Philanthropy as an Investment in Leadership
As a businessman and philanthropist, Tom Healey views his Healey Family Foundation’s charitable endeavors through a pragmatic business lens. The Foundation, which is part of the FADICA Catholic philanthropic network, has been interested for years in providing much needed support and training to nonprofit executives and Catholic Church leaders.
The Foundation’s latest project involves Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), one of the nation’s largest social service providers with 167 agencies serving over 15 million people a year. Each local agency of Catholic Charities offers a wide array of programs and each is run independently with its own budget, personnel, and management.
Identifying a Need for Support
During COVID, the Healey Family Foundation saw basic needs skyrocketing at the local Catholic Charities it supports in the New York / New Jersey region, adding to the already complex needs the organization responds to daily. That spike in service was seen across the country.
Interested in how the Healey Family Foundation could provide critical support to Catholic Charities’ network of leaders, Tom met with CEOs of the Brooklyn-Queens, Newark, and Paterson agencies. From that dialogue emerged an idea for a custom-designed national training program for all Catholic Charities CEOs and presidents nationwide.
That plan reached fruition in February 2022 as Catholic Charities launched the Professional Certificate in Nonprofit Executive Management in collaboration with the University of San Diego.
Designing a Custom Solution
The program is geared toward enhancing the management capabilities of senior leaders. The 18-week virtual course covers key areas such as:
- governance
- strategic thinking and planning
- theory of change
- building a budget
- sharing information with boards, and
- fundraising
Wrapping up each program is a four-day, on-campus Capstone event that includes lectures and small-group consulting projects to benefit CCUSA agencies struggling in certain areas.
Making it Actionable
“The course came at the perfect time for me,” says Mary Beth Pinard, Vermont Catholic Charities Executive Director, which operates throughout the state. When COVID subsided and she finally had time to focus on the future of her organization, Mary Beth enrolled in the first cohort. Two additional cohorts are now underway.
“Through the course I gained thought-partners, time, and resources to think strategically,” she says, “which I wasn’t able to do before.”
Mary Beth adds that a huge benefit of the class is that it’s actionable: she completed the course with a strategic plan framework, metrics dashboard, financial analyses, and a network of peers.
“I gained thought-partners, time, and resources to think strategically, which I wasn’t able to do before.” – Mary Beth Pinard, Executive Director of Vermont Catholic Charities
