ESC Celebration of Service

On Monday, June 10th, in the beautiful Great Hall of the Massachusetts State House, ESC hosted its annual Celebration of Service luncheon. Seventy volunteers, community leaders, and clients gathered to honor and give thanks to the consultants and fellows who lend their time and talent to help nonprofits not only survive but thrive.

“We can’t overstate the impact our consultants and fellows make in communities across the region,” said Julie Crockford, President of ESC. “Through management consulting and interim management and operations roles, you bring unparalleled expertise, perspective and guidance to nonprofit organizations that address issues from homelessness and food insecurity to English as a Second Language to pathways to success in school and career.”

In her welcoming remarks, Bonnie Clendenning, Chair of the ESC Board of Directors, said, “Our organization runs on people power and today we celebrate you, our volunteers. According to the 2018 ESC annual report, donated professional services were valued at more than $2.5 million in our last fiscal year. But what you contribute to the health and vitality of our nonprofit communities throughout New England is of course priceless.” In introducing Miles Robinson, she welcomed her former board colleague to his new role as Vice President.

While the event is an opportunity give appreciation and gratitude to those who give their time and talent to ESC, there were a number of special awards presented.

The Caleb Loring, Jr. Award for Consulting Excellence was presented to Cassandra Clay (pictured below). This award recognizes an ESC Consultant who has demonstrated innovation, excellence, leadership, energy, and commitment. Cassandra was recognized for her ESC work over the years and recently for advising the task force at Family Continuity on deepening their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work and embedding it into their strategic planning, which was also guided by ESC. Cassandra was also awarded for her role in facilitating an Nonprofit Executive RoundTable (NET) for directors who had previously participated in the ESC RoundTable or “alumni RoundTable.”

The Edmund V. Marshall Outstanding Project of the Year was presented to a team of consultants who worked on the ESC and ESC Northern New England merger: Craig Anderson and Paul Arruda (pictured below from left to right), Will Hughsted and Jeff Smith. This award recognizes work that has yielded new information or developed new methods which enhance ESC’s organizational capacity. This team successfully put together two ESC’s having a common heritage, vision, business model, and portfolio of consulting solutions in order to better serve nonprofits around the region.

The Ezra Merrill Founder’s Award was presented to Sue Heilman (pictured below, right, with ESC president, Julie Crockford). This award recognizes an individual for exceptional contribution to ESC and the nonprofit community. Sue was honored for her impact on the nonprofit sector over the course of her illustrious career as an Executive Director of a number of nonprofits and as an ESC consultant. Sue has led ESC projects from Family Nurturing Center in Dorchester to the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire in Portsmouth. To date, she has facilitated two NET cohorts and is leading her third this fall.

The keynote speaker for the luncheon was Robert D. Monahan (pictured below), Executive Director of Julie’s Family Learning Program. Bob reached out to ESC in 2002 for assistance with developing a strategic plan. Since that time, Julie’s Family Learning Program has had five additional engagements with ESC. Bob spoke about how our experienced consultants provide affordable solutions to small nonprofits in need.

In addition to the awards for consulting, three Encore Fellows were recognized for their service to the nonprofit community: Ramesh Advani, Centering Healthcare Institute; John Belchers, Interise; and Leon Wilson, Museum of African American History.

To view the photos from the event, please visit our Facebook album.