The Coaching Program
Every nonprofit leader benefits from a good coaching relationship – growth, guidance, friendship, and success for both parties as each sharpens and strengthens his or her skill in the process of working with each other. The bonds of coach and coachee can be as close as those in any rewarding professional relationship because they are built on trust, mutual goals, and a shared commitment to making the relationship work. These kinds of bonds are particularly valuable in the nonprofit arena, where senior executives are often torn between the competing demands of clients, donors, board, and staff, without having a peer for feedback.
The Value of Good Counsel
The Fieldstone Leadership Network is proud to offer you coaching. This program pairs executive directors, one of whom has been trained as a consultative coach, in a twelve-month, confidential, one-on-one peer coaching relationship. Through a series of monthly meetings and ongoing conversations over the course of a year, coaches help to empower coachees to accomplish specific leadership goals and resolve organizational problems. Through coaching you will have access to:
- Experienced coaches with deep knowledge and insights about the dynamics of nonprofit leadership, and the skills to foster reflective wisdom and discernment.
- Organizational self-assessment tools and a 360 degree professional assessment and feedback from the Center for Creative Leadership
- An intimate and confidential environment to support and enhance your personal and professional growth.
- A new network of coaches with a common purpose – to support and enhance your leadership within your organization and in the sector.
In this kind of win-win relationship, coaches give their time and energy for the good of the larger nonprofit community as they also strengthen their own organizations. Coachees learn from confidential interaction with their coach as well as learn how to function as a coach within their own organizations.
Our Coaching Team
All Leadership Network coaches are carefully selected from the sector. They are graduates of the Fieldstone Executive Learning Groups, and have received rigorous training in consultative coaching. Each coach is part of a greater coaching network which continually builds on the collective wisdom of all members, and receives ongoing support through our quarterly coaches’ meetings. All coaches are practitioners in the social sector. They are currently leading or have led successful nonprofit organizations. We are proud to introduce our coaching team:
Valin Brown – Alliant Educational Foundation
Michael Carr – Retired Executive Director of SAY San Diego
Sue Carter-Kahl – Sue Carter Kahl Consulting and former ED
Shirley Cole (Retired) – North County Life Line
Alberto Cortes – Mama’s Kitchen
Matthew D’Arrigo – Clare Rose Foundation
Torrie Dunlap – Kids Included Together
Shannon Jaccard – Ballast Health
Sharon Lawrence – California CASA
Kathy Lembo – South Bay Community Services
Lenore Lowe – Nonprofit Solutions
John Malashock – Malashock Dance & Company
Renato Paiva – Access Youth Academy
Deborah Salzer (Retired) – Playwrights Project
Sue Schaffner – Serving Seniors
Carol Schultz – former ED
Don Stump – North County Lifeline
Karen Terra – Emilio Nares Foundation
JoAnne Ventre, J&B Consulting and former ED
Don Wells – Just in Time for Foster Youth
The Coaching Network can be a valuable experience for you, as it has been for over 300 executives who have been coached by the Fieldstone Leadership Network. Here is some of their feedback:
“My experience with my coach has been essential for me to manage and lead through the [COVID-19] crisis. It’s been a touch-stone for brainstorming and problem-solving issues that no one had confronted. It’s been both exceptional in the most supportive way and exhausting in the most uplifting way.”
“Working with MY COACH through the COVID crisis has been a blessing. I cannot put into words how valuable her insights have been in helping me be a stronger leader for myself, my team, and our organization.”
“It was so helpful to have the opportunity to discuss real-life issues with someone who has so much more experience.”
“The experience was everything I could’ve hoped for and more. My coach is a wise, compassionate, and experienced leader who challenged me to examine my motivations and goals in ways I had never done before.”
“I had a wonderful coaching experience! It pushed me to the next level professionally and it was an encouragement to meet with someone with nonprofit experience.”
“Great experience! Everything I had hoped for – a mentor, confidant, cheerleader, honest coach. My coach helped me through my most crucial decisions during the last year.”
“It was wonderful to have peer-to-peer discussions, especially having evaluated myself and my expectations in the beginning as a benchmark.”