MNA Conferences & Trainings Statewide Training Calendar Michigan NOW! LEAGUE Michigan Direction/Contact Us

Executive Leadership Fellows

In today’s social climate, the nonprofit sector bears an increasing burden for effectiveness, efficiency, innovation and accountability. To meet these demands and expectations, the Michigan Nonprofit Association developed the Michigan Nonprofit Leadership Institute (MNLI), which seeks to enhance and strengthen the leadership of the nonprofit sector through information, support, enrichment and celebration.

MNA is proud to offer its newest leadership program, Executive Leadership Fellows. Executive Leadership Fellows will target newer nonprofit executives (three or fewer years of experience) at the helm of a nonprofit organization. The curriculum of this program will be designed to address the basic tenets of effective leadership and governance, and will utilize a number of existing resources as curriculum support mechanisms. Whereas Emerging Leaders was designed to meet the needs of program level staff that aspire toward career advancement positions, Executive Leadership Fellows is designed to meet the needs of those living the daily reality of executive leadership with its wide realm of benefits and challenges.

Executive Leadership Fellows will follow a format similar to that of Emerging Leaders, but will introduce a variety of organizational assessment tools. These tools, when completed with staff and board feedback, will create an overall framework of organizational readiness for mission-achievement.

Executive Leadership Fellows participants will be sub-divided into peer support teams for purposes of homework assignments and networking. These teams will jointly identify resources, problem-solve, and challenge each other to think critically and broadly regarding sector and individual organization issues. Executive Leadership Fellows participants will also be encouraged to complete targeted tasks with their organization’s board leadership and key staff members, which will produce a great opportunity for learning and organizational effectiveness.

Executive Leadership Fellows will require a greater individual time commitment than Emerging Leaders to adequately cover the issues of both leadership and management. Curriculum components of Executive Leadership Fellows will include (but not be limited to) the role of the nonprofit executive, roles and responsibilities of a nonprofit board, supervising staff, leadership vs. management, nonprofit infrastructure and legal requirements, risk management, fund advancement, lobbying and advocacy, ethical decision-making, and an overview of nonprofit finance and accounting. Significant attention will be given to the issues of staff support, development and retention, as well as to defining the relationship of an executive director and a nonprofit board.

As the Michigan Nonprofit Leadership Institute is fully mobilized, MNA will provide opportunities for replication. For more information on MNLI or Emerging Leaders, contact Sam Singh, singhsam@mnaonline.org or Robin Lynn Grinnell, robin@mnaonline.org.