Client: National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE)
“Susan’s work with us has created clarity for our board members on their roles and responsibilities. We were able to get several tasks accomplished and decisions made that previously the board just continually talked about because it wasn’t clearly communicated. Susan assisted me in clearly presenting information and factors to consider to minimize lots of unnecessary back and forth. Every two weeks I needed to report to her and was able to get her feedback based on her experiences so it was very helpful in keeping us accountable and on track!” – Heather Van Sickle, Executive Director
Board Challenge
NACCE is a nonprofit membership organization that helps community colleges nationwide link their traditional role of workforce development with entrepreneurial development. NACCE is the only organization solely focused on advancing entrepreneurship in the two-year college arena. Having only attained nonprofit status in 2008, NACCE’s board of directors was grappling with revising key documents, including by-laws, articles of incorporation, and board policies, to meet the needs of the rapidly growing organization. This was work that definitely needed to get done but with the busy schedules of the executive director and the board, many of whom are community college presidents, it always seemed to slip through the cracks.
The Approach
Using her extensive knowledge of nonprofit board governance, Susan led the executive director through a step-by-step process to make critical by-law changes and update the board policies. Through bi-weekly phone calls, she provided Executive Director Heather Van Sickle with accountability and valuable feedback and kept the process on track.
The Result
NACCE’s executive director credits Susan with moving a huge, “where do you start” project off her plate by determining what needed to be done, guiding her through the process, and providing much-needed accountability for an important project that had previously just kept getting put on a back burner.