Board and Leadership Training

Genita’s passion and expertise for developing effective boards and leaders comes from her extensive experience. She was a Board Member of The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) Fellows Association, Cook County Justice for Children, and the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership. She is a graduate of IWIL, LGC, and Edgar Fellows, and she also served on the Board of Ethics for the City of Chicago and the Serve Illinois Commission.

Sample results:

• Genita worked with a longstanding nonprofit whose board had approximately two dozen members. Board meeting attendance was very low (less than 50%) as was board giving, with one-third of members giving less than $250 and 20% donating $50 or less annually. Genita worked closely with the Governance Committee to reduce the size of the Board through a new 360-degree evaluation process. Approximately one-third of the Board members resigned or were removed. Board attendance climbed to 75% and was trending upwards at the end of the engagement. The Board achieved a 100% giving rate, with remaining members increasing their gifts. After less than two years, the Board brought on three new members and had three additional new members in their pipeline.
• Genita provided a series of training to a small nonprofit to assist them in their transition from a founding board to governing board. After the first training, which focused on roles and responsibilities, the Board: developed and implemented an orientation and exit process; recruited two new Board members; and restructured all Board committees and eliminated one. Follow-up trainings, including one focused specifically on the Board’s role as fundraisers, resulted in a 50% increase in the number of Board members making personal cash gifts and several formerly reluctant members setting individual plans to outreach to others for the organization’s year-end appeal.

Outreach and Engagement

Genita has a demonstrated ability to build support for candidates and causes. In her two runs for public office, she raised -hundreds of thousands of dollars- and received endorsements from both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune

Results:

• Genita co-chaired the second largest Ultimate Women’s Power Lunch for Congresswoman’s. Jan Schakowsky’s with over 1800 in attendance.
• Genita served as an Illinois Finance Committee member for President Obama’s 2008 campaign helping to raise early support for the then first-term U.S. Senator.
• For Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth, Genita increased net receipts for their annual fundraising dinner by 200% in three years.

Strategic Planning

Genita acts quickly and create positive results on short on long-term projects and systems change.

Results:

• For Forefront, Genita manages the high-profile Mission Sustainability Initiative (MSI), which focuses on providing technical assistance, resources, and education to nonprofits interested in long-term or permanent partnerships. Accomplishments include:
  • Serving as the program officer to the 16 funders on the Funders Committee, which meets six times a year
  • Convening a 28-member Advisory Committee, comprised of nonprofit leaders, foundation representatives, and advisors to nonprofits,
  • Educating nonprofits on strategic partnerships through presentations, webinars, and panels, including those hosted by other organizations including Illinois Science & Energy Innovation Fund, Illinois CPA Society, the Philanthropy Club, the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation, and the Turnaround Management Association
• During her tenure at the Chicago Public Schools, Genita led multiple school creation and evaluation processes, including drafting the first Renaissance 2010 RFP. She also advised school leaders on accessing external resources and allocating limited funds in support of their academic goals. Genita oversaw a 25% growth in the number of students served and the opening of 10 new campuses in one year.

Project Management

Genita works with her clients to refine their goals and translate those goals into long-term plans and immediate action steps.

Results:

Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth provides cash and in-kind support to community based mentoring programs. Starting through an engagement as interim Executive Director, Genita worked with the Board to develop and implement at strategic plan that grew the board, increased revenue, and rationalized the grant-making process to ensure organization’s future and its continued ability to support one-on-one mentoring in Chicago. Specific results included:

• Building an engaged Board with new members and a Board committee structure which reflected the priorities of the organization’s strategic plan
• Diversifying revenue through the creation of a year-end giving program
• Focusing the grants on a smaller number of programs that could be incubated for growth and greater capacity