Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE) announced that it received a $10,000 grant from NeighborWorks America in recognition of its work in its Excellence in Governance program. CNE participated in the 18-month training that is designed to build a stronger and more effective board of directors with an emphasis on improving community-level outcomes. In short, the program is designed to move organizations and their boards from “good to great.”
CNE’s Board of Directors created a Leadership Team to participate in the training. The team then worked with the full board to implement the recommendations and tools from the trainings designed to create board excellence. CNE’s team included John Bridger, Marco Perez, John Bilderback, Ricardo Morris, Ralph Woodard, and CNE President and CEO Martina Guilfoil.
CNE was one of only 16 nonprofits from across the county chosen to participate in this round of the NeighborWorks Excellence in Governance program, which launched in 2011. The team was coached for 18 months by Sara Orozco, an independent consultant with extensive experience in community development and board governance. The training required the board to create a performance challenge designed to improve how the board functions in its governance role and thus improve organizational outcomes.
“I am deeply impressed by the commitment of CNE to help its Board become exceptional. I've never been a part of an organization that has poured this much time and resources into building such a strong Board and am grateful for the support of NeighborWorks America to help us get there”, says Marco Perez who has served on CNE’s board for three years.
“Board governance is crucial for nonprofit success,” says NeighborWorks America President and CEO Paul Weech. “Excellence in Governance trains boards and executive leadership to excel in their roles so that they can help an organization fully reach its mission and serve its clients.”
NeighborWorks America is one of the nation’s largest community development grant makers and is the largest trainer of nonprofit community development nonprofits in the country. The NeighborWorks grant will be used to further the board’s work in achieving excellence.