Princeton AlumniCorps’ Emerging Leaders professional development pro- gram is launching this June in Wash- ington, DC! The program has already generated a great deal of interest from area nonprofit employees and alumni of the Project 55 Fellowship Program. We plan to announce our first class of Emerging Leaders over the 2011 Reunions weekend. Emerging Leaders is designed to transform young professionals work- ing in the public interest into invested nonprofit leaders. Participants will develop the leadership capabilities, management skills, and confidence to accelerate their careers while yielding tangible results and lasting value for the nonprofit sector. Over the course of ten months, participants will develop leadership competencies and sector-specific skills, benefit from mentor and peer support, and practice ―leadership-in- action.‖ The program has the twofold potential to transform the ca- reer trajectories of those who show promise as future leaders of the nonprofit sector, and, as a result, to have a transformative im- pact on the sector itself. Emerging Leaders welcomes participation from graduates of Princeton and other uni- versities who are committed to innova- tive leadership in the nonprofit sector. The pilot program, set to begin on June 5, will include full and half day sessions taking place once a month until April 2012. The curriculum in- cludes a ―stretch‖ project where the participants will plan, manage, and execute a specific goal within their organizations. The lead facilitator and trainer for the Emerging Leaders curriculum is Hilary Joel ’85. Joel is an executive coach and management consultant with 25 years of experience across nu- merous industries. With the program’s promising outlook, AlumniCorps hopes to develop a tested, scalable cur- riculum that can be adapted for use with future cohorts in cities around the country. Email : [email protected]. In This Issue New Emerging Leaders Program to Launch June 5 Visit Shared Effort online to read these articles and more! blog.alumnicorps.org 2 Keystone Society 3 Interview with AlumniCorps Board Chair Kenly Webster ’55 and President Bill Leahy ’66 4 Regional Updates 5 Marty Johnson ’81: Volunteerism in Perspective 5 Development Update Volume 14, Number 2 Spring 2011 Join us during Reunions 2011! Alumni in Action: The Opportunity & Challenge of Public Service With panelists Doug Borchard '82, Margarita Rosa '74 and Wendy Selig '86 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. • Friday, May 27, 2011 • McCosh 28 Princeton AlumniCorps Open House Reconnect with classmates, former fellows, mentors, and other alumni. Celebrate 21 years of PP55 Fellowships, and our two newest programs for alumni of all ages: Emerging Leaders and Community Volunteers! 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. • Friday, May 27, 2011 • 12 Stockton Street Hilary Joel ’85, Stan Katz h’21 and Margarita Rosa ’74
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An Interview with AlumniCorps Board Chair Kenly Webster ’55 and President Bill Leahy ’66
President Bill Leahy ‘66 and Board Chair
Kenly Webster ‘55
-Bay Area- The Bay Area is continu-
ing its efforts to grow its
program. Two new partner
organizations, including the
Boys and Girls Club of the
Peninsula, where Peter
Fortenbaugh ’89 is the Ex-
ecutive Director, are cur-
rently interviewing appli-
cants for fellowship posi-
tions next year. The local
committee has also begun
brainstorming possible seminars for
2011-12 fellows, and looks forward to
continuing its partnership with Stan-
ford’s SPIN and Harvard’s CPIC pro-
gram for these events.
-Boston-
Fellows, AlumniCorps supporters,
alumni and local members of the class
of 1955 recently attended a seminar at
The Food Project, where they visited
the organization’s greenhouse. Look-
ing ahead, AlumniCorps and the Har-
vard Center for Public Interest Careers
will be volunteering at CitySprouts’
school gardens in Cambridge, MA for
a half day of service. Boston is always
looking for new Project 55 partner or-
ganizations to increase the number of
placements! If interested, visit the
Boston area page on the AlumniCorps
website.
—submitted by Rebecca Nemec ’05
-Chicago-
Over the last few months, the Chi-
cago Area Committee has continued to
stay busy, organizing weekly seminars
with the Northwestern and University
of Chicago Public Interest Programs as
well as regular events for fellows. In
February, fellows explored the city's
emerging arts scene as part of the Chi-
cago Arts District Gallery Night. On
March 5, PP55 Fellows, mentors, and
Area Committee members gathered at
the home of Amanda Peluse '02 to dis-
cuss, over wine and cheese, fellows'
experiences thus far. Finally, we're
excited to announce our upcoming
joint AlumniCorps/Princeton Club of
Chicago precept on "The Future of
Education Reform in Chicago", organ-
ized by Committee members Erica
Jones ’06 and Stacy McAuliffe '98.
The precept will take place on May 17
and will feature a panel of local
Princeton alumni active in the educa-
tion sector. Executive Director Kath-
leen Reilly will be attending.
—submitted by Aiala Levy ’07
-Connecticut- Two fellows have already signed on
to be a part of the 2011-12 fellowship
year in Connecticut, both at Norwalk
Community Health Center. Two other
organizations are currently interview-
ing applicants and Harry Berkowitz
’55 is hopeful that we’ll be able to con-
tinue to grow the program.
-New York- On March 23, Dr. R. Gordon Doug-
las '55 moderated our seminar on Sus-
tainable Food and Public Health. Pan-
elists included Nancy Easton '88, Co-
Founder/Executive Director of Well-
ness in the Schools. We also invited
fellows from Harvard, Stanford and
Dartmouth to participate in the semi-
nar. On April 3, Mike and Lois Rob-
bins '55 hosted the first ever Princeton
AlumniCorps Alumni Fundraising
Phone-a-thon during which 136 suc-
cessful calls were made. We are also
looking forward to welcoming more
fellows to New York and participating
in our annual "Politics and the
Press" seminar which will
be moderated by the First
Lady of Princeton Alumni-
Corps in New York, Judy
Hole Suratt.
—submitted by Kristen Smith
’03
-Philadelphia-
Carol Rosenfeld ’05 and Ka-
tie Thaeder ’09 have teamed
up to strengthen the Philadel-
phia program. They met with
the Princeton Club of Phila-
delphia in February and Carol has led a
successful effort to recruit new partner
organizations for the 2011-12 fellow-
ship year. If you’re interested in volun-
teering in Philadelphia, visit the Phila-
delphia area page on the AlumniCorps
website.
-Washington, DC- After a workshop on "Career Next
Steps" in January, the DC program is
wrapping up its seminar programming
with a string of content-based sessions,
covering education reform, federal
government service, and health care
reform. In February, AlumniCorps
Board Member and Managing Director
of the National Council for Teacher
Quality, Arthur McKee ’90, joined
Shantelle Wright of Achievement Prep
Academy to discuss the challenges and
promise of DC public education. In
March, fellows heard from a panel of
alumni working across the federal gov-
ernment, and in April, they'll be join-
ing a health economist at the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services
and one of President Obama's senior
Page 4 Shared Effort
Regional Updates
49
The Project 55 Fellowship
Program is proud to welcome
new fellows thus far!
Visit Shared Effort online to see the current list!
Volume 14, Number 2 Page 5
Volunteerism in Perspective
Thanks to the AlumniCorps for orga-
nizing last month’s ―Engaged At Every
Age‖ (EAEA) Conference to explore
volunteering from a variety of perspec-
tives. While a schedule change pre-
vented me from joining as a panelist, I
enjoyed the chance to sit in on an after-
noon panel.
It triggered some thoughts about
what I’ve learned over the last 30 years
as a manager at Isles, a nonprofit com-
munity development and environ-
mental organization based in Trenton
that works with over 1,000 volunteers
annually. In addition, I serve as a vol-
unteer with organizations statewide
and nationally. AlumniCorps asked
me to share a few of those lessons
here.
Volunteerism in Perspective
Historians and social scientists write
about voluntarism as a uniquely
American concept. With over one mil-
lion private, registered charities across
the country, burgeoning numbers of
Baby Boomers reaching retirement
age, and millions in search of more
―mission-driven‖ and meaningful lives,
an entire industry of voluntarism has
arisen. A Google search of Volunteer
Opportunities offers over 15 million
hits.
No wonder that voluntarism often
becomes an end goal. Questions like,
―What’s a good volunteer opportu-
nity?‖ often quickly move to a discus-
sion of technique (Does the organiza-
tion make it easy for volunteers? Do
they manage them well? Are there
clear, identifiable objectives, etc.?). Or
the discussion will turn to the type of
organization that works best for volun-
teers. At the EAEA Conference for
example, some speakers suggested that
small organizations are better for vol-
unteers than big ones, ―staff driven‖
organizations are worse than
―volunteer driven‖ ones, or that organi-
zations that volunteers can really influ-
ence are better (at least for those from
Princeton) than those you can’t influ-
ence.
To me, this focus on technique or
type of organization is a part of the
picture, but not the main part. The real
goal for organizations is to perform at
the highest level in relation to the re-
sources (money, volunteers, etc) flow-
ing into them. The best organizations
are those that focus on being the best
organizations—not the best volunteer
opportunity.
What we hope, is that organizations
can perform highly while also effec-
tively involving volunteers—because
volunteers add to their performance.
In my experience, I have seen volun-
teers destroy organizations, and I have
seen staff do the same. I have wit-
nessed large organizations give volun-
teers better experiences than small
ones. I’ve been a volunteer board
member of a staff-driven organization
(think Princeton University) that func-
tions quite highly. And I have seen
―smart‖ volunteers that tried to control
organizations and systematically un-
dermined them.
So what’s the best advice for those
seeking to volunteer?
1. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Life is short, so try to find the best
organizations working on the things
you care about. ―Best‖ organizations
ask hard questions of themselves and
others, maintain continually improv-
ing systems to manage information
(financial, contacts, volunteers, etc.),
admit that which they are not doing,
and strive to get upstream or to the
―core‖ of the challenges they address.
2. Remain humble.
You may or may not know what the
organization should do. Be open to
being wrong. Be open to how volun-
teers can get in the way. The art of
managing nonprofit organizations is a
relatively young specialty, and bring-
ing your ―business‖-like approaches
may not be what’s needed. We are all
learning as we go.
3. Then ask about the techniques
and types of organizations out there.
There’s a place for this discussion.
It’s just at the bottom of the list.
Marty Johnson ’81 is President and Founder
of Isles, Inc., a nonprofit that fosters self-help
approaches to community development, educa-
tion, energy efficiency and urban environmental restoration. (www.isles.org)
2 Months Left to Reach Our Goal!
Thanks to those who have given, we are at 73% of our goal to raise $228,000 from individual donors this year. Make a gift today to help us reach 100% by June 30!
Amount raised as of April 15, 2011 Amount left to raise by June 30, 2011
Marty Johnson ’81
PRINCETON ALUMNICORPS
12 Stockton Street
Princeton, NJ 08540-6813
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
“You will be saying that shared effort to solve our problems is not a hopeless venture” — John Gardner
Princeton AlumniCorps Board of Directors
R. Kenly Webster ’55, Chairman
William R. Leahy, Jr., M.D. ’66, President
Jessica D. Johnson ’98, Secretary
Charles F. Mapes, Jr. ’55, Treasurer
Thomas D. Allison ’66
Illa Brown ’76
Margaret Crotty ’94
Andrew Goldstein ’06
James A. Gregoire ’69
John D. Hamilton, Jr. ’55
Stanley N. Katz h’21
Katie Ko ’09
James D. Lynn ’55
Kathleen McCleery ’75
W. Arthur McKee ’90
Dominic F. Michel ’70
Kathryn A. Miller ’77
Paula Morency ’77
Ralph Nader ’55
Anthony Quainton ’55
Michael D. Robbins ’55
Margarita Rosa, Esq. ’74
Marsha Rosenthal ’76
Warner V. Slack ’55
Samuel T. Suratt ’55
Scott Taylor ’75
Richard E. Thompson ’55
Richard O. Walker ’73
Lindsay Wall ’02
Princeton AlumniCorps Staff
Kathleen E. Reilly, Executive Director
Carrie Diaz-Littauer, Office Administrator
Sara Gordon, Project 55 Fellowship Program Manager
Arti Sheth ’08, Development Officer
John Shriver, Program Director, Community Volunteers