HBS Community Partners of Connecticut
Community Partner’s (“CP”) mission is to enable HBS alumni to promote excellence in nonprofit leadership in CT through pro bono consulting, education, grant awards, and related initiatives that provide a rewarding opportunity to work together to benefit our community. We recognize that our success depends on the efforts and contributions of our volunteers. We want to express our appreciation to the 55 volunteers who helped to make 2024 another successful year.
Apply your business skills and career experience to help local nonprofits tackle their management challenges and opportunities.
Explore our advisory offerings, both several month consulting projects and single evening brainstorming sessions, tailored to your organization's needs.
For 20 years, CP has invited applications and granted scholarships to one or more CT nonprofit leaders to attend the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM) executive education program. This Executive Education course is an HBS Social Enterprise Initiative program that allows senior executives to examine their missions and develop strategies for the new global economy. It is an intensive six-day program taught by the HBS faculty. Over 150 nonprofit leaders worldwide, representing a wide range of nonprofit sectors, make up the student body. Over 33 of our state’s recognized best nonprofit leaders have attended this program and unanimously report that SPNM was the most “outstanding executive education experience of their entire careers.”
The 2024 Lee Barnes Memorial Scholarship for Nonprofit Leaders Recipients were Nancy Coughlin of Person to Person in lower Fairfield County, and Sarah Fox of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness in Hartford.
Person to Person (P2P), with a history of over 50 years, serves over 25,000 individuals annually with a range of programs including food, clothing, financial assistance and coaching, camping and scholarships. Nancy writes: “My mind is still on overdrive from my week in Boston. I am eager to put the skills I learned into use at P2P. There was a balance of peer and classroom learning. The HBS SPNM staff were outstanding. I feel grateful to have spent time and learned from them. Our living/learning groups may well be the greatest gifts of the program. I now have colleagues in Australia, Rwanda, Canada, the US and UK to call upon for their expertise.”
The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) leads the charge in preventing and ending homelessness across Connecticut. Through strategic partnerships with local communities, advocacy efforts, and extensive support to our partners, CCEH is transforming the landscape for those experiencing homelessness. Sarah writes: “My experience at SPNM will have a lasting impact on our work at CCEH. Being able to step away, be surrounded by amazing leaders, and learn from HBS’s frameworks and practical applications for nonprofits was an outstanding experience. What I learned during the program is influencing CCEH efforts to prevent and solve homelessness.”
HBS Community Partners plans to invite scholarship applications for the 2025 SPNM program in February. Please direct your questions to our Awards Committee Chair, James Rulmyr ’78 ([email protected]).
The demand for CP consulting services throughout CT continued to be strong: we completed 8 projects. Clients included agencies focused on empowering those in need with nutrition, housing, mental health, immigration, and self-sufficiency; providing crisis and supportive services for victims of domestic violence; preserving endangered species; and delivering fresh meat, vegetables, bread, canned goods, and boxed foods to food pantries. 2025 begins with 8 projects either underway or about to begin.
Brainstorming sessions are two hours and designed to address a tactical challenge. Two agencies requested brainstorming sessions in 2024.
In 2024, we held working sessions for three clients seeking to build board consensus on strategic issues; answer strategic questions on growth; identify how best to support and serve members and residents; and develop strategic plans.
The 2024 Robert Whitby Turbo Award was granted to Generation S.O.S. A secondary award was granted to the Fairfield Museum and History Center. The Turbo Award aims to catalyze or turbocharge” a local nonprofit by launching a new initiative or improving an existing program. It is open to all Connecticut nonprofits. We are thankful for the generous support of DR Bank, which enables us to make this $ 20,000 grant.
Community Partners pioneered a new approach for our pro bono consulting in 2024 that mirrors the case studies at the heart of the HBS pedagogy. The client was the Greenwich Center for Hope and Renewal, who provides high quality mental health care. Alumni volunteers were given a case document describing a management situation and asked to (1) submit a set of recommendations and (2) participate in a 90-minute Zoom “classroom” discussion. The client received all of the written recommendations and the video recording of the Zoom classroom discussion.
CP awarded the 2024 Lee Barnes Memorial Scholarship for Nonprofit Leaders to 2 Connecticut nonprofit leaders: Nancy Coughlin of Person to Person in lower Fairfield County, and Sarah Fox of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness in Hartford.
In 2024, 55 HBS alumni volunteers made significant contributions to strengthen the nonprofit community, sharing their business skills with leaders of local organizations. We worked for a total of 5000 hours of Pro Bono consulting and workshops, creating an estimated value of $2.3 million
Pro Bono consulting and brainstorming projects .
Report Projects had impact with 66% reporting Significant or Highly Significant Impact
Benefited from our pro bono consulting services.
Volunteered for pro bono consulting and Skills Gap Initiative activities.
"We truly cannot begin to express our gratitude for taking the time to provide guidance to Winning Ways. The insights you and your team provided were invaluable and will not only contribute to the growth and expansion of Winning Ways, but also the personal and professional growth of the three of us. We are eager to implement the suggestions and increase positive change in our communities."
- Benjamin Backes, Co-Founder & President, Winning Ways"Community Partners exceeded our expectations in every way! Your team provided the expertise and vision to guide The Community Fund of Darien into the next three years by developing a detailed strategic plan based on initiatives. It was time for our treasured 70-year-old organization to focus on its future and HBS delivered. We could not have done it without the HBS team.”
- Janet King, Executive Director, The Community Fund of Darien"I can reiterate the compliments for the previous consulting project Community Partners did for Malta House in Norwalk, CT. I was on the board at the time. You will be happy to know we are still following the recommendations. We are moving into a new home next year, also in Norwalk, which will allow us to increase our services by 50% in an even better environment."
- Laure C. Aubuchon ’76, Board Member, Malta House"We are grateful for the expertise and support provided by our CP team. Because of this project, we now have measurable strategies to put into place that will increase our impact on our student population."
- Krisy Jelenik, Executive Director, Housatonic Community College Foundation"At the tender age of eight months, our new 501(c)3 organization adopted its first strategic plan with CP's support. CP's help was invaluable as the plan was designed, edited and re-edited. Our CP team was smart, focused, respectful and economical with everyone's time, for which this overworked ED is very grateful. Thanks, CP!"
- Joy Haenlein, Executive Director, CLICC"Thank you for an engaging discussion on the ALICE Marketplace. We walked away with great ideas as well as some cautionary steps to take…These brainstorming sessions are a wonderful service to the community, and we feel fortunate to have had this opportunity…I will keep you all posted as we build momentum! work with."
- Kimberly Morgan, CEO, United Way of Western Connecticut"I wanted to let you know that based on the HBS project we did together, we implemented your feedback and executed a Susan M. Ross New Executive Director Institute in September 2020 that served 20 new Executive Directors of Fairfield County nonprofits. We collaborated with the Nonprofit Support Center to run this program."
- Danielle Marchione, Manager, Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Fairfield County's Community Foundation"We can't think of a more-worthy recipient [of the Humanitarian Award sponsored by the donor-advised Thumbelina Fund] than the HBS Community Partners. Their commitment to elevating the performance of the nonprofit sector is having a positive impact on the thousands of lives that are touched by these agencies each year."
- Bob Arnold, CEO, Family Centers"[Your project] will benefit the agency for years to come."
- Mary Guerrera, Executive Director, Fellowship Place"I can say that we would not have moved as comprehensively and rapidly as we have without their guidance and leadership. They support the executive level work of the initiative through countless hours of meetings and documenting and organizing the movement along with the backbone staff."
- Mara Silada, Executive Director, Stamford Cradle to Career"The CP team's consultation helped our organization clarify the necessary steps to take in planning for the transition of a senior administrator, who after over 25 years in the organization, performed integral roles in many areas outside of his sphere of responsibilities.
The CP team provided us with assurances that we were on the right path and aided our decision on which choice of direction would benefit our organization's future."
"The HBS CP team creates tremendous value for the individual organizations they support as well
as an at yet, immeasurable collective impact, across the region. We are constantly seeking ways to improve our ability to deliver services and improve the lives of older adults in need of community support. HBS CP has helped us establish our North Star and numerous initiatives along the way."
"The Zoo has thoroughly enjoyed working with CP. CP listened to our needs, gave clear and concise direction and worked with us to ensure the project was complete. CP is truly an asset to our nonprofit community.
THANK YOU!
“We simply cannot say enough about CP and the work they did for us here at Connecticut
Foodshare over the past year. With their help, we were able to develop a multi-year plan that will
completely revamp and reinvigorate both our programs and our presence down in Fairfield County.
Their research and observations were rooted in both quantitative and qualitative analysis, and their
ultimate recommendations were rooted in practicality. We are incredibly thankful for the
opportunity to work with CP, and we look forward to sharing our results with them in the years to
come.”
“As a not-for-profit startup, our team needed help to create a more sustainable business model.
The CP group researched the space we are in and led a strategy session with our team which
produced valuable and tangible results. We successfully tweaked our revenue model – doubling
our monthly revenue in six months, and we will likely build on that and make even more
adjustments using their feedback. Our team is sincerely appreciative of CP’s assistance as they have
made a tangible difference to the sustainability of our new kind of library.”