Dr. Erica Brown

Board Development

We will discuss the composition, responsibilities and relationships that constitute successful boards and how to run one with a focus on building a cohesive team. We will also examine how board members can be better advocates for your organization by helping them construct a compelling case based on the mission of your agency.

How to Motivate and Inspire Others

This session will explore traditional Jewish texts and popular leadership literature as a platform for thinking about what inspires us in the non-profit work that we do. We will then demonstrate how to use the personal stories connected to our organization into sources of inspiration to reenergize ourselves, our volunteers and our professional staff.

Dealing with Difficult People

One of the hardest management skills is dealing with difficult people. This seminar will explore how diverse our notions are of what constitutes a difficult person and examine very personally how we navigate these murky waters. We’ll conclude with lots of tips, techniques and strategies to help you grow this aspect of your leadership.

Enhanced Succession Planning

We don’t always consider future leadership until the last moment. This seminar will examine structures and mechanisms for identifying and mentoring future lay or professional leaders so that the goals and implementation of one leadership team can continue through the transition to another.

Change, Vision and the Growth Mindset

Delve into research that explores success and its correlation with the capacity for open-mindedness. How open-minded are you, really? How does your state of mind contribute to your ability to envision a different future as a leader and to mentor others to transformative and sustainable change.

Supervision and Mentoring

What makes a great supervisor or mentor? We will look at some definitions from the world of business and education and then do some hands-on training to make supervision better and more consistent throughout your organization.

Conflict Resolution

We will discuss how do you identify a problem and manage resistance to its solution? Using business literature, this session will look at how participants currently manage conflict and complaints and share techniques and solutions to handling challenging situations with great clarity, confidence and optimism.

Becoming an Effective Ambassador

This intensive training prepares volunteers and professionals to take the positive message of their organizations to their constituencies and the broader public. We will work on exercises on leadership presence, messaging and public speaking to build an awareness of what it takes to be an effective ambassador.

The Art of Fund-Raising

Don’t be afraid to fundraise. You’re doing people a favor. Using Jewish sources and professional business literature we will see how fund-raising provides the opportunity to do a mitzvah. Through exercises in this workshop you will hone the skills to fundraise effectively and guilt-free.

Making Meetings Matter

This seminar explores the art of running meetings that are intentional, productive and valuable from start to finish.  Learn to set an effective agenda and stick to it. Master facilitation skills to generate meaningful conversation and resolve conflict.

 An Attitude of Gratitude

Most volunteers and professionals feel overworked and undervalued. This workshop will focus on how to motivate people by making them feel appreciated.  Sincere appreciation inspires productivity, good will and loyalty. 

Innovate!

How well does your organization manage change and stimulate creativity? This workshop will inspire you and your organization to think outside of the box and inside the heads of leaders who harness innovation to stay relevant. Learn to introduce and integrate change so that it is sustainable.

Evaluation and Assessment

This workshop focuses on writing and using surveys and evaluation forms to understand the impact of the work you do. Learn to make evaluation part of the culture of your organization and see enhanced and measurable results.

 Time Management

Help your professionals and lay leaders use time well to get better results. Whether you’re a procrastinator or a workaholic, learn to think differently about time and enhance your productivity.

 Team-Building

How are teams forged without forcing people to interact as a group? Coalitions of the willing are created through empathy, goal-setting, trust-building, and project sharing. We will hone in on trust as the fundamental ingredient of a well-run team and take on some common myths about trust, namely that once broken, a trusting professional or volunteer relationship can never be repaired.

Diversity and Inclusion

Sometimes our work culture can feel exclusive and alienating to outsiders and insiders alike. This seminar will explore some of the sensitive issues around diversity in our own organizations. What is it like to be a non-Jew working in a “Jewish” building or a non-Jewish board member? How do professionals or lay leaders who keep kosher feel at a lunch in a non-kosher restaurant? We’ll mine some of the subtle tensions of diversity and what we can do to create more open, tolerant spaces for ourselves and our colleagues.