Blogs

New Haven, CT –Join us as a Walker or Volunteers on  October 3, 2015 for the 5^th Annual Walk Against Domestic Violence held at the East Rock Park Pavilion, New Haven,  CT.

Family Centered Services of CT will be hosting the 5^th Annual Walk Against Domestic Violence in East Rock Park in New Haven, CT.  Join over 200 people as we walk to support victims of Domestic Violence.  Volunteers are needed for all areas of the walk from registration to route marshal.  Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. and opening ceremonies begin at 10:00 a.m. To volunteer contact: Family Centered Services of CT at 203-624-2600 or email info@familyct.org.

Family CT is committed to fostering hope and help to survivors of domestic abuse and empowering these individuals to heal and thrive.  Through the Walk, Family CT aims to raise awareness about domestic violence and to celebrate survivors.

For more information contact:  Susan D’Orvilliers at 203-624-2600 ext. 118.

The following Wall Street Journal article is about a lot of topics in the nonprofit governance world. I thought framing my own thoughts around a nonprofit board's fiduciary duty of care to be one area of focus but beyond this subject is a rarely displayed "what can happen" when there's a new chair "in town" and when there are questions of competency (re paid staff) and transparency (financial and program) and the board's own fulfillment of its duty to provide complete oversight. Certainly I'm not the one to predict how this will all shake out (new exec?; new board members; changes in policy and practices?) but I'm hoping the article's authors will be able to follow-up and let us all know.

At the very minimum, it's heartening to watch so much passion, by board members, in play.
Allegations by the music hall’s chairman, Ronald Perelman, have sparked a boardroom dispute

By
GREGORY ZUCKERMAN and JENNIFER SMITH
Updated Sept. 16, 2015 7:52 p.m. ET

NEW YORK—A simmering clash between leaders of New York’s Carnegie Hall boiled over on Wednesday as financier Ronald O. Perelman, who recently became chairman of the hall’s board of trustees, accused the prestigious music institution’s executive director of improprieties and said the hall has operated with poor oversight.

The allegations include operating the hall with limited transparency and entering into “related-party transactions.” In such transactions, the individuals involved have a relationship prior to the deal.

Mr. Perelman said his criticisms, which he sent in an emailed letter to members of the Carnegie Hall board on Wednesday, were raised earlier in the summer and led to the brief suspension of the director, Clive Gillinson.

The claims have embroiled Carnegie Hall’s board, which includes some of the most powerful players in New York’s financial and cultural worlds.

Through a Carnegie Hall spokeswoman, Mr. Gillinson said: “In serving Carnegie Hall for 10 years, I am very proud of everything we have achieved together. I love the hall and everything it stands for, and will continue to give it my all.”

Mr. Perelman, who built a fortune with corporate acquisitions and investments, is no stranger to high-profile battles. The billionaire has sued investment bank Morgan Stanley, art megadealer Larry Gagosian and a key former business partner, among others.
ENLARGE
Chairman Ronald O. Perelman PHOTO: SHAHAR AZRAN/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES

Mr. Perelman’s letter, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, serves notice that he may be prepared to bring the bare-knuckle tactics of a corporate raider into the genteel precinct of one of America’s most august cultural institutions. Such disputes generally are handled discreetly and kept out of public view, much as they usually are at orchestras, museums and other art organizations.

In the letter, Mr. Perelman, who succeeded philanthropist and former Citigroup Inc. leader Sanford I. Weill as chairman in February of this year, said he detected in the spring “a troubling lack of transparency and openness in the way Clive Gillinson was interacting with me and the Board.”

Mr. Weill couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Mr. Gillinson, a British cellist who joined the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra and rose up to become its managing director, has served as Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director for more than a decade.

“My concerns initially arose because of an inability to obtain a full picture of Carnegie Hall’s financial operations, especially as it related to profits and losses involving performances,” Mr. Perelman wrote. “I was told that such financial information was never shared with the Board or even the Chairman.”

Specifically, he continued, he was concerned about “the manner in which related-party transactions were being identified, vetted and approved.”

In the letter, Mr. Perelman said “issues arose” in Mr. Gillinson’s handling of the Warner Music Prize, something Mr. Perelman describes as a “related-party transaction.”

Established in 2014 to honor a promising young classical musician with a cash award of $100,000, the prize is presented in association with Carnegie Hall.

The prize was created with support from the family foundation of Len Blavatnik, the Warner Music Group owner who serves on hall’s board.

In Mr. Perelman’s letter, he said that “in light of various issues,” Mr. Gillinson was instructed to put the prize on hold. He went ahead and “executed a contract” for the prize, the letter said, “without the approval mandated by New York law.”

“These matters implicate Carnegie Hall’s obligations as a nonprofit organization and as a public trust,” according to Mr. Perelman’s letter.

Such lack of transparency, he said in the letter, fails to meet the standards of the New York State Nonprofit Revitalization Act, which mandates that board members take an active oversight role over staff action and, he wrote, “imposes greater restrictions and approvals in connection with related-party transactions.”

It wasn’t clear in the letter exactly what the related-party issue was.

On Aug. 18, Mr. Perelman and Edward Forst, the hall’s treasurer, suspended Mr. Gillinson, according to the letter, and called a meeting of Carnegie Hall’s executive committee. During the meeting, held the next day, Mr. Gillinson was reinstated by the executive committee, the letter said.

Emanuel Ax, a pianist who performs at Carnegie Hall and serves on its board, but not the executive committee, said the letter from Mr. Perelman was the first he had heard of the dispute.

“My contact with Clive has always been fantastic,” he said. “He’s a great guy. As far as I could tell, he was running everything wonderfully.”

Founded by Andrew Carnegie, the hall opened in 1891 and has since become a destination for top musicians and ensembles. Artists who have appeared there include Maria Callas, Jascha Heifetz and Gustav Mahler, as well as major orchestras and jazz musicians such asBillie Holiday and Miles Davis.

The hall was put up for sale in the mid-1950s and was saved from demolition when it was purchased by New York City in 1960 at the behest of the Committee to Save Carnegie Hall, led by violinist Isaac Stern, who later served as the venue’s president. Over the next few decades, its physical condition deteriorated to the point that “the bathrooms were leaking into the boxes,” Mr. Weill said earlier this year.

Mr. Perelman took the reins from Mr. Weill, who held the role of chairman of the hall since 1991. During Mr. Weill’s tenure, the famed music venue underwent a series of renovations and grew its endowment from $4 million in 1991 to $320 million. The hall also expanded its educational program and in 2003 opened Zankel Hall, a third auditorium that was previously used as a cinema.

The hall has embarked on a $125 million campaign to support its educational and performance offerings and develop digital initiatives.

—Pia Catton and Jennifer Maloney contributed to this article.

As a generation of nonprofit leaders approaches retirement and the economic climate continues to stress financial resources, organizations in the social sector should shift their approaches to planning, governance and investment, according to a new report presented Tuesday, September 15. 

The findings of the report, Leadership New England, Essential Shifts for a Thriving Nonprofit Sector, were presented to about 100 directors, Board members, and staff representing a wide range of organizations that deliver basic needs, youth, health, education, arts, and other social programs in the New Haven region. 

“You are the heart of Greater New Haven. Consider this to be a report from your cardiologist,” said William W. Ginsberg, President and CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, which funded the report along with Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, The Boston Foundation, Barr Foundation, and other foundations and charitable organizations in New England.

While nonprofits have proven to be resilient in the face of an economic downturn, many rely on operating models that are not sustainable, according to the report, based on surveys taken from 1200 nonprofit leaders and Board members throughout New England. 

The survey results show: leaders are overworked and stressed about cash flow; staff is underpaid and not given adequate professional development; and directors and Boards do not share an understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

A lack of planning for a new generation of leadership is one of the biggest issues facing the nonprofit sector, according to the report. Overall, more than half of the nonprofit leaders responding to the survey (53%) are 55 or older. In the New Haven region, 63% of the leaders are over 55.

Hez Norton, co-author of the report who presented its findings, said that executive directors don’t discuss succession planning because they are afraid of giving their Boards the false impression they want to leave. Likewise, Boards don’t raise the issue out of a fear of upsetting their directors.

“It’s a third rail conversation,” Norton said.

Norton proposed shifting the framework for the discussion away from succession planning, which focuses on an individual, and toward creating a sustainability plan that examines the vulnerabilities of the organization and its choices for the future. 

Other findings included shifting the vision of Board governance beyond short-term fundraising and investing in leadership development and high-quality staff. 

Shaye Roscoe, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley, said the findings resonated with her experience during a panel discussion following the presentation. Shortly after assuming her leadership role in 2013, Roscoe said she identified the need for a strategic plan and staff training and secured private funding to support the efforts. 

“That was a game changer for us,” Roscoe said. 

Andrew Eder, a philanthropist who has sat on many nonprofit Boards, said that better training is needed for Board members.

“Most Board members don’t know what their roles are. They don’t see staff as equals, which they are. It requires training,” Eder said.

The panel moderator, Shelly Saczynski, of United Illuminating Holdings and a Board member of The Community Foundation, concluded the event with The Foundation’s longstanding commitment to strengthening nonprofits in Greater New Haven.

“The Community Foundation believes in and will continue support capacity building, leadership training, and general operating funding for the important work of our local nonprofit organizations,” Saczynski said.

On Saturday, October 3, 2015, Family Centered Services of CT will be hosting the 5^th Annual Walk Against Domestic Violence in East Rock Park in New Haven, CT.  Family CT expects over 200 to participate in the walk.  October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Family CT is committed to fostering hope and help to survivors of domestic abuse and empowering these individuals to heal and thrive.  Through the Walk, Family CT aims to raise awareness about domestic violence and to celebrate survivors. 

Opening Ceremonies will begin at 10:00 am at the Park’s Pavilion hosted by Jessica Carl, from WYBC-FM in New Haven.  Featured guest speaker will be Derek Poundstone, 3 time winner of the World’s Strongest Man competitions.  Poundstone, a police officer in the Naugatuck Police Department, will be speaking about the importance of engaging men and boys to break the cycle of domestic violence. 

Family CT’s mission is to work with families to ensure that they are safe and nurturing places where children can succeed.  At Family CT staff work to prevent abuse, neglect and victimization across the life span and to serve those affected by providing home visiting and outreach, parenting education, family strengthening activities, counseling, youth empowerment and advocacy to children and adults. Its goals are to strengthen and preserve vulnerable families and improve child health and developmental outcomes.  Since its inception over three decades ago, Family CT has helped thousands of women, children and families live safe, happy and violence-free lives.

In one of those "render under Caesar" (check your New Testament for greater understanding) and what appears to be a NIMBY challenge, the Tampa officials are basically on-attack of a homeless shelter that by many standards, appears to be doing its job--providing shelter to the homeless of Tampa. But it's clear from the Tampa Tribune article, that not everyone is pleased with the job the Shelter is doing and for the moment, using the courts and law enforcement to solve their perception of the problem.

My takeaway from the article: what is the board's position on all this? I am of course presuming there is a board and that it plays some role like having at some point agreed to pursue a lawsuit. So if there is a board, how are they involved in supporting the work of the shelter? Have they established the policies that inform shelter related decisions (like standards for the physical space and the roles of volunteers)? Are they actively advocating/communicating with publicly elected officials over the issues? Are they communicating with the neighborhood folks who appear to be affected by the shelter activities. Re they offering or getting financial support?

There's a number of activities the board could be doing to address the shelter's challenges. These challenges should certainly not be on the lone shoulder of the founder/director.
Homeless charity to close by Tuesday

By Elizabeth Behrman | Tribune Staff
Published: September 3, 2015 | Updated: September 3, 2015 at 10:18 PM

TAMPA — A well-known homeless charity that filed a lawsuit resulting in the partial overturning of the city’s panhandling ban will be shut down by Tuesday, the charity’s founder and code enforcement officials said.

Code enforcement officials told Adolphus Parker, who founded Homeless Helping Homeless about seven years ago, that he has five days to clear out the homeless men and women from a makeshift shelter behind the non-profit’s headquarters at 106 E. Floribraska Ave.

“We’ve got to move everybody out of here, the office and everything has got to be shut down,” Parker said. “I don’t know how to pull this one off.”

Parker founded Homeless Helping Homeless in 2009. The non-profit organization offers beds to homeless people in multiple locations throughout the city and supplies showers, hygiene kits and about 3,000 meals each month. The charity’s homeless clients fill key staff positions.

Parker said code enforcement officials were called out to the Floribraska property while Tampa police were executing a search warrant there Wednesday morning.

According to the probable cause affidavit for the search warrant, investigators were looking for evidence that Parker and two of his employees were violating Florida statutes regarding towing and storing vehicles, scheming to defraud, failure to return leased vehicles and unlawful subleasing of motor vehicles.

While police were there, code enforcement officials determined the property is in violation of several zoning laws and that the makeshift homeless shelter behind the main building is “unfit for human habitation,” said city spokeswoman Christina Barker.

The city housing manager will work with the nonprofit to arrange assistance for the displaced occupants, she said. Including those in the main house, makeshift shelter and annex, 16 people will be without housing, Parker said.

Earlier this summer, the organization filed a federal lawsuit against the city arguing that its panhandling bans violate free speech rights and shut off a major source of revenue for the charity, which relies heavily on the private donations collected mostly through roadside solicitations. In June, the City Council voted to repeal part of the ordinance that banned solicitation on public roads.

The lawsuit is still pending.

Parker said he spoke with lawyers Thursday about filing a motion to suppress some of the evidence seized during the raid Wednesday because it relates to the ongoing lawsuit.

More than a dozen police cars were outside the charity’s headquarters Wednesday morning as investigators seized all electronics and tax and financial documents.

According to the search warrant, investigators were looking for evidence that Parker and two others were violating Florida statutes regarding towing, storing and leasing vehicles.

Parker said the only connection his title business and charity has to Cheap Towing is that the woman running the company is also one of his “heavily involved” volunteers.

“You can’t put that link together because there’s no connection other than she’s a volunteer,” he said.

The code enforcement violations just compounded his problems, Parker said.

The city said the storage units he had on the property were illegal, and he was also cited for operating a possible rooming house in a residential area.

Several months ago, zoning violations shut down the charity’s Bargain Center Thrift Store on Florida Avenue, which helped fund the emergency women’s shelter and transitional shelter, he said. He was forced to relocate beds to the Floribraska property, which he put in a temporary, covered structure behind the main building. He even built it on wheels to avoid further code violations, he said.

But that structure was deemed “unfit for human habitation,” the city said, prompting the order to vacate.

Jim McPike has been sleeping on one of the makeshift shelter’s 10 cots for a little more than two weeks.

“This place has helped me a lot; I feel bad about it being shut down,” said McPike, who is disabled. “I wasn’t really prepared for this.”

Staff Reporter Mark Wolfenbarger contributed to this report.

For a growing nonprofit with a small board, those interested summer students are a crucial revenue stream. And getting the Academy’s studios ready by the first day of the program was imperative.

“We don’t have board members donating $100,000,” said board chair Andre Tchelistcheff, an architect who led the renovation. “The school is financially viable.”

These three sentences in a Wall Street Journal article on the Gelsey Kirlkland Academy's new space and future highlights that having a well-healed board need not be the end-all for a nonprofit. It certainly helps however that the nonprofit's director has her own connections (from what I can glean) and that what the nonprofit offers, "prestigious dance instruction" attracts a paying student.

But with the departure of the director and a board that is not that well-healed. Should not more work be put into developing a board, say from the student's parents, that can be equally passionate and raise money?

Nonprofit sustainability planning is not for the faint of heart nor for the immediate. What might work well now might not work well in the future. There are variables to be considered. One of those variables is what board composition will help ensure a future.

Of course future is a goal that needs be established by the current board. But maybe it really doesn't matter that there might not be a future? Capable qualified and talented students who love what they do may be enough

Cheers to All!!!

The Fall will soon be upon us. Now what about a great tour to add to the brilliance of the autumnal sparkle of the trees in New Haven.

My recommendation is Mat Duman and his wonderful tour on the Gargoyles of Yale. He is an expert to the meaning and carving of this wonderful creatures adorning the University.

So, without further ado:

An Education in the Grotesque: The Gargoyles of Yale University
by Mathew Duman
info@yalegargoyles.com
www.yalegargoyles.com  

This tour is really wonderful - not to be missed!

All the best,

Patricia Illingworth, Curator

203.389.5403

p.b.i.Newhaven@att.net

Are you interested in serving a year with AmeriCorps as an AmeriCorps VISTA? Click here to apply to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) Member with PAVE New Haven. Partnering to Advance Visions in Education (PAVE) is an AmeriCorps VISTA Project that aims to reduce the youth achievement gap in New Haven, CT. VISTA Members serve in 7 different non-profits, community organizations and the Mayor's Office to improve children's literacy outcomes, increase access to college-readiness programs and to strengthen wrap-around services available to our city's youth and their families. 

To learn more about AmeriCorps or PAVE, email awildes@aoascc.org