Meet the Funders: BE BOLD!

When you hear that nonprofits like yours need to innovate and be bold, do you think… “Sure, just as soon as I finish making payroll/getting this annual appeal out the door/figure out why our website is down again?”

It’s no secret that many nonprofits have enough difficulty delivering on their day-to-day responsibilities, let alone executing big, bold strategies. But maybe we need to rethink what it means to be bold? Does it mean "innovative" or "risky"? Not necessarily. Maybe bold means making small changes that will, over time, transform your organization.

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation about what it means to “be bold” in today’s uncertain times. Hear from funders who represent a wide range of philanthropic interests. Panelists include:

Boston Foundation
Boston College Center for Social Innovation
MetroWest Health Foundation
Middlesex Savings Bank Charitable Foundation
Surdna Foundation

The event will begin with a panel discussion and Q&A, then wrap with an informal networking session. Come share your questions, your hopes, and your ideas… leave with valuable connections, and even more valuable inspiration.

Don’t miss this popular event. Spaces are limited, so reserve your seat today!

About our presenters:

Moderator: Dana Neshe serves as president of the Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation and executive vice president and chief risk officer of Middlesex Savings Bank. Ms. Neshe oversees the operations of the Bank’s 29 retail branches, as well as its retail investment program and marketing program. She also has responsibility for directing and managing all charitable giving activities for both entities. Ms. Neshe has held a variety of positions with local nonprofits, including director of Jewish Family Service of MetroWest, director of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce and trustee of the MetroWest Health Foundation. Ms. Neshe was appointed to the Framingham State Board of Trustees in 2011. Since its creation in June 2000, the Middlesex Savings Charitable Foundation has provided more than $4 million in grants to over 400 nonprofit organizations providing critical community services throughout its community.

Jennifer Aronson is the associate vice president for programs at the Boston Foundation. Ms. Aronson oversees the foundation’s discretionary grantmaking operations, strategy development and management, a function that allocates $16 million annually across five "impact areas" (Education, Health & Wellness, Jobs & Economic Development, Housing & Neighborhoods, and Arts & Culture), two "cross-cutting strategies" (Nonprofit Effectiveness and Grassroots), and the community at large (via the Open Door Grants Program). Open Door Grants are made to new and existing nonprofit organizations in Greater Boston including MetroWest, to support efforts to meet existing needs as well as test new ideas and innovations that address the most critical challenges facing the community. Ms. Aronson also leads the foundation’s Nonprofit Effectiveness Group, which works to enhance the impact of the Massachusetts nonprofit sector via capacity building, leadership development, and structural innovation strategies and programs for grantee and non-grantee organizations, collaborations, and networks. Jen has served at The Boston Foundation since 2009.

Stephanie Cosner Berzin, Ph.D is the co-director of The Center for Social Innovation at Boston College, which fosters effective, sustainable social innovations that enhance social justice by promoting "innovation from within." The mission of the Center is to build capacity within the social sector by preparing tomorrow’s social service leaders, promoting the capacity of existing social service agencies to respond to current and future social issues, and building the evidence-base for social innovation. Dr. Berzin's research work has focused on how government can foster social innovation, on social entrepreneurship among older workers, and on building organizational capacity for social impact. Dr. Berzin works with social sector leaders to develop their skill-set related to innovation both locally and abroad. Research examining the potential for social intrapreneurship supports this aim. For her work on youth aging out of foster care, she was awarded the Frank R. Breul Memorial Prize for outstanding contribution in Social Service Review in 2009.

Martin D. Cohen is the president/CEO of the MetroWest Health Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, Mr. Cohen served as the executive director and senior consultant of the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc., a health and human services consulting firm. He previously served as a senior program consultant with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and was a deputy assistant secretary in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health & Human Services. He serves on the board of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation and as a member of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. In 2017, the Foundation announced the award of its first Think Big - Change Lives Grant. The initiative challenged local nonprofit and municipal agencies to pitch their “big idea” on how to improve the health of the MetroWest region.

Kelly Davenport Nowlin, a fifth-generation member of the Andrus family, was elected as a Surdna Foundation trustee in 2010. She chairs the committees of the Andrus Family Program (AFP) and Centennial Working Group. As chair of the AFP, Kelly is responsible for outreach to, and engagement of the more than 400 living descendants of Surdna founding patriarch, John E. Andrus. Her responsibilities as chair also include identifying opportunities to collaborate with like-minded family foundations. Kelly is guiding the development of activities marking Surdna’s 100th anniversary. Prior to her board service at Surdna, Kelly was a founding board member of the Andrus Family Fund (AFF), an independent grant maker launched by Surdna in 2000 as a grantmaking fund for fifth generation family members. Kelly is an acknowledged expert on social media and brand development, and is an experienced public relations professional and public speaker. She has worked extensively with non-profit organizations, building partnerships and campaigns to generate awareness and support for their causes.