Board Development Series

In our role as a funder, we have heard from many organizations that they face roadblocks when it comes to creating more inclusive and engaged boards. In response, we are launching a free workshop series which will tackle these challenges and many more over the course of three sessions.

A wide angle shot of a room full of people taking notes while consultant Maria Fibiger presents on board member responsibilities.

Registration does not guarantee a spot at the workshop. You will receive a confirmation email once your enrollment has been confirmed.

A professional headshot of consultant Maria Fibiger wearing a white shirt with a black jacket.
Session 1: Roles, Committees, and Compliance

Featuring Maria Fibiger

  • Why you need a Board Development Committee.
  • Helping your board officers understand their roles and responsibilities.
  • Strategies to effectively maintain compliance with New York State’s reporting requirements.
  • How to assess risk and mitigate liability for your organization.
  • Creating and implementing self-assessments to help identify your board’s strengths and weaknesses.
View Maria's Bio

Maria Fibiger, President / Senior Consultant – Three Dog Consulting

With more than 15 years of consulting practice and 25+ years of career experience in the nonprofit & public administration fields, Maria brings a wealth of knowledge to her work.
She has held top-level nonprofit executive positions for numerous organizations and as such, her view of the day-to-day challenges faced by so many nonprofits is realistic and down-to-earth. Maria’s consulting experience is expansive and includes:

  • Leading a cohort capacity-building program for Start-Up and Early Growth organizations;
  • Providing sustaining board development support to an animal welfare organization with members
    through the U.S. and Canada;
  • Developing and providing full nonprofit management services for an 8-county wellness program for Upstate NY cancer patients and increasing revenue from $60k to $1.4m annually.

She specializes in working with Start-Up, Growth, and Turnaround Lifecycle Stage organizations that need to develop and implement action plans to meet the ever-changing needs around organizational growth, transition planning, and building capacity. Maria holds a B.S. Degree in Public Administration & Urban Planning with a Certification in Nonprofit Management & Organizational Development from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also a Certified Lifecycles™ Capacity Consultant of
the Nonprofit Lifecycles Institute.

Professional headshots of Maryann Roefaro and Babette Baker smiling at the camera.
Session 2: Creating an Extraordinary Board

Featuring Maryann Roefaro, MS, FACMPE and Babette Baker

  • Setting effective and realistic goals by understanding the characteristics of the board you need and want.
  • Learning how your board’s composition influences its perspectives.
  • Understanding your personal role on the board and its relationship with the whole.
  • Building trust and participation on a nonprofit board by leading from the inside-out.
  • Setting the stage for authentic inclusion and sustainable engagement.
View Maryann's Bio

Maryann Roefaro, MS, FACMPE – CEO of Hematology-Oncology Associates of CNY

Maryann Roefaro, has been the CEO of Hematology-Oncology Associates of CNY (HOA) since 2002. She is the author of “Building the Team from the Inside-Out”, “A Human’s Purpose by Millie the Dog” and “Snippets from the Inside-Out by Millie the Dog.” She has over 30 years of healthcare experience in senior leadership positions. She is a board certified fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives and maintains an active roll in leadership development through various speaking engagements and internet radio shows. She received her MS Degree from Upstate Medical University, her BS from Albany College of Pharmacy and her Doctor of Divinity from the American Institute of Holistic Theology.

She is one of the co-founders and President of the Board of Directors of CancerConnects, Inc. She is a board member of Breast Care Partners. LLC and Wisdom Thinkers, Inc. She is a board member of both Excellus BC/BS’ Central New York Board and the governing board, Lifetime Care. She is the co-chair of the Community Oncology Alliance’s Cancer Administrator’s Network and is advisory board member of the Integrative Oncology Network. She is also on the Political Action and Governmental Affairs Committee for the Community Oncology Alliance. In addition, Maryann is a Reiki Master, a Certified Heart Centered Hypnotherapist and a Senior ChiRunning Instructor.

View Babette's Bio

Babette Baker, Principal Consultant – Paideia PM

Babette Baker has over 30 years of experience of supporting nonprofits, businesses, and municipalities in program design/development, process facilitation, grants administration, fiscal management, marketing, and program
assessment/evaluation as a consultant and nonprofit professional throughout the country. During her “active” grant writing period, she has an 84% award rate and has raised over $50 million dollars in grant funding. As head of the
Syracuse/Onondaga County Continuum of Care, her proposal was one of two awarded planning funds in NYS and her proposal was used by the HUD Regional as a model proposal. She increased their funding by 8.7% in two years.
She has served as Peer Reviewer for federal, state, and local government (New York, Oklahoma, and New Jersey) and several foundations. The proposals included: education, community engagement, health care, youth
programming (LGBT, substance abuse, social skills, pregnancy prevention, etc.), homeless programming, AIDS/HIV, public art, economic development, and housing.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in African/American Studies from Colgate University. She has completed graduate coursework in the Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation Program at Syracuse
University. She graduated from the Leadership Greater Bellevue/Redmond program, was a Fellow in the National United Way Program on Nonprofit Leadership. She has also earned certificates in Community Leadership and
Economic Development from NeighborWorks.

Babette has taught workshops on grant writing, board development/governance, program evaluation, fund development, etc. She is committed to continually improving her practice to provide strategies and tools to clients that are innovative and utilize best practices.

An image of three panelists talking about their experiences as board members and NTL graduates at the 2022 Board Development Series.
Session 3: Growing Healthy Partnerships and Alliances

Featuring Maria Fibiger and a panel of active board members.

  • Panel discussion with graduates of the Nourishing Tomorrow’s Leaders (NTL) program.
  • How new board members can be onboarded most effectively.
  • Training your board to be community ambassadors.
  • How to collaborate effectively and grow effective partnerships.
  • Making new board members feel welcome and relaxed.
Program Details:
  • The series is free, however space is limited.
  • We require that at least one board member be present. If you have a Board Development Committee, we recommend that a member be enrolled. But if you do not, please feel free to sign up and learn why forming this committee is essential.
  • Enrollment is capped at three participants per organization.
  • The curriculum is designed to target Board Development Committees.
  • Locations:
    • Session 1: OneGroup at 706 N Clinton St, Syracuse, NY 13204 (parking is available on site)
    • Session 2: SUNY Oswego Syracuse Campus
      The Atrium, Suite 115, 2 Clinton Square, Syracuse, NY 13202. (Parking is available at the 100 Clinton Square/126 N. Salina St. lot)
    • Session 3OneGroup at 706 N Clinton St, Syracuse, NY 13204 (parking is available on site)
  • Food: Dinner will be provided at no cost to participants.
  • Dates: Oct. 10th, Oct. 24th, and Nov. 7th from 4:30 – 7:30 pm

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