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Community Corner

Building Boards for Non-Profit Success

GETTING INVOLVED:

Building Boards for Non-Profit Success

Interested in joining a non-profit board or recruiting new board members for your organization? Many successful business leaders are looking for ways to give back to the community, and joining boards is a great first step. But sometimes knowing how best to use your skills to support non-profit development can be a challenge. Non-profits are often looking for active board members to help bring their organization to the next level, but finding and cultivating strong leaders can be difficult.

Join SBANE’s non-profit committee for this special event on board development. Non-profit and for-profit leaders alike will learn practical strategies for ensuring a strong, profitable, and functional board that helps community organizations thrive. In addition to a panel discussion with local experts, participants will be encouraged to participate in a special networking exercise, focusing on matching community organizations with potential board members who have an interest in volunteering time and expertise. Bring lots of business cards, and join our panelists Dede Ketover, Kristen Palma, and Mike MacEwen for an engaging discussion on how to build boards for non-profit success.

About our Moderator and Panelists

Julia de la Torre, Executive Director, Primary Source, Watertown MA

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Julia de la Torre is the Executive Director of Primary Source, a Watertown-based non-profit that shapes the way students learn about our changing world. Prior to assuming this role, Julia worked as a Program Director, designing professional development courses for K-12 teachers on a variety of world regions and global issues. Julia is a former French language teacher and has also taught English in Morocco and Moldova, where she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2003-2005. A 2006 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Julia studied international education policy and also explored her passion for 21st century learning tools and online education. She is an avid traveler and is fluent in French, Spanish and Romanian. In addition to her work in education, Julia serves on the SBANE Board of Directors and is the Chair of the Non-Profit Committee.

Dede Ketover, Owner, Dede Ketover Consulting, Boston MA

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Dede Ketover has over 20 years of experience leading local, regional, and national not for profits and is currently the CEO of Dede Ketover Consulting. Her areas of expertise include executive coaching, institutional and organizational advancement, investor identification and relations, and Board building and training. Dede is the Founding Executive Director of Community Servings, the hot, delivered meals program for individuals and families homebound with HIV/AIDS, in greater Boston. She also served as the Executive Director of Search For A Cure and as the Director of Leadership and Organizational Development for the Boston Public Health Commission. In order to support the development of a future generation of non-profit executives, Dede serves as a Senior Fellow at the Boston University School of Management’s Non-Profit Management and Leadership Certificate program.

Kristen Palma, President of the Board, TargetCancer, Cambridge MA

Kristen Palma has worked in public service her entire career. She began as a Victim Witness Advocate in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, where she met her husband Paul Poth, founder of TargetCancer. She worked as a project manager for youth development programs for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, as well as the Public Affairs Director for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance. In addition, she served as a working group leader at the United Nations Conference for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in Rome, Italy. She received her BA from Skidmore College and a Masters in International and Public Affairs from Columbia University.

Mike MacEwen, President and Co-Founder, Beacon Interactive Systems, Cambridge MA; Board Member, Primary Source

Mike MacEwen has started several businesses and is currently the President of Beacon Interactive Systems, a company that he co-founded with his wife, ML Mackey, in 1994. His expertise is in process analysis and the application of Technology to solving challenges inherent in business. Beacon, having provided solutions for major Fortune 500 companies, startups, and everything in between, is now a preferred provider to the US Navy. Prior to starting Beacon, Mr. MacEwen held several positions at General Electric in divisions as diverse as GE Aircraft, GE Capital and the Corporate Audit Staff. Mike graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelors degree in International Relations and earned his Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. Beyond raising two daughters and playing the occasional golf round, he is a member of the Board and of the Executive Committee of Primary Source, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing a global perspective to the K-12 classroom.

Sponsored by AAF and Eastern Bank. 

Cost: $50 SBANE Members and Non-Members

$25 Non Profits (To receive the Non-Profit discount, please call Katie Mudarri at 781-890-9070, extension 221 or email her at katie@sbane.org.)

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