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YNPN: Tomorrow’s nonprofit professionals today!

April 27, 2009

We always knew that our Director of Client Services Allyson Beigeleisen was on the pulse of emerging nonprofit leadership. As a member of the national board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN), Allyson had the privilege of attending the 2009 YNPN Leaders Conference. The national board and over 60 chapter leaders from regions across the country, as well as a number of local twenty-something nonprofit professionals, convened in Washington, D.C. to discuss the issues that are important to the next generation of nonprofit leaders.

As could be expected, much of the conversation at the conference centered around the economy’s impact on career paths and longevity. According to Allyson, the overall vibe about long-term career opportunities in the sector hovered around cautious optimism. While there was concern about the ability to retain one’s job (about 5% of conference attendees had been laid off this year) or build a long-term career (many attendees planned to work in the government or private sector at some point), there was an overall belief that the sector will continue to grow and create opportunities for young professionals. This sentiment was especially true for people who worked in the education field or other sub-sectors that may benefit from initiatives such as the Serve America Act and Obama’s economic stimulus packages to nonprofits.

When the topic of the “leadership gap” arose, practically all YNPNers in attendance saw the glass as half-full. The feeling of “we’re here and ready to lead” overwhelmed any perception that the nonprofit sector is either currently experiencing or heading for a leadership crisis. As Allyson summarized, “This generation is the solution. We’re doing everything we can to prepare for leadership roles.”

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Events & Career Fairs, Talent Issues

Knowledge and Inspiration Shared at Social Entrepreneurship Forum

November 21, 2008

Last week, Commongood Careers was fortunate to attend the Social Entrepreneurship: Lessons and Strategies Forum, sponsored by BCCJ – Lead Boston and Ashoka and held at Brandeis University. The day included presentations from a number of speakers, including Lisa Nitz, Vice President, Global Engagement Team at Ashoka who gave a compelling talk outlining the role social entrepreneurs play in the social sector, the importance of investing in social entrepreneurs and providing a wealth of knowledge to those thinking about starting their own social enterprise. Lisa left the audience feeling more informed, engaged, and confident with its abilities to accelerate social change with innovative and sustainable ideas!

Eric Dawson, President and Co-Founder of Peace Games followed with an inspiring story about what led to the creation of Peace games, his challenges and achievements. One interesting concept that often social entrepreneurs struggle with is measurement and how you know whether or not your program is effective. Brilliantly, Dawson raised the point that impact is more than about traditional forms of evaluation and measurement, distinguishing W and w - BIG work and LITTLE work. BIG work is about never losing sight of the overall mission, the bigger picture and not getting discouraged when trying to see impact because social change is hard to measure and often isn’t apparent right away. LITTLE work is the quantitative measurement, which most organizations need for funding. He also said that social entrepreneurship is more than just building programs – building programs isn’t enough; it’s about building movements, cultivating relationships and connecting people. Dawson was very thoughtful and sincere in his reflections about Peace Games and Social Entrepreneurship – we were all very grateful for his openness.

It was an inspiring day to say the least, and it was great to be surrounded by such progressive individuals looking to take what they learned back to their communities. Thank you BCCJ, ASHOKA and Brandeis Heller School of Social Policy and Management for a powerful event.

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Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation

Social Entrepreneurism is Alive and Well in Boston

November 11, 2008

On Friday, November 7, 2008, Commongood Careers was proud to co-host a
panel discussion on Social Entrepreneurship along with the Coro National
Alumni Association, which was having its annual gathering in Boston this
year for the first time.  Bringing the gathering to Boston allowed us a
unique opportunity to showcase Boston as a nationally recognized hub of
social entrepreneurship and to convene leaders from some of the city’s
most prominent institutions.

Open to the public, the session was hosted at Northeastern University,
drew an audience of over 60 people, and was moderated by the Founder and
CEO of Commongood Careers, James Weinberg.  Other panelists included:
James Cleveland, President of Jumpstart for Young Children; Priscilla
Cohen, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Citizen Schools; Jennifer
Macauley, Director of Communications at New Profit Inc.; and Christine
Morin, Director of New Site Development at City Year Inc.

The panel opened with James Weinberg providing framing remarks about the
powerful nature of social entrepreneurship as a force for innovative
change throughout the world.  Each panelist then took several minutes to
introduce themselves and answer the question: “Who is the most
inspirational social entrepreneur that you have ever known, and what do
you think made them a ‘social entrepreneur’ as you think about and
define the term.” The audience then engaged in an hour of lively
interactive discussion with the panel, followed by time for individual
discussions and networking.

It was a powerful event and we would like to thank each of our
panelists, Northeastern University for so generously hosting us, and the
Coro National Alumni Association for sponsoring the event and making
this important discussion open to the public.

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Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation

Coro and CGC Present Social Entrepreneurship Panel: Friday, November 7th 1-3pm

November 03, 2008

Join us for an exciting discussion about SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Friday, November 7, 2008
1:00 - 3:00pm

Northeastern University
Egan Research Center, Raytheon Amphitheatre
120 Forsyth Street, Boston, MA 02115

Moderator:
James Weinberg, Founder & CEO, Commongood Careers

Panelists:
Priscilla Cohen, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Citizen Schools
James Cleveland, President, Jumpstart for Young Children
Jennifer Macauley, Director of Communications, New Profit Inc.
Christine Morin, Director of New Site Development, City Year

This panel is open to the public with an RSVP and is being organized as part of the 2008 Coro National Alumni Gathering.

Session Overview: Social entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as one of the world’s most powerful forces for bringing about positive social change.  Leaders in this hybrid field, which exists somewhere in-between the private, public and nonprofit sectors, are often at the helm of rapidly scaling ventures that offer “game-changing” solutions.  But from where does all this power originate and where is it all headed?  This panel will discuss the essential nature of social entrepreneurs and the factors that make them such a unique lever within our society.  We will also explore what the future of the movement might be, especially in these uncertain economic times.

RSVP ASAP to Maureen Sarna, , 617-542-1404 x 29

Event Sponsors:

Coro trains ethical, diverse civic leaders nationwide.  Coro leaders develop skills and master tools needed to engage and empower communities. The Coro National Alumni Association (CNAA) is the official alumni association of the Coro Foundation and its regional centers and programs.  CNAA strives to foster communication and a spirit of friendship, assistance, and cooperation within the Coro community.  To learn more about Coro and apply for its leadership programs, please visit http://www.coro.org or email .

Commongood Careers is an innovative not-for-profit search firm that supports social entrepreneurs with their recruitment and hiring needs at every organizational level.  Commongood Careers offers personalized, engaged services to jobseekers and nonprofits throughout the hiring process, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge about nonprofit careers. Ultimately, Commongood accelerates social change by placing the best talent in the right roles at the nation’s most effective mission-driven organizations.
To learn more, please visit: http://www.cgcareers.org.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PANEL DIRECTIONS

Northeastern University
Egan Research Center, Raytheon Amphitheatre
120 Forsyth Street, Boston, MA 02115

Parking is available at the Renaissance Parking Garage, 835 Columbus Avenue, Boston.  The Egan Research Center is located behind the parking garage, on the other side of the Ruggles T Station.

Traveling by Public Transportation:

GREEN LINE: From downtown Boston, take an “E” train outbound to the Northeastern stop, the first stop above ground.  From the Northeastern stop, walk down Huntington and turn into the campus by walking down Forsyth Street.  The Egan Research Center is toward the end of the street.

ORANGE LINE: Take the Orange Line going outbound to Forest Hills and get off at Ruggles Station. The Egan Research Center is toward the end of the street.

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Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation

Independent Sector Addresses Next Generation of Leadership Issues

October 31, 2008

Nearly 1,000 nonprofit leaders will gather in Philadelphia on November 9-11 to attend Independent Sector’s Annual Conference. New at this year’s conference is a special program called NGen for nonprofit professionals under the age of 40. This program is designed to help emerging leaders build their leadership skills and professional networks.

As an NGen sponsor, we at Commongood Careers are excited to see these issues being addressed at one of the most well-attended and influential nonprofit conferences.

Learn more about NGen.

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Events & Career Fairs, Talent Issues

From SSIR: What’s Online Got to Do With It?

October 02, 2008

The following is a guest blog submitted by our friends at the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

On October 8th, the Stanford Social Innovation Review will host a conference called Online Giving Marketplaces: Changing the Face of Philanthropy. I’m thrilled to see these platforms finally getting the attention they deserve. I’m also delighted to be moderating one of the panel discussions. Over the years I’ve paid a lot of attention to online giving sites—GlobalGiving, Kiva, NetworkForGood, GiveIndia, HelpArgentina, DonorsChoose, GiveMeaning, and GreaterGood South Africa, among many others (check out socialactions for a mashup of more than 30 platforms).

Why do these sites matter? Because they represent giving that’s faster, more global, and boasts multi-media interactivity? Or is there something else, something more transformative, going on here? Why are these sites proliferating, and what differentiates them from each other?

These platforms are important beyond just their speed and glitz factors in several ways.  They enable small gifts to be aggregated—by the donors—and they let donors manage portfolios of their giving. This is a baseline for ultimately getting to more strategic giving. Second, online giving platforms provide a potential source of data about giving trends and patterns, in something approximating real time. Third, they could provide a common backbone for donation transactions. Fourth, they are positioned to gather real feedback and input from people within funded institutions, as well as the people who benefit from them (see GreatNonprofits for more on this possibility). Fifth, they might serve as early warning signals about issues or giving patterns. Sixth, there are already emerging connections between “online giving platforms,” “social investors,” and “social stock exchanges”—so it only makes sense that new metrics systems, reporting tools, and portfolio assessment tools will come next. Seventh, these sites are specifically set up as marketplaces with buyers and sellers connected by interests; this framework is distinct from the way nonprofits and donors usually talk about themselves, and one that has both advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we have not yet seen real interconnectivity between online giving platforms and “offline” donor services. Is this next, and what might the results of such partnerships look like?

The speakers at the Online Giving Marketplaces conference, who include the founding executives and board members of several of the sites named above, will surely add their ideas to this list.

Updates: The conference has been moved to a larger venue; the original site sold out. (You can find information on logistics here.) If you can’t attend, but have key questions you’d like to ask, send them to me, at and I’ll do my best to get them asked. I’ll report answers via a blog post.

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Events & Career Fairs, Social Innovation

Tenacity Honored at 2008 US Open

August 22, 2008

Tennis anyone?

Tenacity will be honored by the USTA during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the US Open this year as the featured National Junior Tennis League organization. Attracting over 30,000 adult and youth spectators, Arthur Ashe Kids Day honors tennis legend Arthur Ashe and continues his mission of using tennis as a means to instill in kids the values of humanitarianism, leadership and academic excellence. To see the coverage, tune in to CBS Sports TV on Sunday, August 24th, from 12 - 1:30 PM (EST) for the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day national broadcast featuring a short video on Tenacity.

We congratulation our partner Tenacity for being recognized on this special day that celebrates the importance of shaping and encouraging youth in the classroom, on the court, and in the community. 

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Events & Career Fairs, In the News, Social Innovation

Come to the 9th Social Enterprise Summit

February 25, 2008

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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Does your organization use market-based strategies to advance social change? Then join Commongood Careers at the 9th Social Enterprise Summit, hosted by the Social Enterprise Alliance.

9th Social Enterprise Summit
Building Networks - Forming Partnerships - Accessing Capital
March 9-11, 2008
Boston Park Plaza

Through this conference, get connected to this exciting movement for social innovation through:

  • Meeting successful social enterprise practitioners.
  • Enjoying tours of local social enterprises in Boston.
  • Discovering double-bottom line organizations in your community.
  • Attending any of 50 informative sessions on social enterprise strategies.

Social enterprises can do more together than alone, and the Summit will be an opportunity to discuss ideas for advancing the field and creating a more conducive climate for social enterprise. Be there, and tell your friends and colleagues.

Learn more and register.

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Events & Career Fairs, Networking Opportunities, Social Innovation

Reflections on the Massachusetts Conference for Women

December 12, 2007

On Tuesday, December 11th, Commongood Careers attended the Massachusetts Conference for Women. This one day conference is hailed as “…the state’s premier networking and educational experience designed to help women connect and collaborate, and grow personally and professionally”. This year’s attendance topped over 6,000 women from all over the Commonwealth.

This is our second year supporting the conference and once again the conference organizers out did themselves—the event was a huge success. Serving as one of approximately 100 exhibitors, our team met and had wonderful conversations with women interested in fulfilling their personal and professional mission in the nonprofit sector.

Our team felt that the conference provided a fabulous opportunity for women to come together to hear from panelists expert from a wide swath of professions including financial planning, nonprofit management, marketing and communications. Commongood Careers’ very own Jana Reed spoke on the topic of “Leading Innovations to Advance Nonprofits”. Her remarks focused on talent and the need for talent in the nonprofit sector at all levels of the organizational chart. In reflection, we heard from many women that the day was inspirational and helped them to see the impact of their careers through a different lens.

Were you at the conference? If so, please share your thoughts on the day and comment on this blog! If you were there but missed Jana’s presentation, you can find related topics in our Knowledge Center. If you missed the conference this year, we hope to see you next year.

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Events & Career Fairs

Tales from the Road

October 31, 2007

Our fearless Director of Talent has been on road meeting tons of interesting jobseekers and organizations. Here’s what she had to report:

“This month we attended 7 events starting first with the Social Venture Partners Conference in Seattle where we heard from Patty Stonesifer, Executive Director of the Gates Foundation and I sat in on a session on transitioning from the for profit to nonprofit sectors. From there back to Boston for two days in the office and then back to Seattle for the Action Without Borders, Idealist Career Fair. We connected with hundreds of jobseekers and presented two back-to-back Workshops on Finding a Great Job in the Nonprofit Sector. I left Seattle feeling exhilarated about the energy and interest from so many people with diverse experience and background—all interested in working in the social sector.

From Seattle I flew the red eye back to Boston to conduct two career advisories and then on to Los Angeles for the Independent Sector conference. The first day at the conference the Nonprofit Sector Workforce Committee met and our very own James Weinberg was nominated Vice Chair! The Committee focuses on three areas: general marketing of the sector; diversity in the sector; and student debt. The Independent Sector conference feels like old home week in that so many of our colleagues and partners in the sector come together to share ideas, best practices, and old fashioned conversation!

After Independent Sector, I joined my colleague Kasey in Portland, OR for the Action Without Borders Idealist Career Fair at Portland State University. Over 800 people attended the Career Fair, I presented one workshop on Careers in the Nonprofit Sector. The room was packed and people flowed to the hallway.

After the event, Kasey and I jumped on the red eye and flew to Boston. I spent a few hours at Logan and then on to Washington DC for the Academy of Women Symposium at the Women’s Military Memorial at Arlington Cemetery. Commongood Careers was invited to participate in the conference and we were excited to accept the invitation. I was humbled and awed by the sheer intelligence and commitment the women I met have for the country. Many of the women I met want when they leave service to continue to serve the country by working in the social sector. I know that Commongood Careers will be helpful to them as they chart their path. “

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Events & Career Fairs

Curious Jobseekers in San Antonio

March 01, 2007

Last week, we attended and led a workshop at the Idealist Career Fair in San Antonio, Texas. Yeeeeeeha! About 400 jobseekers attended, mainly college seniors looking to begin their careers in the nonprofit sector. Everyone we met was really professional and had great questions about how to pursue a nonprofit career. Some of the most commonly asked questions we received were about timing of the job search (since most nonprofits hire in real time and not months in advance) and how to break into the nonprofit sector (to which we answered, volunteer or intern). We also suggested to many jobseekers to explore Americorps and fellowship programs in order to get one’s proverbial foot in the door of the social sector. As most organizations seek to hire talent that already have some nonprofit experience, these can be great strategies for graduating college students or others who may not have years of experience in the sector.

We also met many organizations concerned with the need to develop nonprofit talent in Texas. A representative from the San Antonio Nonprofit Council shared, “Talent is a real need for organizations. We wish there were more resources devoted to connecting professionals and organizations.”

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Events & Career Fairs