By: Katie Cook – July, 2024
This month’s Heart of The Valley Highlight is a unique organization that helps strengthen our area’s nonprofits by cultivating a collaborative network of volunteers dedicated to enriching the lives of Greater Lawrence and Haverhill residents.
Community In Roads programs and services started as volunteer professional match making & board education and has expanded to include educational and leadership programs, and a Grant Resource Center in partnership with Northern Essex Community College.
Their services include Board Tune Ups, Executive Round Tables, Cultural Inclusion Programs, Workshops, and Consulting of Skills Based Volunteer. Community In Roads serves as a majorly underutilized resource in the Merrimack Valley.
I first met executive director Joan Kulash and program director Lysbeth Noyes when I was sitting on a local board. They were brought in for a Board Tune Up and I was blown away at the strategic planning education and positive motivation for the board members.
Board Roles to Board Goals service pairs the nonprofit board with a trained facilitator who walks the board through a step-by-step process that capitalizes on the board member’s talents, gets board members working as a team to develop shared governance goals for the year, and focuses the board on their board duties.
This includes services like customized training on the roles of a board, strategic planning, board retreats, and personal coaching for Executive Directors and Board Chairs. My personal experience of them helping to develop an improvement plan, supporting the implementation of the plan and helping to evaluate the execution is why I chose them as one of the first non-profits I wanted to highlight in my column.
The Community In roads team also facilitates different board positions “monthly round tables,” including an Executive Director, Board Chair, Board Development (Fundraising), and CFO Monthly Round Table. Each of these meetings focuses on best practices, workshops and often includes dynamic speakers.
These Executive Round Tables provide a venue for nonprofit executive directors, CFOs, and board chairs in Lawrence and Haverhill to network and learn from one another.
Its overall purpose is to cultivate a strong network of nonprofit organizations that work collaboratively for the greater good of the Merrimack Valley. For more information about attending an Executive Roundtable, email Joan.
The Cultural Inclusion Program for Nonprofit Boards helps the growing wave of young, savvy professionals of color who have a rich understanding of the community and possess the necessary skills and passion to assume leadership roles on our nonprofit boards.
This program helps to recruit, train, place, and engage new board members who have the professional skills needed by boards and reflect the culture of the community. This is a 9-month program that not only trains and matches individuals and boards but follows along to ensure a successful match. This program is by application only for a Fall start. They are taking applications for 2025.
Community In Roads partners with many different area organizations and individuals to provide free, quality workshops in Lawrence on important topics surrounding nonprofit management. Past workshops have included events like Legacy Planning, Outcome Measurements, Becoming a 501c3, The New Form 990 and Risk Management Plans for Nonprofits.
They are always looking for new fresh topic ideas. If you have an idea or a topic you specialize in and are willing to host (lead) a one-time workshop to help strengthen our area non-profits, please reach out to Joan.
The program I am most impressed with and see the most opportunity for our readers to help give back to the Merrimack Valley is the Consulting of Skills Based Volunteer. The pro bono consulting services match the professional skills of the local business community with the back office needs of our area nonprofits. Consulting projects are short-term, customized to our nonprofits’ needs, and free, thanks to the businessmen and women, like you, who volunteer their talents so graciously.
Volunteer services include skills like Strategic planning, Marketing and public relations, Human Resources, Finance and accounting (quick books), Computer technology, Web design, Social Media, Graphic design and Development (Fundraising).
If you have professional skills and have short term time to give, this might be an amazing opportunity for you to contribute to our community. The matching process is heavily supported by Community In Road. Expectations of the volunteer are clearly outlined in the Project Scope created by with the help of the In Roads staff and the Project Request Form from the non-profit.
The project request includes a no-obligation exploratory meeting with the potential volunteer and the nonprofit to make sure they are a good fit and will be able to achieve the goal in a time reasonable to all parties. Conversations about potential volunteer opportunities are truly a no hard feelings, no obligation to commitment to a project. Think about your skill set and time availability and reach out to Joan just for a conversation about the process.
Community In Roads, to me, is a majorly under-utilized resource in the Merrimack Valley. Besides the programs I mention here, their website www.communityinroads.org list a ton of resources for nonprofit boards and volunteers! If anything you read here interests you, please give Joan a call, she is happy to help pair you with the right non-profit in the area that fits your passions and talents.
jkulash@communityinroads.org
lnoyes@communityinroads.org
978-604-8803
Have a Charity or Non-Profit you would like to see highlighted?? Email HeartoftheValley978@gmail.com
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