Entrepreneurship. She returned to UA and received her Master of Business Administration.
Joan has been in the finance and accounting field for twenty years and in the world of nonprofit finance and accounting for the last seven. Previously, she worked for a variety of companies and industries including big tech, manufacturing, and healthcare. Within the nonprofit field, she has worked with various sizes and types of nonprofits ranging from a very large behavioral health organization all the way to a single-person fundraising organization. Most recently, she served as the CFO of a dynamic mid-sized nonprofit.
Michael McDonald, Executive Director, Tucson Audubon
With a master’s degree in international management, Michael McDonald currently serves as the Executive Director of Tucson Audubon, after having served several decades in leadership positions at a handful of Arizona nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
Realizing all the mistakes he’s made along the way in his organizational leadership practice, Michael McDonald is back in school part-time for a master’s degree in social work, learning alongside the next generation of community leaders. To personally rejuvenate, Michael birds, gardens, plays piano, and gets goofy with his granddaughters.
Terry Perl
Terry Allen Perl served as the first CEO of Chimes International and the Chimes family of services, a group of not-for-profit agencies based in Maryland. During his four decades of service, Chimes grew from a small local special education school for children with intellectual disabilities into an international organization providing a wide range of educational, vocational, employment, residential, and habilitation services and supports for over 18,000 people with barriers to independent living.
Under Terry’s leadership, Chimes developed nationally recognized, customer-focused innovative programs and supports for people with intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, and mental health challenges. As a recognized leader in his field, he chaired or served on the boards of numerous local and national accrediting organizations, advocacy groups, and provider associations.
In recent years, Terry has led efforts to develop and implement strategic plans for a variety of Tucson groups including a religious organization, a social service agency, a continuing care community, and a golf club. Since relocating to Tucson, he volunteers on the boards of a number of local charities and social service organizations. Terry completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at The George Washington University with a focus on speech and language pathology and business and public administration.
Paula Van Ness, Director for the Center for Healthy Nonprofits
Paula Van Ness, MS, is a seasoned nonprofit executive with more than 40 years in CEO/Executive Director positions locally and nationally. Previously, she served in the chief executive position for Family Planning Centers of Greater LA, AIDS Project Los Angeles, National AIDS Fund, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Make-A-Wish America, Starlight Children’s Foundation, and Connecticut Community Foundation.
She has served in leadership roles for several national and local nonprofit boards including Independent Sector where she was the treasurer, Gift of Adoption Fund which she chaired, and SafeParking LA which she chaired. Currently serves on the board of the Pima Community College Foundation board where she chairs the audit committee and her church council where she chairs the finance committee.
She possesses a master’s degree in organizational development from the University of San Francisco, a BS from The University of Arizona, and currently directs the Center for Healthy Nonprofits at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.