Back to school takes on a whole new meaning for early childhood educator and family advocate BB Otero, executive director of Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center. This week, she and her team will welcome 122 three, four, and five-year-olds who will be the first students at the District of Columbia Bilingual Public Charter School. The charter school is the latest innovation BB has brought to the Columbia Heights neighborhood in her longstanding quest to provide affordable, accessible early childhood education and support services to low-income children and families.

The charter school, managed by Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center, which BB founded in 1986, will offer a rigorous academic program that fosters bilingualism, biliteracy, critical thinking, and the joy of learning. It expands the options for bilingual public education in the District of Columbia. The school launches this year serving children ages three to five and, in succeeding years, will accommodate students through the fifth grade.

"When children have a safe and stimulating place to go every day, when parents see their children learning, it's a stabilizing force for families and that stability allows parents to stay in jobs and improve their economic situation," says BB.

The charter school is a natural extension of the successful work BB began nearly 20 years ago when she started offering child development services to 15 children in the basement of a neighborhood church. Since then, the organization has steadily grown and expanded to meet the needs of the community. Today Calvary's array of programs serves 400 children and families. People come to Calvary Learning Center for childcare, preschool education, after-school programs, literacy programs, and bilingual training in child development.

Parents are encouraged to be actively involved and many attend the center's numerous workshops in parenting, literacy, economic literacy, computers, and languages. The center is a major employer in the neighborhood offering jobs for adults and teens, many of whom once attended Calvary's learning programs. The center also offers training in early childhood education to community members. Hundreds of graduates of Calvary's Child Development Associate Program have gone on to staff other childcare programs or operate licensed centers in their homes, expanding the network of resources for children and families and creating a stable group of professionals living within the neighborhood that is experiencing gentrification.

Despite the enormous success of programs like Calvary and other early childhood and family-focused efforts, public funding, so critical to their continued operation and growth, has steadily declined. According to BB, there has been a 50% cut in DC for funding childcare slots and after-school programs. However, funding for charter schools has increased dramatically, a development that influenced Calvary in its decision to open a charter school.

"Public dollars provide core funding to programs like ours. To scale our programs, we need public investment. We have to stay ahead of the curve and establishing the charter school enables us to use public dollars to provide much needed educational services to our children and families," she says.

Rather than starting from scratch, Calvary has brought the charter school into its existing infrastructure, a model that BB points out has many benefits. One of the biggest hurdles in starting charter schools is finding a facility to house it. For the past ten years Calvary has been operating out of a 73,000 sq. ft. former telephone switching station that was donated by Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), which has ample room for the new school as well as the center's other programs. In addition, the center has a strong team of seasoned educators, led by Deputy Executive Director Eileen Wasow who came from Bank Street College of Education in New York, renowned for its pioneering approaches to early childhood education. The school's director, Alison Auerbach, recently completed a one-year intensive leadership program with New Leaders for New Schools in Washington, DC.

"As we become a partner in public education, we are challenged with ways to look at our work, our accountability, standards, and teacher training requirements, all of which must be met. It has required us to reevaluate our programs as a whole and pushes us to grow as an educational institution," says BB.

While Calvary was planning for the charter school, BB and her team realized that they had to look at the organization's brand and positioning. A key issue was the name of the organization itself. Many felt that Calvary implied that the center is affiliated with a religious institution, which it is not, and the length of the name had become cumbersome. The organization spent a year completing an intensive branding process that included focus groups with staff, children, and parents; visioning sessions; and outreach to the community. As a result, the organization has decided to change its name and logo to better reflect the values, vision, and mission of an organization that continues to grow and expand its operations and reach out to more ethnically diverse populations. The new name will be announced in the coming months.

At a recent staff retreat, much of the discussion focused on the new name. Mugs, t-shirts, and mouse pads with the new logo were distributed to staff as part of the effort to get people excited and make the branding come alive. Plans are underway to incorporate the new name and graphic look into the website, collateral materials, business cards, and letterhead. BB is particularly proud of the work Calvary has done in this area, noting that this kind of branding effort is unusual in the nonprofit world.

VPP provided resources for the organization to undertake a strategic plan as well as hire finance, human resources, outreach, and development professionals, assistance that BB says was very helpful during this critical time in the organization's history. "There was nothing surprising that came out of the planning process, but it helped us articulate our life for the next four to six years in a way that we would not have done otherwise. What VPP helps us do is to assure that we don't fall into the 'founder trap.' They invest in institutional infrastructure that moves us to the next level of scale," BB says.

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Roundup of Summer Activities and Fall Plans


See Forever/MAPCS Students Achieve and Explore

Carleen Joseph and Tim Downey of the See Forever Foundation/Maya Angelou Public Charter School report on students' summer activities and adventures.

"Have you ever seen teenage boys cry openly in front of a group of 100 people? Have you ever witnessed young people working hard to encourage each other to face their fears? Have you ever seen anyone do a complete 180-degree turn in three days?" Maya Angelou Public Charter School (MAPCS) staffer Carleen Joseph did when she accompanied three students to the Aspen Youth Experience (AYE) this summer in Colorado. According to Carleen, "[AYE] was indeed a spiritual experience. It's one that I hope all our students have a chance to experience. Let's encourage them to take this challenge." View photos from the AYE experience.

Many of us remember the first time that we traveled away from home. Whether it was summer camp, the first day of college, or a junior year abroad, the experience of leaving home for the first time is an important one. See Forever's Summer Exposure Program is an integral component of its overall design that seeks to provide students with every opportunity to develop into productive adults living lives of achievement and exploration.

This summer, 57 students were involved in the Summer Exposure Program. Students traveled to Aspen, CO; Burlington, VT; and Guatemala, where they participated in the Hoops Sagrado Program. Thirty-two worked in full-time or part-time internships at places like the Children's Studio School, the Public Defender Service, and Time Dollar USA Youth Court. Thirty-eight students spent a portion of their summer in the MACPS building receiving personalized academics. This group includes rising seniors who participated in SAT prep classes taught by Princeton Review.

Kathryn, a MAPCS student, traveled to the University of Vermont to attend the National Urban Debate League Institute. Last summer she spent time at Vermont's Norwich University at a military-based leadership boot camp. Kathryn said, "Debate institute was boot camp for the brain." Kathryn and Aesha (another See Forever student who participated) want to return next year as Resident Advisors to help guide other student participants.

"Many students may think debates are boring and not fun, but the people and topics were talking about [things that] affect people everyday." Kathryn also feels what she learned in debate will help her no matter what because it teaches you how to break down and collect evidence to prove a point.

Kathryn also participated in Urban Alliance. She was a tech support/office manager at the Public Defender Service (PDS). "It was exciting just being in the PDS work environment and meeting people, like the Deputy Chief of Investigation and a forensics intern."

She is interested in being in law enforcement or investigation. Her job with the PDS allowed her to see the defense side of the law and its relation to law enforcement-it broadened her career goals. College choices include Florida Tech and Florida A&M. "Tech because it has an all new forensics lab, and FAMU because of its criminal justice department." But Norwich University in Vermont is her top pick because of its military structure. "They are really into discipline," which she knows she needs and is a skill she can use forever.

New Wheels, New Art for Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care

Thanks to David Bender, vice president of development, for describing a new health van and an upcoming art fair.

The Ford Salud Sobre Ruedas (Health On Wheels) program arrived in Washington, DC, on August 19, with a new Ford E-Series 15-passenger van for Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care. Launched four years ago, the Salud Sobre Ruedas program helps Hispanics with limited access to transportation receive health care services. The program encourages preventive treatment and early detection of the diseases and ailments that most affect the Hispanic population.

According to a press release, "Ford's Health on Wheels program delivers a direct positive impact on local communities and clinic patients across the country," said Steve Lyons, president, Ford Division. "Individuals who could not obtain transportation to health care services are now on the road to good health."

Receiving consistent health care can be daunting for some Hispanics and other minorities. Many face obstacles such as complicated work and family schedules, limited access to an automobile, inadequate financial resources, and language barriers. The Salud Sobre Ruedas program provides the chance for a healthy future by eliminating the challenge of finding transportation to visit doctors and clinics for regular checkups.

Ford has donated 28 E-Series vans since the Salud Sobre Ruedas program was established in 2000. Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care was selected for a van donation by a panel of community judges including: Mario Sol (Univision), Ramon Jimenez (El Tiempo Latino), Layla Contreras-Wright (Hispanic Radio Network), and Dr. Elmer Huerta (Telemundo). The clinic was selected for its unique community-based programs and the vast number of health care services it provides.

"This generous donation by Ford will assist us with one of our biggest goals of reaching Latinos in all areas of Washington, DC," said Mary's Center President and CEO Maria Gomez. "This new van will help Mary's Center continue to bring families early into care and maintain families who are proactive in their own health care."

In other news, Mary's Center hosts its fourth annual Kalorama Artists' Fair on September 10-11. The show begins on Friday, September 10, at 6:00 p.m. with an Opening Reception for artists, their families and friends, and the public. The Artists' Fair will continue on Saturday, September 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with children's activities included. Proceeds benefit the work of Mary's Center. Every $350 raised provides a year of medical visits for a newborn. For more information, call 202-483-8319, ext. 226 or 306.

The Latin American Youth Center's YouthBuild Program Charter Application Approved

Executive Director Lori Kaplan on third charter school, upcoming events.

In August 2004, the Latin American Youth Center's (LAYC) application to change its YouthBuild program into a charter school was approved by the DC Public Charter School Board. Transforming the LAYC's YouthBuild program into a public charter school insures that DC youth, like Christian, will have an opportunity to achieve educational success.

Christian described his YouthBuild experience: "Five years after I had dropped out of school, I felt like there was no hope for me or for my future. My life was going nowhere. Then one day, I walked into the LAYC and it was like there was hope and life. Thanks to YouthBuild, I now have my GED and a good job. Thanks to this program, I realize that there are people in this world who care about others. God bless the people who made all this possible and I hope you keep doing a wonderful job. Thank you always for changing lives and making this a better world."

The LAYC YouthBuild Public Charter School will fill a role for youth, ages 16-24, who for many different reasons have not met with success in a traditional DC public school setting. Students will have the chance to earn a high school diploma or a GED; improve their level of literacy in English and Spanish; develop vocational skills; and increase their employability level, while receiving intensive support services and performing the community service of building and renovating housing for homeless or low-income District residents. Most importantly, the LAYC YouthBuild Public Charter School seeks to help youth become successful and happy young adults by providing an educational curriculum, social supports, and leadership development opportunities.

The LAYC YouthBuild Public Charter School will open in September 2005 in a space near the Georgia Avenue Metro. As part of the LAYC family of schools and organizations, the YouthBuild Public Charter School will work in close coordination with the LAYC, its founding organization, and the two other LAYC public charter schools, the Next Step Public Charter School, founded in 1997, and the Latin American Montessori Bilingual Public Charter School, founded in 2002.

In other news, LAYC will celebrate the grand opening of its Art and Media House on September 29 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at 3035 15th Street, NW. The Art and Media House is a space for youth to develop their creative abilities through hands-on training in photography, ceramics, radio, video, creative writing, fine art, and museum studies. Classes will begin in October, 2004. As a social enterprise, community art courses, event and facility and gallery rental will support the Arts and Media House youth programs. Key collaborating partners include the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and Youth Radio.

Tehani Collazo, LAYC Arts and Media House Humanities Coordinator, said, "This is a dynamic time in the blocks surrounding the Art and Media House and we hope that as youth develop community-based exhibitions that they will be moved to become active in shaping the changes occurring in the area. We are excited to use the space to inspire youth to express themselves and imagine new possibilities for their own lives."

In addition, LAYC will celebrate the grand opening of the "Heart of a Home: A Mexican Kitchen" exhibit on October 9 from noon to 2:00 p.m. at 1419 Columbia Road, NW. This exhibit, part of the LAYC Humanities Programs, and located in the LAYC Barrio Museum, provides a hands-on community exhibit of a real Mexican kitchen. The opening celebration will include food demonstrations and hands-on projects for children, youth, and adults.

Heads Up's Project Fair Standing Room Only

Executive Director Darin McKeever gives details on the culminating event of the summer program and two new additions to the Heads Up team.

Heads Up held its 7th annual Project Fair at American University's Bender Arena on August 10. At the end of each summer, Heads Up holds its project fair to showcase the talents and abilities of its students, to recognize the support of the organization's partners, and to celebrate the dedicated individuals who put in numerous hours as tutors and mentors for Heads Up students. This summer, nearly 150 Heads Up corps members at ten schools led classes through an engaging curriculum that combined classroom-based literacy instruction with field trips and hands-on literacy projects. An audience made up of approximately 1,000 students, parents, AmeriCorps members, and junior tutors saw projects ranging from planting gardens and learning about food and nutrition to studying foreign cultures and videotaping a mock newscast on African American culture. Heads Up's after-school programs resume later this month at ten schools.

The organization continues to add new talent to its staff. New members of the team include new Development Director Kim Thornburg and Program Consultant Yvonne Morse.

Thornburg has more than ten years of experience in all aspects of fundraising, including major gifts, annual giving, grants, and special events. Her most recent position was as director of development for Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas. Thornburg led the development and marketing efforts for this $5 million agency that employs 80 people across 27 counties. She started her career as a full-time volunteer with Sasha Bruce Youthwork in Washington, DC, where she served as a volunteer coordinator and development associate. Thornburg holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Kansas. In 2001, she received her CFRE credential. Her volunteer activities have included the Dallas Women's Museum, Coalition for Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Rose Brooks Center, and Habitat for Humanity.

Morse, who has been a principal and teacher at several DC Public Schools throughout her 25-year career in education, will be responsible for deepening the degree to which Heads Up standards, curriculum, training, and evaluation align with those of DC Public Schools and the program's individual partner schools. She will also help facilitate and grow the relationships between Heads Up program staff and DCPS administrators and teachers. Morse has received numerous awards for her work including a Distinguished Educational Leadership Principal of Excellence award from The Washington Post and a National Distinguished Principals' award from the National Association of Elementary School Principals. She holds a Bachelor's of Science in Education from St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville VA, a Master's in Education in Elementary Education from Virginia State University, and has done post-graduate work on administration and curriculum development at The George Washington University.

Child and Family Network Centers Expands to West End

Director of Development Carolyn Beckett highlights summer and fall activities.
This has been a busy time for the Child and Family Network Centers (CFNC). During the last week of May, graduation celebrations took place at each of the six neighborhood preschool sites. Aunts, uncles, neighbors, proud parents, and a great deal of Kodak film attended. The girls proudly wore their matching hair ribbons, dresses, and fancy shoes; the boys patiently endured their suit coats. These celebrations are joyous events, and they inevitably lead to requests from families for Xeroxed copies of their child's CFNC graduation certificate. When we ask why, we're told it's because the children and parents will be sending the original back to their native country where proud grandparents have reserved a special place on the wall for hanging the document and sharing it with neighbors. We humbly respond with multiple copies.

In September, CFNC will expand to provide family support services and a nationally accredited preschool curriculum for 32 children living in the West End of Alexandria. This is CFNC's sixth site, increasing the CFNC community to 172 families. Families at the new site will include refugees from the Mono River Valley of Sierra Leone. Teachers, already trained in culturally sensitive approaches to children and adults, are learning additional skills to address the traumatic stress and displacement needs of the refugee families. Blanca Leyva, MSW, director of CFNC's Family Services Program is managing the initial training and follow-up in-service programs. Blanca brings special insight to the fears and confusions of refugee families because, as a teenager, her families left everything, fled Cuba, and sought refuge in the United States. Partners in the staff training program include the West End lead teacher from Ethiopia, staff from the Alexandria Community Services Board, and a specialist on cultural assumptions, ethnocentrism, and stereotyping from the National Network for Folk Arts in Education.

September also marks the beginning of CFNC's 20th anniversary. From a one-room preschool serving six children to 172 families at six sites, Executive Director Barbara Fox Mason and CFNC staff continue their commitment to providing a comprehensive range of family services that are individualized to the specific needs families express and staff observe. As Barbara explains, "We refuse to accept that poverty is fate, and fate is determined by the age of five."

Center for Multicultural Human Services Opens Two New Sites

Ricarda Dowling, director of development, reports on new CMHS locations.

CMHS will open two new satellite offices in Northern Virginia in September, bringing its counselors and services closer to some of the communities it serves. As of September 1, CMHS began seeing clients in Herndon (at 500 Grove Street, Suite 212, Herndon, VA, Tel. 703.435.0476) and will open the second new office shortly in the Arlandia section of Alexandria (at 3801 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA,
Tel. 703.535.8201 or 703.535.8202).

Many of the clients that form CMHS's client base reside in these areas. "CMHS's strategic plan called for expansion into Alexandria," said CMHS Executive Director Dr. Dennis Hunt, "but a recent grant to provide gang prevention services to culturally-diverse at-risk youth and their families contributed to the selection of Arlandria as well as Herndon."

The Herndon site is close to CMHS's base of Muslim and Arabic-speaking clients as well as a large contingent of Hispanic residents. CMHS has long collaborated with Herndon's ADAMS Center (All Dulles Area Muslim Society) to bring essential services to its members and intends to build substantially upon this collaboration in the development and delivery of services.

Initially, one to two staff will work out of these offices, providing mental health and case management services. The need for a larger deployment of staff is anticipated as word of service availability makes its way into these communities.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington: Celebrating the Spirit of the Summer Olympic Games

Thanks to Director of Marketing Nikole Brown for these updates.

In celebration of the Summer Olympic Games in Greece, Metropolitan Police Clubhouse #14 incorporated various educational, physical, and artistic elements of the Olympics into their summer camp activities. Boys and girls were broken into groups by age to represent different countries. Students conducted online research about their countries, from the native food to sporting events and government structure, in preparation for an afternoon Academic Bowl competition. Campers also participated in card and chess tournaments, three on three basketball, and a Frisbee throw in place of the discus. A multi-cultural "Taste of the Olympics" day gave the kids the opportunity to prepare food and a table presentation to represent their assigned countries. During arts and crafts time, the kids created torches, flags of their countries, and medals in the spirit of the Games. Each country also had an assigned room to decorate to symbolize their country. All of the groups visited the embassy of their country, and the South African group actually got to take free dance lessons at the African Heritage Center studio and performed their dance at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games Summer Camp. The kids had a great time, and learned a lot about different countries through research and practice.

Other club activities included a summer camp celebration at Paramount's Kings Dominion amusement park on August 5th. Members from eight clubs, totaling almost one thousand kids and parents showed up for the event, which was made possible through discounted admissions donated by Kings Dominion. For many kids, it was their first visit to the park. Tierra Mason said she "enjoyed spending time with her Mom." " I had a great time with my friends and had a chance to meet kids from other Clubs," said nine-year-old Troy Jefferson of his visit.

And finally, for the third year, members of the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Boys & Girls Clubs attended the Gordonstoun International Summer School in Edinburgh, Scotland. Club member William Hall attended for his second year as a camp counselor rather than as a student for this year's trip, and was joined by club members Troy and Mary Lilly, and Area Director of Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Boys & Girls Clubs Reginald Broddie. The Gordonstoun program services 270 youth ages eight to 17 from 32 countries. Students took courses in French, Latin, and Calculus and sailed the Scottish west coast for a view of the country's beautiful landscapes. The campers overcame language barriers, made new friends and had a great time in a country rich in culture. Club members who are chosen must display excellence in many areas to be overseas representatives of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. The trip was made possible by funding from a Club trust, Gordonstoun, and The Colonial Challenge Cup sailing race.

AALEAD's Work Recognized as Promising After-School Practice

Tony Yih, deputy director, highlights the Saturday tutoring program and shares results of program attendance rates.

Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) is proud to announce the launch of its Saturday Tutoring Program this fall. Offering a highly structured remedial program of one-on-one tutoring in both 36-step reading and 40-step mathematics programs, students in grades one through six in the Columbia Heights/Mt. Pleasant area of Washington, DC, will participate during the academic year, from October through May. The training and curriculum have proven to be very effective with students increasing their math levels by one year and three months, their ability to read words fluently by one year and three months, and their reading passage comprehension by one year and two months for every 22 hours of tutoring.

New volunteer tutors are brought into programs in September, at the beginning of the school year, or in late January, at the beginning of the spring semester. Comprehensive training is provided for all tutors to ensure that tutors are prepared and that students are taught effectively.

During the 2003-04 school year, AALEAD tracked attendance electronically for the first time. The organization was pleased to find that its after-school program had an average attendance rate of 78%. Almost half of the students attended 80-100% of the time, and 80% of the children attended more than 60% of program days.

Since regular attendance is instrumental to positive outcomes, AALEAD sought to identify the factors that contributed to the program's success in this respect. One factor identified was the hiring of highly qualified and well-liked teachers, several of whom are from the community and have stayed for up to three years. Another factor is the organization's close contact with parents through other programs. If children are absent, staff request that the family support workers contact the parents. A third factor is the close contact with teachers and staff; the program has a good reputation in the school where it takes place and teachers encourage their students to attend.

In August 2004, the Promising Practices in After School (PPAS) System, run by the Academy for Educational Development's Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, recognized AALEAD's practice of promoting high after-school program attendance. (For more information, click on "Community and Family Involvement" AALEAD's practice is the first one: "Promoting High After-School Program Attendance")

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Sitting in his airy office at McKinsey and Company surrounded by books, VPP advisor Les Silverman looks a little like a college professor. He speaks with an easy calm as he describes his career that has taken him from the world of think tanks to the halls of government to the boardrooms of America’s leading corporations and nonprofits.

Growing up outside of New York City, Les describes himself as having an intense intellectual curiosity that has always led him to new and interesting places. He loved math and science in school and enjoyed the challenge of solving complex problems. Attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Les earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business and then completed a PhD in Economics, all in just six-and-a-half years.

He moved to Washington, DC, in the early 1970s to bring his problem-solving skills to the quasi-academic think tank world, including the National Academy of Sciences, where he applied statistical models and econometrics to a wide range of social and environmental problems. In 1976, he co-wrote an article with his former professor and mentor Lester Lave on the economic costs of environmental pollution, which brought him into the energy policy debates of the time.

Although he enjoyed his work at the National Academy, he was getting restless.

“It wasn’t enough for me to write academic papers. I wanted to see how my advice and thoughts turned out, so it was a logical step to move into government. It was the height of the energy crisis,” he says.

Les held senior policy positions in the Departments of the Interior and Energy from 1978 through 1981. While at the Energy Department he met and worked closely with John Sawhill, the former “energy czar” and president of New York University. Sawhill, known for his creative thinking and approaches to management, was Deputy Secretary of Energy under President Carter.

In 1981, Les left the government to help start a company, District Heat and Power, which he describes as having a similar model to global power company, AES Corporation. While the concept eventually proved to be successful, Les and his partners did not have the capital to wait for market acceptance of a new energy model. When former boss John Sawhill called asking if Les would help build a new energy practice at McKinsey, he didn’t hesitate.

“McKinsey didn’t have industry practices then. I saw this as an opportunity to use my skills and knowledge while at the same time building something new,” says Les.

And so began the next phase of his career—McKinsey consultant—a role he has played for the past 22 years, the last 11 as a director of the firm. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Les traveled across the country and around the world consulting to electric and gas companies as well as to large consumers of energy. He noticed in his travels the extent to which McKinsey employees take an active role in their communities. The firm does not allow its employees to sit on corporate boards but the consultants are encouraged to get involved with nonprofit organizations. “Giving your time to help nonprofits is an integral part of the McKinsey culture,” he says. In his own community work, Les helped the Federal City Council document the District of Columbia’s financial disadvantages as a city without a state; helped develop a strategic plan for The Washington Opera to scale up under the leadership of Placido Domingo; and worked closely with Samaritan Inns as it expanded programs to serve the District’s homeless and addicted.

When Les realized how much McKinsey was doing in the nonprofit arena he and a few others in the firm, including VPP advisor Lynn Taliento, founded McKinsey’s Nonprofit Practice in 2000. This practice serves to share the firm’s knowledge and leverage its networks to help funders and nonprofits.

At about this time, Les met VPP founder Mario Morino.

“It was fortuitous for us and Mario. I was introduced to Mario through my wife [Patty Abramson]. We arranged to meet for breakfast, and I remember distinctly Mario telling me of his ideas to provide not just money but strategic support to nonprofits. And I asked him how he was going to do that, and he said he didn’t know but he’d figure that out. And that led to our study on capacity building.” This report, “Effective Capacity Building in Nonprofit Organizations,” has been widely distributed in the nonprofit sector and is available on the McKinsey and VPP websites.

Since then Les and his team have been involved with helping several VPP investment partners with strategic planning (McKinsey is currently working with Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington) as well as providing strategic counsel to Mario and the VPP team.

Nonprofits are generally receptive to the business thinking that McKinsey brings, though Les admits that sometimes they aren’t completely prepared for what the introduction of new management practices will mean for their organizations. “It can be a big change to build management capacity—including having a stronger, more effective staff and board—but the payoff in term of performance against mission is huge,” says Les.

After working with hundreds of companies and scores of nonprofits, what is different about consulting with nonprofits as opposed to businesses? In Les’s view one of the biggest differences is the number of stakeholders. Nonprofit managers have to answer to multiple stakeholders who often have different views on what success is. In addition, nonprofits tend to be focused on consensus so nonprofit managers must be in constant contact with these stakeholders. Things get done but they take longer so it’s important to have a lot of patience. And getting very clear about the overarching goals of the organization is crucial to bringing everyone along effectively.

But perhaps the most difficult hurdle for nonprofits is sustaining their effort to change. “It’s hard for organizations to absorb the work of a consultant and to sustain the energy of the planning process during implementation. Here is where VPP’s role is so important. VPP helps keep the organization focused. The notion of sustained support for an organization is what’s very exciting about high-engagement philanthropy.”

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