Over the past three years Support Center has supported the organizational and mission sustainability of over 200 nonprofit organizations through comprehensive consulting and coaching engagements, including organizational assessments, strategic plans, executive coaching, board development, and redesign efforts.
In that time, we have also supported more than 30 nonprofits through an executive transition and conducted over 250 professional development workshops — both open to the public and customized for specific nonprofit groups — designed to help new and emerging nonprofit leaders increase their own personal effectiveness as well as their organization’s overall effectiveness.
The following examples provide a window into our impact. Support Center is also engaged in a multi-year effort to understand the impact of our work through improved assessment efforts.
Central American Refugee Center
Through Support Center’s Organizational Navigator program, Central American Refugee Center’s (CARECEN) staff and board took the iCAT assessment, under- went priority setting and goal check-ins with Support Center Navigator Joan Malin, and developed processes that have been “instrumental in CARECEN’s expanded capacity and preparedness for our next 40 years.”
One primary focus for their internal capacity building was to provide staff leadership and skill building opportunities. Through the Organizational Navigator program, CARECEN staff had access to trainings and workshops for free that “have been invaluable in helping staff develop skills and be effective in their roles. Sometimes staff are not only new to the field, but new managers, and these trainings helped them get up to speed quickly.” This included participation in trainings led by Support Center Consultant, Rodney Fuller. Rodney’s material “connected” with CARECEN staff, and “left them excited to attend subsequent sessions because they felt like they would continue to learn.”
CARECEN had also set board development as a high priority. Following the recruitment of new board members, CARECEN enlisted Support Center to provide board development and training. The introduction of Marie Zieger, Support Center Affiliate Consultant, allowed for a more cohesive and effective board that was able to have challenging conversations. Marie acted as a “bridge” between Executive Director and board, and “in two short sessions, helped the board to understand their roles effectively, build relationships, and lay the groundwork for a strong board moving forward.”
Despite the pandemic and lingering effects, CARECEN was able to build their internal capacity. They recently secured a funding partner for a multi-year commitment and a promise to introduce the organization to additional funders. This funding commitment will allow them to further their mission of providing high quality legal assistance to immigrant communities in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Reflecting on Support Center’s partnership with CARECEN over the past 12 months, Elise spoke to the importance of being acknowledged as a distinct organization with unique growth opportunities. “Every nonprofit leader needs to know about Support Center. There are so many resources, but we don’t know where to find them. Support Center provides a plethora of information, understands our needs, and has services tailor-made to fit them.”
Day Care Council of New York
DCCNY is a unionized, membership organization serving children from 2-5 years that represents the childcare centers under contract with New York City and also provides direct service to the home childcare community (mostly Jamaica, Queens). In 2022, Support Center worked with DCCNY to identify their next ED, Tara Gardner, who was previously at Fresh Air Fund and who has been a part of the DCCNY community for 26 years as a user of their services. Support Center had the chance to chat with Gardner and Alice Owens, Board Vice President, as part of our 2022 annual meeting in June. From the outset, DCCNY’s board was concerned about a successor following the departure of a long tenured ED amidst major changes in the industry. Not only was the publicly funded daycare industry transitioning to oversight with the Department of Education, but the ongoing pandemic meant that young children more than ever needed safe spaces to learn. There was pressure to find the right candidate with both perspective on the evolving nature and purpose of daycare education and the ability to relate well with DCCNY staff and the staff at member organizations. As is often the case, Support Center worked with the board to understand and prioritize the “must haves” and “like to haves” for candidates.The board depends on the ED to not only keep the agency running but also to keep the board informed of successes and challenges. The Search Committee ultimately prioritized an adaptable, good manager with familiarity with NYC and its idiosyncrasies. This shifted focus to more local and regional talent. Support Center’s interviews with all board members developed clarity around the organization’s future and what the board was looking for in a new leader. Additional interested parties from umbrella organizations, peer organizations, and government and labor representatives participated in background interviews. In the end, Gardner, previously at the Fresh Air Fund, was selected as the ED. While Gardner is a first-time ED, she long knew that she wanted to lead an organization. She had always worked with groups representing children over five years old, and serving a younger population would be a different experience and new opportunity. “I draw upon my personal connection to the organization’s mission and what DCCNY did for me personally as a user of their services and the opportunities it afforded my family,” says Gardner. And while she wasn’t necessarily looking for this opportunity, she took the leap and landed in the right place. That’s not to say that this has been an easy transition. The City has thrown a lot of challenges DCCNY’s way, with missing payrolls and the accompanying destabilization wrought by these financial challenges. But DCCNY, under Gardner’s leadership and with support from the board, continues to make the case for their members and to educate the administration that daycare professionals are essential workers who show up to work every day and need to be paid on time.
RIP Medical Debt
RIP Medical Debt was founded in 2014 and empowers donors to forgive billions in oppressive medical debt. They are dedicated to removing the burden of medical debt for individuals and families and veterans across America. In 2016, RIP Medical Debt began to experience tremendous growth and in 2020, Allison Sesso was brought on as the executive director. Currently, RIP Medical Debt has 25 full-time and part-time employees, and a number of consultants that contribute to the team. While they are headquartered in New York, like many organizations, they have a geographically diverse staff.
RIP Medical Debt approached Support Center in 2021 to explore staff trainings to promote a strong, positive work culture that would be engaging, fun, and provide skills to work effectively across differences in work styles. Support Center Facilitator Keith Green provided a DiSC assessment exercise and interactive workshop with the goals of building comradery and encouraging staff to think about their work styles and communication approaches.
Priscilla Keith, Director of Program Management, and Blanca Godoi, Administrative Services Manager, noted that the RIP Medical Debt staff enjoyed the DiSC assessment. “I noticed people saying things like, ‘I need to step back in meetings’, or, ‘I need to not over analyze everything.’ The staff, after an explanation of the DiSC, understood how it works and its applicability. Most of them agreed with their assessment and sought to understand how it related to the DiSC styles.”
Along with the DiSC assessment, RIP Medical Debt staff attended a workshop designed to engage staff with each other and facilitate self-reflection on their work styles and their own methods of interacting with colleagues. This felt especially pertinent in an era where relationships are built and sustained through video meetings and telephone calls.
United Community Schools
UNITED COMMUNITY SCHOOLS (UCS), an arm of United Federation of Teachers (UFT) established by UFT in 2012, facilitates partnerships between public schools and a network of committed nonprofits, local business, and government agencies to meet the health, safety, and social service needs of students, parents and communities —all with the aim of boosting student achievement. UCS’s leadership was eager to start strategic planning back in 2019, but instead took a step back to engage the organization in work around developing a Theory of Change and logic model, anti-racism training, and team building, recognizing that this would enable consensus building and more successful outcomes in planning. They also expanded their central team and promoted several staff to leadership positions. Now ready to go, UCS circled back to Support Center in 2022 and launched a planning process with Support Center affiliate consultant Gilles Mesrobian as project lead.
UCS Executive Director Karen Alford and Associate ED Christine Schuch wanted to ensure that they were paying attention to organizational culture throughout; in addition to requesting a very inclusive process, they asked Mesrobian to incorporate a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Threats) exercise and a level-setting discussion with senior staff built around People Styles at Work to encourage better interpersonal communication and address certain challenges. Strategic planning unfolded over three sessions between June and August 2022, and team building and fun were a big part of the entire process. “Strategic planning at its core is all about building consensus among decision makers, so we developed a process that started with engagement across the senior leadership team. We then worked outwards from there to engage each level of leadership in phases, allowing us to to collect input and refine the strategy until we got to those who would be carrying out many of the priorities at the grassroots level,” says Mesrobian.
“UCS had a very clear understanding of how decisions are made in their organization, as well as a very deep bench of experience and skill in their industry. They are not only leaders in their field, but they have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the industry and in their communities. This allowed me to focus on pure strategic planning, facilitating a process that allowed that knowledge to emerge and be shared and leveraged across the leadership. In this way the group was able to quickly understand and come to consensus on the challenges that lay ahead and then focus collectively on how to address them in their plan. There was no need to go outside of their organization to fill gaps in critical knowledge or collect information that was critical to the plan. It was already resident in the organization and its leadership. That’s the perfect scenario for effective strategic planning.”
Westchester Community Foundation
In early 2021, Support Center launched a cohort-based strategy and planning program, in partnership with the Westchester Community Foundation, for small and medium-sized nonprofit arts organizations that wanted to refresh and reframe their strategic priorities amid Covid-related economic and cultural disruption. The program brought together EDs, staff, and board members from six organizations to form a “community of practice,” centered around five monthly virtual peer learning sessions and fortified by office hours where individual organizations could get feedback on their plans. Participants (below) included two public libraries that serve as arts hubs in their communities.
▪ ▪ ▪ Clay Art Center
▪ ▪ ▪ Hendrick Hudson Free Library
▪ ▪ ▪ Pelham Art Center
▪ ▪ ▪ Magic Box Productions, Inc.
▪ ▪ ▪ Mamaroneck Public Library
▪ ▪ ▪ The Picture House Regional Film Center
“While we always hope these kinds of programs have a significant impact on every participant, we know that’s unlikely. But when one nonprofit executive director writes not once but twice about how much the sessions helped her, I am beyond gratified,” shared Robin Melén, Program Officer at Westchester Community Foundation. Ultimately, every organization ended up with written work outlining their strategic direction, priorities, and desired outcomes over the next 3-5 years. Several drafted strategic plans for the first time in the history of their organization. Nelle Stokes, Executive Director of Magic Box Productions, Inc., said, “Thank you all so much for making this such a wonderful experience. The organization, program design and expertise was greatly appreciated. We listened, learned, and now can’t wait to share with our organization as we develop our plans moving forward.”
Love Ministries Outreach International
From August 2024 until July 2025, Support Center paired Frank Schneiger, a Support Center navigator, with Love Ministries Outreach International, (LMOI) a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 in Pennsauken, New Jersey. “I answered God’s call to serve the most vulnerable with love, dignity, and compassion,” says Pastor Georgia Dennis, founder and executive director. What began as a small, faith-led outreach program quickly became a vital source of support for individuals and families facing hunger, food insecurity, poverty, and crisis.
After an initial organizational review, navigators work with organizations on an action plan to establish and pursue key priorities for organizations. LMOI has focused on breaking through the noise to communicate LMOI’s extraordinary quality and values to funding sources. Additionally work was undertaken to build a foundation of trust and a commitment to doing the right thing in the most welcoming way for people in need.
Managing growth has been a major challenge for LMOI. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Love Ministries Outreach International served between 2,000 to 3,000 people each month, offering groceries, personal/household care items, and hope to those in need. But when the pandemic hit, the need in the community surged, and the number of people served skyrocketed to over 10,000 individuals per month.
The rapid increase in demand soon overwhelmed the capacity of the Pennsauken location. Township officials gave LMOI a stark choice: either shut down or relocate. “We were guided by prayer and purpose,” says Pastor Georgia. “We chose neither defeat nor retreat—we chose Camden as our new home where the need is great and the call to serve even greater.”
Since relocating, Love Ministries Outreach International now serves over 20,000 people every month through food distributions, limited food delivery for seniors and individuals facing transportation barriers, health and wellness programs, cooking classes, and special community events. Despite limited resources, logistical challenges, and rising costs, the team has never wavered.
“We’re more than a nonprofit,” says Pastor Georgia. “LMOI is a movement of love in action—where compassion meets commitment, and every act of service is a reflection of God’s enduring love.” Asked what has helped to fuel the organization’s growth and impact, Kathy Durante, Executive Director of the OceanFirst Foundation says, “Love Ministries Outreach International leads from the heart. They stay until the work is done, and they make everyone feel welcome.”
The organization’s mission is clear: to be a beacon of hope, trust, and love, reflecting God’s grace through tangible actions, and through it all, Love Ministries Outreach International remains faithful to its founding commission.
Volunteer New York
In October 2024, Volunteer New York! faced an imminent leadership transition – the departure of the executive director (ED). The board of trustees was open to a professional interim executive director, someone who could provide the analysis, stabilization, and direction the organization needed during its transition. They turned to Support Center, which has been training professional interim executives and providing skilled leaders to nonprofits for more than two decades.
“Leaving an organization after 15 years was a very tough decision for me,” says the then outgoing ED of Volunteer New York!, Jeanette Gisbert. “However, knowing that a capable interim executive would serve as the bridge to a next long term leader gave me the peace of mind to move on to the next chapter of my career.” For the board members, Support Center not only provided a pool of trained and qualified candidates but also supported VNY! with the necessary expertise to guide them on all aspects of the process: defining the role and selection criteria, interviewing, and making the offer. Suzanne Tillman, a 2019 graduate of the Interim Executive Institute with a deep and rich nonprofit background, accepted that offer and the transition began.
At the time, Volunteer New York! was a well-regarded and well established organization with a slate of successful and impactful programs, a high performing staff and extremely engaged board. Nonetheless, board members Amy Seiden and Michael Welling noted several key aspects about the impact of having a trained interim executive director. “As a board there were things that we weren’t paying attention to, and Suzanne helped to focus our attention and increase our engagement,” says Seiden. For his part, Welling adds, “Once you have worked with a trained and knowledgeable interim executive as a board, you would always want this as part of a transition. It helped VNY! tremendously with identifying areas for improvement and setting the stage for the next phase of our organization’s growth and development.”
Support Center has trained over 900 interim executives over 20 years. “An interim executive director plays a critical role in assessing organizational health, driving transformation, empowering staff during the period of transition, and preparing for the next long-term leader,” says Claas Ehlers, Support Center’s Director for Executive Transition. “Through transferable skills and meaningful discussions with an engaged board, an interim leader has a profound impact on an organization’s operations. Support Center plays a key role in equipping board members and interim leaders with training, resources, and guidance to meet these goals.”
Once Tillman started at Volunteer New York!, she got to work. The first step was a deep assessment of the organization. Over her six-month tenure she upgraded financial and administrative systems, clarified the staffing model, and guided the team through the annual audit. Even seemingly smaller actions, like formalizing staff meetings and coaching supervisors had an enormous impact. Thanks to funding from the New York Community Trust – Westchester, Support Center worked with Tillman to provide additional board training to the VNY! Board through the engagement.
Ultimately, VNY! went through its leadership change as a stable, thriving, and dynamic organization. As Tillman notes, “My interim leadership philosophy focuses on building long-term organizational sustainability by boosting staff morale and capacity, leveraging partnerships, and providing a smooth on-ramp for my successor.”
The last chapter of the transition ended up in success: Polly Lagano came on board as the new executive director. Because of the work of an interim executive, Lagano was able to start with a comprehensive organizational review on her desk, a productive and excited staff, and an organization with sustainable systems and finances. She is excited to grow and expand the mission and knows it was possible because of the investment made in interim leadership.
Newark Grassroots Resource Center
Over the course of 2024 and 2025, Support Center leaned on the expertise of consultants, community leaders, and funders to explore a Newark grassroots resource to address learning, networking, fundraising, and back-office services for grassroots organizations operating in the city of Newark.
“We know that smaller community and neighborhood-based groups are less connected to the philanthropic community and funders lack knowledge of this very local work,” says Rosemary Steinbaum, President of the M&T Weiner Foundation, a family foundation. “But it doesn’t have to be this way. We wanted to invest in the exploration of a model to improve coordination and communication across grassroots organizations, community-based capacity building organizations, funders, consultants, and service providers.”
Core funding members of the team included Steinbaum and Stephanie Greenwood, Program Officer at the Victoria Foundation. Khourin Wilkins, Support Center Associate Director of Programs, oversaw the project, and Andrea Cozier McLean and Sanaz Hojreh, members of Support Center’s Community of Practice, brought local knowledge and connections across the Newark community.
Community feedback identified high demand for coaching, office and meeting space, fundraising support, and greater infrastructure for fundraising and growth, along with increased access to resources such as HR, legal, and compliance. Peer support, access to funders and improved communications were also mentioned, given existing siloes across Newark’s nonprofit ecosystem. The findings underscore significant gaps that exist in the sector, particularly for smaller nonprofits and fiscally-sponsored organizations, and provide a foundation for funding organizations and grassroots groups to work together more intentionally.
Rather than create a new organization, the planning team proposed the creation of a coordinated system that could fill gaps, avoid redundancies, and ensure additional funding to those who need it most. Across three phases of implementation, the proposed system will build a foundation of people and resources, coordinate programs to strengthen shared capacity, and offer ongoing evaluation and reflection to work on the model.
“This project has the potential to address and align the grassroots sector throughout the city of Newark. We set out to find other communities addressing this work on this scale to model and learn from, but we didn’t find one,” says Sanaz Hojreh. Advisors on the steering committee envisioned a solution that would address gaps in communication, education, capacity, and funder awareness and alignment. “This integrated system of support can provide grassroots groups a solid ground from which to build and provide support to community members most in need,” adds Hojreh.
“The process of listening, learning, and articulating a new direction will always be valuable. In this case, we gained a better understanding of local grassroots organizations and how foundations support Newark’s grassroots organizations. It also gave us the chance to explore and spotlight the diverse efforts taking place in Newark,” says Keith Timko, Executive Director of Support Center.
This first phase of the project resulted in a blueprint and a set of recommendations for a coordinated system of support. Efforts are underway to raise additional funding for the next phase and to communicate existing offerings to local grassroots organizations. If you are interested in learning more, we’d welcome hearing from you.