The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted many non-profits to consider different options for sustaining their mission. This year – even more than most - for nonprofit organizations to survive, consideration must be given to cutting expenses through strategic collaboration. The idea of finding financial relief by sharing resources, improving operational effectiveness, and increasing mission impact is creating interest in these types of partnerships for nonprofit organizations.
This session will be a casual conversation about successful partnerships with a panel of experts with experience in this area.
Moderator:
Shelley Bromberek-Lambert, Chief Reimagination Officer at YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
Shelley has spent over 30 years in the field of education helping organizations solve complex problems by creating and implementing practical, effective strategies and processes that leverage their number one asset – their people. Shelley is a person who is guided by organizational mission and vision and knows how to translate those principles into strategic and practical applications that strengthens the organizations she works with. Shelley joined YWCA Metropolitan Chicago in 2015 as the Chief Reimagination Officer tasked with reimagining what the childcare field could be. During her time at the YWCA she has reimagined how the organization supports providers, educators, children, and families which has resulted in significant revenue growth for the Early Childhood and Youth Division through an accelerated growth strategy that included 5 mergers in the past 3 years. The division has increased revenues from $3 million when she joined the organization to over $20+ million in annual revenues in 2020.
As a passionate education leader, Shelley is an active member of National Afterschool Association where she has served as the Chairman of their Board of Directors. She is also involved at the local level as a member of the DuPage Federation’s Council of Leaders, West Suburban Philanthropic Network Program Committee, and a member of the DuPage Early Childhood Collaboration Steering Committee. She also sits on two corporate boards for Reflections Sciences and Right at School. Her work in the field has been recognized with several awards such as Richard Scofield Award for Exemplary Service and Leadership in the Afterschool Profession, and Excellence In Leadership Initiatives. Prior to joining the YWCA, she was the Chief Operating Officer for Knowledge Universe overseeing operations across the United States and in India. She is a past Barbara Bowmen Fellow having written a policy paper on How to Support The Family Childcare Segment. She received a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University.
Panelists:
Ellen Kunkle – Vice President, Grants & Government Relations, Pillars Community Health
Pillars Community Health integrates primary medical and dental care with behavioral health, and social services to provide compassionate, whole-person care. Through three service lines – Health Center, Community Mental Health and Substance Use, and Domestic & Sexual Violence - they serve approximately 10,000 individuals living primarily in Chicago’s western and southwestern suburbs.
In her current position, Ellen oversees cultivation and management of the organization’s grant portfolio of federal, state, local government, private foundations and community organization grants. She works strategically with the CEO, Finance Team, and programmatic leadership to plan and maintain a diverse funding base to meet current operational needs and support future program development.
Prior to the January 2018 merger of Pillars and Community Nurse Health Center, Ellen had been with Community Nurse for 12 years, working in a variety of development positions, participating in pre-merger work groups, and serving as primary liaison with the HRSA Project Officer and Grants Management Specialist for the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).
Ellen received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Valparaiso University and was awarded a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration from North Park University.
Tina Ramirez Moon (she/they) - Program Officer, Healthy Communities Foundation
Healthy Communities Foundation is a community-informed grantmaking foundation that seeks to measurably improve the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities through health equity, quality and access.
Tina recognizes that individual health reflects community and organizational health (and vice versa), which has been a common thread woven across a variety of roles. Tina brings to HCF extensive experience in community engagement, federal grant oversight, program implementation and workshop facilitation, informed by more than fifteen years in the nonprofit sector and cultural organizing work. Grounded in kapwa practice and values rooted in interconnection and interdependence, she seeks to understand how we collectively center relationships, well-being and resilience in organizational and community spaces.
Tina serves on the board for the Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE Chicago) and is active with Chicago Women in Philanthropy’s Women’s Leadership and Mentorship Program. She received an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and a B.A. in literary studies and creative writing from Beloit College.
As the daughter of Colombian and Filipinx immigrants in diaspora, she gives daily gratitude for past and future ancestors and honors her work as a bridge to collective healing, wholeness and joy.
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Genita C. Robinson – Director, Mission Sustainability Initiative, Forefront
Genita began consulting with Forefront in March 2017 as Director of the Mission Sustainability Initiative. Genita is a lawyer by training, having graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and practiced commercial litigation at Sachnoff & Weaver, now Reed Smith LLP. She has always been drawn to mission-driven work. Genita served for four years under the leadership of Arne Duncan at the Chicago Public Schools, and for seven years she led Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth, which provides cash and in-kind support to community-based mentoring programs. She serves on the board of the ACLU of Illinois and is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. She previously served on the boards of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership, and she is an active alum of the Edgar Fellows Program. Genita is a native Chicagoan, born on the South Side, and while she oscillated between Chicago and Washington, DC for several years, she has called the South Loop home for over two decades.
This program qualifies for 1.5 CFREs
