Essential Skills and Strategies for New Program Officers

When:

Thursday, January 24, 2019 (All day) to Friday, February 8, 2019 (All day)

Where:

Multiple Locations

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Tools and Techniques for Effective Practice

Philanthropy New York's Essential Skills and Strategies for New Program Officers (ESS) orients new program officers and directors to their role as funders. This multiday intensive course helps philanthropy newcomers build a framework for understanding and implementing ethical and effective grantmaking. It is a part of our PNY Core offerings.

The program prepares program officers and directors for the “science” of philanthropy – offering training on the tools and skills to be effective grantmakers and philanthropy professionals overall. Through highly interactive sessions with peers, it also offers strategies for managing the “art” of philanthropy – building participant intuitive skills that bring greater clarity regarding their role and help build self-awareness of their unique contributions within the larger sphere of social change.

We intentionally keep the class size small (20 – 25 participants) so attendees can build relationships with peers and develop a peer learning framework that will enhance their practice going forward.

Intended Outcomes

Upon completing ESS, participants will be able to employ tools and skills learned to:

Discuss philanthropy’s role in the social change ecosystem
Identify legal and ethical issues
Explore how program officers come to funding recommendations
Communicate effectively as directors and program officers
Discuss evaluation and learning methods used in philanthropy
Recognize variables that help or hinder capacity to maximize grant impact
Apply reflective practice in their philanthropy careers, which includes:
- A personal strategy: how to recognize and analyze the interplay between role, self and the systems context
- Relationship building: how to approach and grow relationships authentically, with colleagues in philanthropy and with grantees

(Since PNY offers an extensive financial series, this course will not cover financial analysis.)

We encourage participants to take PNY's Philanthropy 101 course first before ESS.

ESS Faculty

Stephanie Boarden, Program Officer, Open Society Foundations
A. Nicole Campbell, Senior Director of Operations and Foundation Counsel, Dalio Foundation
Irfan Hasan, Program Director, Healthy Lives, T he New York Community Trust
Molly Schultz Hafid, Associate Director, TCC Group
Roz Lee, Vice President of Strategy and Programs, Ms. Foundation for Women
Kelly Shipp Simone, Associate Counsel, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
George Suttles, Director of Research, Commonfund
Kristen Ruff, Senior VP of Member Services, Philanthropy New York (facilitator)

Program Schedule

The 2019 ESS class is scheduled for:

Thursday, January 24, 2019 - 9 AM to 12:00 PM
Friday, January 25, 2019 -  8:30 AM to 5:00 PM   (Snow date: Monday, January 28)
Friday, February 1, 2019 - 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM   (Snow date: Monday, February 4)
Friday, February 8, 2019  - 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM (includes closing reception) (Snow date: Monday, February 11)

Location is TBD. All sessions will take place in Manhattan.

In addition to commiting to attending all sessions, participants are expected to allocate 4 - 6 hours (in total) for pre-reading and homework.

Eligibility

ESS is designed for and open to program officers and directors with less than three years of experience in the philanthropic sector and who have the following responsibilities:
- Programmatic due diligence of potential grants (i.e., proposal review, site visits)
- Communicate funding recommendations and decisions to foundation stakeholders (i.e., CEO and/or Board, grantees)
- Assessment of grant performance and evaluation of grantmaking portfolio
Participants are required to submit a Statement of Support from a supervisor, as this program requires significant time out of the office.
Please apply only if grantmaking is the core component of your position as the curriculum focuses almost exclusively on grantmaking.
Given the high demand for this program, ESS is only open to Philanthropy New York members.

Application Process

There are two components to the application:
- Candidate application: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MTLLJXS
- Supervisor statement of support: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CNWZ6GL
Both must be received by Tuesday, December 11, 2018.
In order to apply, you must meet all eligibility requirements. Please review these carefully.

We will follow-up with all applicants by Tuesday, December 18, 2018 regarding participation in the program.