Building Out a Stellar Team for a Regional Philanthropy Serving Organization
Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) is a dynamic, growing membership organization that brings the philanthropic community together to shift resources, capital, and power back to historically marginalized communities leading transformative change. Northern California has a rich cultural legacy and commitment to social justice. NCG’s membership is made up of stakeholders across philanthropy including program officers, board members, donor trustees, movement organizers, communicators, visionaries, advocates, dreamers, and believers. What started as the “Lunch Bunch” in the 1960s, a group of philanthropic leaders committed to growing together, formalized in the 1980s with the goal of supporting a base of philanthropic members. NCG currently has 217 institutional members and more than 4,000 individual members. For the past forty years, NCG has been working to gather, mobilize, and transform philanthropy. Walker & Associates Consulting was selected by the Board of Directors to lead the search for a new President and CEO resulting in the hire of Dwayne S. Marsh who brought 27 years of experience in the public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors with a career commitment to advancing racial and economic equity.
“As I entered into what I knew would be a competitive process as a candidate for President and CEO, I was immediately assured that it would be an equitable and growth-oriented experience with Connie and Jeannine at the helm. As a dynamic duo, with Connie’s depth of experience and network and Jeannine’s strategic approach, they adeptly managed a complex process inclusive of a Search Committee, the staff team, and the full Board of Directors treating me with respect and care at every step. They provided proactive communication, thoughtful preparation, and actionable feedback that helped me show up as my best self. Their facilitation allowed me to feel seen, engaging in authentic dialogue with key stakeholders to share more about myself, my experience, and my vision while learning more about the organization along the way.”
~Dwayne S. Marsh, President & CEO, Northern California Grantmakers
After joining NCG and doing lots of listening and reflecting to refine his vision, Dwayne sought to build the capacity of the team to align to the needs of members and the field at large and to more explicitly center racial justice, internally and externally. Now on the hiring end at NCG, Dwayne sought Walker & Associate’s partnership in refining roles and creating an even more dynamic team, which we did in collaboration with Cathy Schreiber of Cathy Schreiber & Associates.
“Having been on the other side of Walker & Associate’s process, I knew I wanted anyone interested in joining NCG to have that same experience. Even after their own leadership transition, with Connie becoming an advisor and Jeannine leading the day-to-day, there was no doubt that they’d be the right partner to help me fill out my dream team. In a staged approach, Jeannine helped us design and fill five critical roles – three directors, a senior director, and a vice president – across equity, climate, policy, membership, and public affairs. Jeannine and her team are not just transactional head hunters with one area of specialty, they are strategic partners who support holistic organizational development. They adapted their process to meet our unique needs, enhanced our team’s approach to hiring, and attracted outstanding leaders with relevant experience and, more importantly, values alignment and cultural compatibility to round out our team and take our work to a new level. I couldn’t be more pleased with how our team has grown and evolved and the true impact of Walker & Associate’s support will continue to be realized as we ramp up our work and sharpen the region’s philanthropic practices.”
~Dwayne S. Marsh, President & CEO, Northern California Grantmakers
