We had a very busy week here at Maryland Nonprofits. Between testifying in Annapolis, leading training programs in Easton, meeting with members in Ocean City, and more, our staff has been all around the state and back. Here is a little glimpse of what the week looked like for our team:
MONDAY
Every Monday begins with our Week Ahead meeting. This is the one guaranteed time each week when our entire staff convenes – in person or remotely via video call – to discuss what is on everyone’s plate. During this week’s meeting we realized that our physical office would be quiet this week, as most of our team was busy criss-crossing the state for meetings, trainings, and consulting engagements.
TUESDAY
Our Public Policy Director, Henry Bogdan, spent the day in Washington, DC with other members of the nonprofit community, testifying to the DC Council in support of paying nonprofits indirect costs. This is something that the state of Maryland enacted this past year (find more details on the General Assembly website here).
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday, Director of Programs Amy Coates Madsen headed out to the Eastern Shore to lead a program called Ethics in the Board Room: Navigating and Managing Conflicts of Interest for Nonprofit Board Presidents Affinity Group organized by Teri Bordenave. Amy, the Director of our Standards for Excellence Institute, spends a lot of time discussing the issue of conflicts of interest and how to prevent them at your organization. This summer, she wrote a blog on Three Tips to Preventing Conflicts of Interest in the Workplace and the Board Room, discussing a few of the things you can do to get started.
THURSDAY
On Thursday, Wendy Wolff, Director of Strategic Engagement, stayed a little closer to home, visiting Gilcrest Hospice Center in Towson.
Meanwhile, President & CEO Heather Iliff, Director of Consulting Group Carmen Marshall, Director of Membership, Operations, and Marketing Lydia Alcock, and Membership Manager Darryus Johnson spent the day in Washington, DC at the Meyer Race Equity Cohort, designed to support organizations as they pursue deeper staff and board awareness around race equity over the course of six months.
In the evening, Board Governance Advisor Mara Winters was in Columbia leading one of our most popular trainings, the Board Excellence Workshop – so popular, in fact, it sold out weeks in advance! There will be more of these workshops on the calendar soon, but in the meantime, check out all the events already up on our calendar.
FRIDAY
Friday was just as packed, starting with our New Board Member Orientation. This year, we are thrilled to welcome not one, not two, but THREE new people to our board! On Friday morning a group of staff, current board members, and incoming board members convened at the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland office to welcome and orient our new board members.
Heather also took some time to meet with Amy Greensfelder, the Executive Director of Pro Bono Counseling Center, who’s organization just moved into a new office space they share with HASA (Hearing and Speech Agency). Amy met HASA’s Executive Director, Erin Stauder, at our Executive Director Roundtable, leading them to decide to share office space.
And just like that, the week was over! As our team headed out for the weekend, we were able to reflect on what it means to work at a statewide organization – collaborating with some of the best people in every corner of the state!