Board Speed Dating! November 11, 2011

This week, a small group of interested Bridge graduates and nonprofit partners gathered to do some speed dating – board matching style.  Here’s how it works:  Once you’ve taken The Bridge, if you’re interested in having Seattle Works help you find an organization where you can serve (and that fits your interests and skills), we will!  We host events like Board Speed Dating where organizations that are looking for qualified new board members will come and spend an hour with you!

  

We had Northwest Girls Coalition, North Helpline, Many Lights, and Safe Futures there to chat about their organizations, current needs (and challenges), board commitments and what specific role the Bridge grads could play if they were interested in the organization.

We have another Board Speed Dating event coming up on Wed 1/11 for anyone who has taken The Bridge. If you’re interested in joining us, drop Page a line: page@seattleworks.org

And if you haven’t taken The Bridge yet, check it out: http://www.seattleworks.org/SW_TheBridge

The Bridge at Boeing July 27, 2011

On Monday Seattle Works headed over to Boeing for a session of the corporate Bridge. 23 members of the LDE team (Boeing’s Leadership, Development, and Excellence team) came to learn more about board service. We covered board responsibilities, fundraising and how to make an ‘ask’, cross-cultural communication, strategies to cope with misunderstanding, and few in a few case studies along the way. The afternoon was complete with a panel featuring guests from 5 different local non-profits that Seattle Works partners with who are looking for new board members. It was a successful day, and great to see some potential connections already being made at the end of the day.

Thanks Boeing for letting us come and present – and thank you for this awesome certificate!

This Just In – Another Emerging Leader Matched to a Board! June 24, 2011

Not long ago we featured Le Ann Langston, a graduate of the Fall 2010 Bridge session, who has been serving on the Northwest Girls Coalition (NWGC) board. We are pleased to announce that we just got word of another connection made – Stacy Oda, a recent grad of our April 2011 training, was elected this week to the board of The School of Acrobatic and New Circus Arts (SANCA).

Read more about what they do here: www.sancaseattle.org.

Congratulations Stacy!

It’s great to hear success stories where Bridge participants can be matched to a board. The Bridge provides a great opportunity for those interested to learn about joining a board, as well as why it is so important to have a diverse group of individuals willing to serve. This article by Jeff Marcoux, Beyond ‘Doing Good’ – Benefits for Young Professionals of Sitting on a Non-Profit Board, highlights some important information to those who would ask the question: Why should I join a non-profit board? He mentions the numerous networking possibilities, and how connections made on a non-profit board can even lead to opportunities in the for-profit world. If you’re interested in exploring what being on a non-profit board could do for you, it’s definitely worth a read!

If you would like to hear more information about The Bridge and non-profit boards, or to get on the email list for future trainings, please contact Tegan Hollen (Tegan@seattleworks.org).