Young Leaders learn nonprofit ways

Nashville City Paper Online

By M.B. Owens
August 03, 2005

A springboard into the social and business fabric of the region, a unique program in Middle Tennessee prepares young business and community leaders to be board members of local nonprofit groups.

Young Leaders Council (YLC), itself a nonprofit, provides a 10-week training program for men and woman between the ages of 25-39 who want to learn about and serve nonprofit organizations.

The list of YLC graduates reads like a who’s who of not-for-profit boards throughout the region. Its alumni serve on more than 150 Middle Tennessee boards, including Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville Ballet, Oasis Center and Alive Hospice.

The Frist Foundation was the impetus behind YLC at its founding 20 years ago and remains a major supporter. Participants must be recommended or nominated by former graduates or by affiliated companies, and it costs $350 dollars to attend.“We hold two courses a year with a maximum of 35 in a class,” said Diane Hayes, executive director of YLC.

“The classes run one-half days, usually in the morning.”Topics addressed in the classes include strategic planning, diversity, conflict resolution, financials, fund-raising, special event planning, board responsibilities, legal issues, how to run effective meetings and leadership development.

At the end of the program, each graduate is placed as an intern on a not-for-profit board.In addition to the classes, YLC has three or four continuing education lunches every year, Hayes said.“I went into the program to become more knowledgeable about being on a nonprofit board,” said Steve Kulinski, partner in the Nashville architectural and engineering firm Gresham, Smith and Partners, who participated in the program in the mid-80s. “But it was much more than that.”Kulinski said it was an outstanding networking opportunity.“I was in a class with 30 other people, and am still in touch with some of them 20 years later,” he said.
These are the people that are in leadership roles not only on nonprofit boards, but also in the community, Kulinski added.His firm thinks so much of YLC that a member of the staff attends the program almost every year.
The YLC program has benefited nonprofits even beyond their boards. “It eventually led to [me] making a career change,” said Hal Cato, executive director of Oasis Center, a nonprofit group that helps teenagers and adolescents. Cato said the classes, which he attended about 15 years ago, piqued his interest in not-for-profits. Several years later he decided to enter the field and took the job at Oasis.

His organization has two alumni from the YLC program on its board.One thing the classes help participants do is determine the difference between board members’ responsibilities and staff responsibilities, Cato said.Graduates are in such demand that as soon as a position becomes available on a board, the “young leaders” are asked if they are interested.

Many companies in the area encourage their employees to take the classes and become a board member.

Lori Badgett, vice president at SunTrust Bank in Nashville and a 2001 graduate of Young Leaders, said, “It is an invaluable experience for participants, and I encourage young professionals to become involved.” According to Badgett, SunTrust has sent 13 employees through the program and is a corporate sponsor of YLC.Badgett herself has gone on to be on the boards of six local nonprofits. And she is presently the chair of the YLC board.