Gladis Benavides

Areas of Expertise:

• cross-cultural communications for policy, programs and practice
• effective multicultural teamwork
• developing cultural competency
• conflict management and resolution in a multicultural environment
• strategic planning for cross-cultural effectiveness
• development of internal policies and procedures
• coaching, individual technical assistance, one-on-one training
• cross-functional group training

As president of Benavides Enterprises, Gladis Benavides provides custom-targeted consulting in cross-cultural effectiveness for all levels of an organization. Today’s society is racially integrated yet often culturally segregated. Everyone has internal cultural tapes that influence their assumptions; the workforce challenge is to learn to be effective in a complex environment with complex interpersonal situations.

Benavides uses an anthropological approach, addressing how people differ in ways that are not necessarily defined by obvious differences. Her sessions are highly interactive, involving exercises and case scenarios, tailored for the individual client, organization, and circumstantial needs. Everyone in an organization needs cross-cultural competency, she notes, though a manager’s needs will differ from those of a receptionist.

Born and raised in Brazil, Benavides was educated in France and the United States, and then settled in Wisconsin. She worked several years with the city of Madison’s Equal Opportunity Commission, followed by a long tenure as director of the state’s Office of Civil Rights. In this role, her primary emphasis was on providing technical assistance, working as a partner to help organizations achieve compliance. She began her own consulting firm five years ago.

Human and social services organizations sometimes face tough issues, she observes. “Suppose you have a 93-year-old nursing home patient who does not want to be touched by an African American. This idea was solidly ingrained in childhood; it simply has to be dealt with. You can’t force it, which could actually exacerbate medical problems. You have to manage it, balancing the rights of the patient versus of the rights of the employee.”

To learn more about Gladis Benavides, click here.  [TOP]

Dominick Betro

Areas of Expertise:

• Management Practice in Service Organizations
• Trend Analysis and Identification
• Organizational Assessment
• Social Entrepreneurship: Purposeful Innovation
• Engaging the Political Environment
• Board Considerations (Recruitment, Development, Risk Taking)
• Community-Centered Initiatives
• Competing in the International Sector
• Accessing Redevelopment and Community Block Grant Funding

Dominick Betro, CEO of Alliance member organization Family Service Association of Riverside, Calif., is the latest addition to the ranks of the Executive Consultant Select Group. He has directed Family Service Association for 23 years, growing the agency from a $500,000 to an $18 million annual budget with more than 450 employees and 500 volunteers serving over 22,000 clients per year. During his tenure he also has received numerous awards including the California Association of Nonprofits Leadership Excellence in 2000 and the California State San Bernardino Center for Entrepreneurship Spirit of the Entrepreneur Award in 2003. He also recently completed a four-year term on the local city council.

Betro will provide agency consultations specifically designed to assess, organize, provide presentation topics, and/or facilitate projects to address agency needs, as well as training programs, ranging from two-hour to week-long sessions.

He has provided consultation and training for over 300 nonprofit organizations including Riverside Hospice, Project Safehouse (youth shelter), Friends of California School for the Deaf, and Alliance member agencies in Little Rock, Ark., and Miami, Fla. His experiences range from working with start-up organizations to highly specialized areas such as social enterprise ventures and strategic positioning strategies.

Betro is an instructor of management at the University of California-Riverside (UCR), and teaches in the Graduate School of Social Services at California State University-San Bernardino, the Master of Nonprofit Administration Program at the University of Notre Dame, and the International Development Program at Andrews University in Michigan. Through his extensive education and training experience, he has trained more than 200 international managers, with a special emphasis on Russia and the newly independent states of central and eastern Europe. His significant teaching experience has focused on developing middle managers and social work master’s degree students in becoming leaders and administrators in human service settings.

“These experiences have provided me with the opportunity to explore and implement cutting-edge practices in a not-for-profit setting,” Betro says. “I look forward to sharing my expertise in areas implementing social enterprise ventures, strengthening corporate cultures, leading change in a new reality, and implementing effective advocacy and political strategies.”   [TOP]

Crosswicks Consulting

Areas of Expertise:

• executive search and recruitment

Crosswicks Consulting Group, with offices in New Jersey and Florida, offers recruiting expertise focused on the behavioral healthcare community including community-based, residential, in-patient, or educational programs. By working as an extension of the client’s management team, CCG responds quickly, creatively, and responsibly to help client organizations address their staffing needs.

Selecting executives, key managers, and talented functional specialists has become increasingly critical in the nonprofit sector, and external resources are often required to meet senior-level staffing needs in a timely manner. CCG conducts tailored, retained search assignments on behalf of client organizations.

R. Scott Hood is founder and president of Crosswicks Consulting Group. Since 1986, Hood has conducted retained search assignments on behalf of client organizations and has guided the company to its position today as a highly regarded, professional organization focused on the recruitment of key management talent for high-performing client organizations.

Representative search assignments have included positions on the clinical and program sides such as vice presidents for programs or compliance; on the business side such as chief financial or development officers; and executive director or CEO positions.   [TOP]

Anne Curley

Areas of Expertise:

• branding and marketing
• strategic planning
• fund development support

As president of Curley Communication, Anne Curley specializes in brand management and strategic planning. You may already have been exposed to Curley, whose column runs regularly in Alliance Magazine. We invited Anne to join the program after experiencing first-hand the exceptional value she can provide the Alliance and its members.

Before establishing her consulting practice in 2000, Curley led worldwide communication for S.C. Johnson. In her consulting roles, she has conducted branding, marketing and strategic planning projects for a wide range of corporate and nonprofit clients.

In 2003, she developed a strategy to clarify the Alliance’s brand identity and strengthen our value proposition for members. This strategy provided crystal clarity in focusing both our outreach and our overall resource allocations, in turn driving the success we have since enjoyed, as reflected in record membership recruitment and retention rates. Curley has conducted branding projects and facilitated strategic planning exercises for Alliance members including Neighbor to Family Inc., (Daytona, Fla.), the Adoption Resource Center of Wisconsin (Milwaukee), and Bethany for Children and Families (Moline, Wis.). She has also conducted projects for the Severson Center and two Alliance affiliates—FEI and Ways to Work.

Gordon Johnson, founder and CEO of Neighbor to Family, says of Curley's work: “We had reached a point in our growth where we needed internal consensus about the brand identity we will be working to build—and a plan to make it happen. The Alliance put us in touch with Anne, who offered us a collaborative, customer-focused process that allowed us to get crystal clear on who we should be targeting for our future growth, how we want that target market to view us, and how we can further strengthen the ‘value proposition’ that we deliver to them.”

To learn more about Anne Curley, click here.  [TOP]

Mary Downey

Areas of Expertise:

• fund development
• planned giving, major gifts, deferred gifts, and endowment programs
• fundraising effectiveness assessments
• donor communications and outreach

Mary Downey and her company Downey Associates work with nonprofit organizations to develop effective fundraising and development plans. She has worked with universities, social service agencies, private schools, and medical research organizations.

Since 1995, Downey has worked with nonprofit organizations to create, initiate and manage planned giving fundraising programs. She helps nonprofits with fundamental fundraising issues such as assessing the effectiveness of current programs, ensuring use of solid fundraising techniques, and identification of donor prospects. Her expertise also covers development and management of annual funds; establishment of planned giving, major gifts, deferred gifts, and endowment programs; donor communications and outreach; and educating the board and donors about planned giving through presentations and workshops.

“The first step when addressing the needs of a potential client,” Downey explains, “is to gain an understanding of the client organization’s history, current fundraising system, leadership and board roles, needs, and expectations.”

After an in-depth discussion about these issues, Downey designs a project plan that outlines the process for accomplishing the client’s goals; prepares a mutually agreed upon service agreement (contract) detailing the services that will be provided; creates a timeline from beginning to completion of the project work; and details the cost for providing the services. Regular progress reports are provided and regular meetings are scheduled to keep everyone apprised of all aspects of the project.

Downey, located in San Antonio, adds, “I am looking forward to this opportunity to assist nonprofits outside of my home community, and I expect to learn from them at the same time.”

For more information, click here. [TOP]

DRG Executive Search

Areas of Expertise:

• executive search and recruitment

DRG Executive Search is a national executive search and recruitment firm that works solely with nonprofit organization. DRG, now in its 20th years, recruits senior nonprofit executives with the experience and leadership qualities needed to help nonprofit organizations manage change. They have considerable experience in working with organizations that serve children and families. The firm provides nonprofit organizations with a broad range of services to meet the challenges of executive transitions.

“Nonprofits executives and boards—with their emphasis on helping people and communities through their services—may not have either the time or the specific expertise to effectively search for top-tier leaders,” says David Edell, DRG president. “We have successfully helped organizations find talented and experienced professionals, the kind who can grow and nurture a nonprofit organization and keep it focused on its mission.”   [TOP]

Bob Duea

Areas of Expertise:

• conflict resolution between CEO and boards
• annual CEO evaluation tools
• coaching and mentoring
• change and crisis management
• other tailored services

No stranger to the Alliance for Children and Families, Robert Duea led the Alliance’s Ways to Work program in 200 hspace="7" vspace="7" 3-04. W2W provides loans for families unable to access conventional credit so that they can acquire dependable transportation for travel to and from work. He previously served as interim chief operating officer of the Alliance, where he restructured the organization while carrying out a successful executive search to fill the organization’s key top spots.

Duea served as president and chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan for 17 years, retiring in 2002. During his tenure, the agency became one of the largest not-for-profit human service organizations in the country, growing from a traditional family and children’s agency to one known for innovation and an increasingly diverse range of services. He has consistently been cited as a visionary leader able to combine a strong commitment to mission with sound business practices. An adoptive parent himself, Duea took a special interest in expanding opportunities for children to be united with “forever families” through adoption, both domestically and internationally. More than 4,500 children were placed with adoptive families during his years with LSS, including 2,600 from outside the United States. He also significantly expanded the organization’s Homme Home for Youth, a residential services for youth and others with disabilities.

Finally, Duea made government relations a top priority, working at both the state and national levels to empower public/private partnerships.  [TOP]

James Ernhart

Areas of Expertise:

• comprehensive resource development and fundraising campaigns
• marketing and public relations as a foundation for fundraising and development

James Ernhart has provided quality resource development expertise to nonprofit human service agencies, including many Alliance members, over the last 25 years. His company, Ernhart and Associates, has a diverse background, having worked with community-based programs in prevention, residential treatment, youth development, daycare, family counseling, assisted living for young adults and senior citizens, and more. Through participation with the Select Group, Ernhart will provide Alliance members with consulting services that include development of a turnkey approach to capital campaigns, fund development and marketing services.

To learn more about James Ernhart, click here.  [TOP]

Rochelle Haimes

Areas of Expertise:

• support for accreditation process

Rochelle Haimes, ACSW, specializes in aiding organizations considering national accreditation, including such services as helping leadership evaluate the organization’s readiness for accreditation, working with leadership to gain board buy-in, developing a start-to-finish process work plan, conducting a mock review, assisting with the self-study, and preparing the organizational team for the accreditation team’s site visit. An evaluation and planned development of the organization’s performance improvement systems is often an important component.

She recently completed an 18-month consultation with a large treatment facility in Pennsylvania which needed COA certification to comply with the state’s Medicaid funding regulations.

“The process was inclusive,” she explains, “beginning with an assessment of readiness, development of a work plan, regular review of materials and systems being developed, assisted with preparation of the self-study, and prepared board and staff for the site visit. I also met with the board, leadership committee, and various staff groups.”

Ultimately, she also helped the organization’s leaders respond to COA’s post-site-visit report and facilitated a program redesign group helping make adjustments in their residential treatment model.

Haimes uses a combination of on- and off-site consultation to assist her clients in these efforts. She also arranges for subcontractors if necessary for a particular projects.   [TOP]

Len Iaquinta

Areas of Expertise:

• fundraising planning and implementation

Known for both breadth of skills and depth of experience in not-for-profit fundraising, Len Iaquinta is a career fundraiser of millions of dollars in major gifts, grants, and annual funds.  He is recognized as a strategic and tactical thinker, and often contributes to professional practice journals and makes presentations at professional meetings.

Iaquinta has created successful fundraising programs at public and private universities from New York City to the Midwest. In his work with nonprofit organizations, he builds on appropriate research and assessment, using outreach and personal contacts to grow, nurture, and motivate dynamic volunteer fundraisers. Focusing efforts on a strategic work plan, he brings strong attention to detail as well as creativity, measurement, energy, persistence, and sound judgment to the work.

His consulting firm, Excellence in Communications, projects the theme “Message Understood,” underscoring the important role communication plays in fundraising efforts.

A member of the Alliance for Children and Families’ national development committee, Iaquinta holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School and a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Pulitzer School of Journalism.   [TOP]