Moving Forward: What Nonprofits Neet to Do Right Now
Description
As we begin to emerge into a post COVID world, the innovative and successful nonprofit organization will need to look forward. If your destination is to get back to where you were, you’re heading in the wrong direction.
The 2022 Nonprofit Management Institute: Moving Forward: What Nonprofits Need to Do Right Now explored all facets of successful organizational leadership through conversations with leaders in major music nonprofit organizations, including, Colleen Bennett, Executive Director, The KEYS Program, Chiho Feindler, Chief Program Officer, Save The Music Foundation, and Ashley Shabankareh, Director of Operations and Programs Trombone Shorty Foundation.
Moderated by David Dik, National Executive Director, Young Audiences Arts for Learning and hosted by NAMM Foundation Executive Director Mary Luehrsen, panelists weighed in on how their organizations kept themselves motivated, healthy and able to serve their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The conversation looked back, but only to share lessons learned and how to apply them to generate new best practices going forward as we evolve deeper into a hybrid in-person/virtual landscape. Music service organizations from all over the world—from the United States to Russia to the UK—tuned in to network with colleagues and to kick off this year’s Institute in breakout groups where they shared experiences based on the following discussion prompts:
- What are you professionally proud of right now? What adaptations and modifications have you made to achieve this success?
- What is your unknown right now? And, why do you need to know it?
- Where would you like to be (professionally) in a year? Three years? Five years?
Ideas generated from the discussion:
“Rising tide lifts all boats—focus on the mission and we all win. Embrace working with others and who you are helping.”
“Get used to the virtual environment—especially virtual networking.”
“Work with key people and learn how to navigate stressful situations.”
“Open our eyes to change and embrace it!”
“Music teachers may leave the profession if they are not supported. Find out what they need and how you can help.”
Host: Mary Luehrsen, Executive Director, The NAMM Foundation
Moderator
David Dik, National Executive Director, Young Audiences Arts for Learning
David has been the National Executive Director of Young Audiences Arts for Learning, the nation's largest arts in education network, since 2010. Prior to this position, he served as the Managing Director of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, having also served as the Guild's Director of Education. In addition to his responsibilities at Young Audiences, David serves on the Leadership Team of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, Board of Directors for the Music-in-Education National Consortium, Advisory Committee of the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) and the Education Committee of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. David's career began as a certified school music educator. He attended Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey receiving a master's degree in choral conducting and obtained a post-graduate degree in school administration and supervision from the City University of New York.
Panelists
Colleen Bennett, Executive Director/Founder, The KEYS Program
Colleen majored in music education at Marywood University, specializing in music for children with special needs and early childhood music. After college, she owned and operated Colleen's School of Music and Colleen's Musical Nursery in Central New York, teaching private lessons and operating a music-based preschool program. During the summers, she worked alongside her husband in motorsports, and eventually for NASCAR in media relations. In 1993, Colleen and her husband founded the KEYS Program, after losing her father to cancer at the age of 54. Today, KEYS is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides music-base patient support programs for free for children battling cancer and serious illnesses in his memory. KEYS provides free music therapy, live concerts and family respite day programs for pediatric patients across New York State and the US. Colleen has received numerous awards for her dedication to children, including: the 1995 Outstanding Contributor to Early Childhood Education Award from Mid-York Child Care Council; the 2003 Who's Who Among American Women Award; the 2004 United Cerebral Palsy Volunteer Recognition Award; the 2012 Friend of Children Award; and was a 2016 Finalist for the NASCAR Foundation's Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. Colleen's greatest joy has been as a wife, mother and grandmother to her beautiful family!
Chiho Feindler, Chief Program Officer, Save The Music Foundation
Distinguished as a prominent thought leader in public music education, Chiho Okuizumi Feindler is the Chief Programs Officer for the award-winning Save The Music Foundation (STM). Chiho is responsible for designing and overseeing the implementation of STM's national programs aimed at ensuring equity and access to comprehensive music education in America's public schools. Externally, she builds strategic relationships with school districts, charter management organizations, coalitions, peer organizations, donors, and thought partners to influence systems to advocate for sequentially-taught standards-based music education for students in historically marginalized communities.
Ms. Feindler has presented at numerous state and national educator conferences, including at the National Council on the Arts/National Endowment for the Arts Meeting, SXSW Edu, KIPP Summits, Arts Education Partnership National Summit, and National Association of Elementary School Principals Conference. Chiho is regularly invited to provide consultation to help address challenges that jeopardize arts education in communities throughout the United States. She was a recipient of Honorary West Virginian Award and 2017 Casio Leadership in Music Education Award; and currently serves on the Senior Advisory Board of The Center for Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning, Newark Arts Board, Advisory Board of Cultural Connection by Design, Arts Ed Newark's Executive Board and Grantmakers for Education Arts Education Impact Group. Originally from Japan, Chiho holds Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Therapy from Augsburg University (MN); and Master of Arts degree in Euphonium Performance from Montclair State University (NJ).
Ashley Shabankareh, Director of Operations and Programs, Trombone Shorty Foundation
Ashley Shabankareh is a New Orleans trombonist, vocalist, music educator, and arts administrator. She received her M.M. and B.M.E. from Loyola University, New Orleans. She previously served as the Director of Programs for Preservation Hall Foundation. Today, she serves as the Director of Operations and Programs for Trombone Shorty Foundation. In addition, over the past year, she has also worked with numerous arts organizations, including Artist Corps New Orleans, Upbeat Academy Foundation, and the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Ashley actively teaches and is an adjunct professor at Loyola University New Orleans. She also serves as the Vice President of the Jazz Education Network, Board Member for Folk Alliance International, and Board Secretary for Second Line Arts Collective. She is an avid performer and performs as both a trombonist and vocalist. She has performed alongside notable musicians including Aretha Franklin, Allen Toussaint, Theresa Andersson, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and in her own projects, Marina Orchestra and the Asylum Chorus. As of 2021, Ashley is a member of the Recording Academy.