Introducing Luis Gonzalez

Please join us in welcoming Luis Gonzalez, the Center for Nonprofit Management's new Vice President of Development. 

Luis holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration degree from Southern Methodist University. His undergraduate degree is in international marketing from the University of North Texas.

Luis has a long history of working in the nonprofit sector that includes the Dallas Children’s Theater, YMCA, The Dallas Opera, Dallas Youth Service Corps, and the City Attorney’s Office in Dallas. 

He has served as an Adjunct Professor in Arts Marketing at the University of Texas at Arlington and Adjunct Professor for Nonprofit Marketing for the M.B.A. program at the University of Dallas.


We are thrilled to welcome Luis onto our leadership team and look forward to benefiting from his long standing expertise in the nonprofit community. 

He may be reached via e-mail gonzalez@cnmdallas.org, in the office 

(214) 580-1724, or via cell (972) 951-3611 and looks forward to working with each of you.

  

They Say It SO Much Better

Will You Rise From Tactical To Strategic In 2012?

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has twittered and posted New Year resolutions for 2012 (click here to read them). Well known folks such as Ted Turner and representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with those entrenched in the world of non-profits, gave their hopes and dreams for the New Year.

Consulting with nonprofits, I find (more often than not) that nonprofit leaders get buried in the tactical and lose sight of the strategic focus which provides depth and breadth to an organization.

If the standing mantra of nonprofits is world peace, making a difference to an individual, or changing the world; and the standing mantra of corporations is to make more money, find more customers and saturate the market; then it would be prudent to step back from your day-to-day work and specifically take time to evaluate the logic of your mission and your programs.

As a nonprofit or for-profit organization, here are three New Year Goals for 2012:

1. You are not alone.  The TV series X-Files held this tag line through most of the 90s. While many organizations may be full of “aliens” and dysfunctional environments, the fact is: organizations are only successful when planning and decisions are made with the input or opinions of key representatives.  Goal #1:  Involve stakeholders!

2. Edge of Glory.  Lady Gaga is a pop icon and her umpteenth hit song title should reverberate through the core of your organization.  It would have been interesting to have Gaga and Einstein share a grande mocha latte’, since his quote, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” speaks the truth. The economy is driving organizations closer to their core mission. It’s time to take a look around and step into Goal #2:  Evaluate your current organization. 

For nonprofits this may be conducting an organizational assessment and/or a development/fundraising analysis.  For corporations, perhaps it’s your opportunity to look at your philanthropic giving and its impact to your community, your organization and your employees’ engagement.

3. Keep the eye on the prize.  The holiday movie Hugo destined to become a classic contains a quote in which Hugo Cabret says; “If you lose your purpose, it's like you're broken.” Organizations have to balance the logical side with their passion driven side. Both are important to success. Be great at what you are and discard that which is only mediocre. How does an organization do this successfully?

Goal #3:  Create and/or review your strategic plan.

The New Year inspires E.O.S.C (early onset of spring cleaning); however, if you have not included your stakeholders and facilitated a successful strategic plan which is pertinent and active your organization – then perhaps it is time to clean out old assumptions and start over through a strategic planning session.

May 2012 inspire you to be strategic! Find out how the Center can help you with strategic planning here.

Kristina E. Jones, M.A., CFRE

President, Stronger Organizations, LLC

New Year, New You

Like most people, the first of the year always causes me to reflect on how successful I have been during the previous twelve months at living up to my personal expectations and what I’m going to do in the upcoming year to make a more positive impact on those I come in contact with. 

While much media attention is given to the ways in which we can improve personally through improved physical, emotional or financial health, there are also enormous opportunities for us to consider how we can improve professionally.

Although I am a relatively new member of the Center’s staff, I can see many professional accomplishments to celebrate:

·         Exceptional co-workers who are passionate about making every nonprofit in our community as successful as they can be

·         Outstanding resources to our community through education, consulting and financial support

·         A strong history of superior board support through our Future Boards program and our Blueprint program

And this appears to be just the tip of the iceberg!  Every day I am learning about new ways that the Center supports nonprofit professionals and nonprofit organizations and it is tremendously exciting to be a part of such a dynamic group.

When I consider how the Education Department can continue to improve the services it provides, I am thankful for the work that was done by our leadership in developing a very robust roadmap.  Our strategic plan has our department focusing on a number of key initiatives including:

• Enhancing our current certification programs and developing new courses to meet the needs of our members and the nonprofit community
• Exploring different mediums and time frames to reach a broader audience
• Expanding our partnerships with other organizations and in other geographic regions to support nonprofits throughout North Texas

I’m looking forward to working on these initiatives and meeting more of the individuals and organizations that the Center supports.  If you have any suggestions for how the Education Department can be a service to you and your employees, I would love to hear them.  Feel free to give me a call at 214-580-1735 or send me an email at frear@cnmdallas.org. 

2012 is already shaping up to be an exciting and fruitful year for me personally and I hope that it will be the same for you!

Susan Frear
Director of Education

Introducing Susan Frear

Please welcome Susan Frear, our new(ish) director of education...

Susan joined the Center on November 14^th as Director of Education and is responsible for running the Center’s education and training programs.

Susan received a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Dallas, a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and is a doctoral candidate at the University of North Texas in Applied Technology and Performance Improvement.

She has an extensive background in training and development, human resources and operations management and currently serves on the board of the Dallas Mayor’s Committee for the Employment of People with Disabilities. We are thrilled that she’s here!

Feel free to drop her a line at frear@cnmdallas.org.