LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Experienced leaders who have spent decades of their career in leadership roles and who want to share their wisdom and make Louisville nonprofits stronger are now having an encore.
The Leadership Louisville Center’s Encore Louisville program was launched in 2014 to leverage the talent, skills, and experience of senior leaders who are transitioning out of the workforce to solve challenges faced by worthy nonprofits that need help managing critical strategic issues. In this way, the center makes it possible for our community’s talent to be engaged in high-impact civic leadership and stay connected with professional peers with a flexible, self-directed time commitment. Encore Louisville is supported by Kosair Charities and Lift a Life Foundation.
The 2021 Encore Louisville class recently began its year-long program. It has participated in a marketplace to review pitches from area nonprofits hoping to gain strategic advice from a team of experienced executives. The nonprofits “pitched” their requests in hopes of securing an Encore Louisville team who offer pro bono exploration of strategic issues, using their skills and experience to help identify options and solutions.
The 2020 Encore Louisville class helped 19 nonprofit agencies last year with strategic planning, opening doors to new partnerships, conducting facilitated brainstorming and priority-setting sessions, developing funding strategies and more. The participants’ work delivered over $500,000 in value to these nonprofit agencies and the class dedicated over 1,800 hours to the pro-bono work.
Recent projects included work for Boys & Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana, Common Table of Catholic Charities, a program that provides training in culinary arts to those who face barriers to employment; OneWest, a community development corporation in Louisville’s West End (which was born in Bingham Fellows 2014); and Make-A-Wish, among others.
2021 Encore Louisville Class participants
The Leadership Louisville Center launched the Encore Louisville program in 2014 to capture the talents, skills, energy, and experience of these leaders and provide a structure so they can meaningfully give back to the community. The program is like no other in the country and is designed so seasoned leaders can stay engaged with professional peers and help solve challenges faced by our nonprofit sector as they retire, approach retirement or transition from professional careers.
Each Encore Louisville class includes about 4 to 50 participants, some are new and some have been part of the program for years. The program takes place over 12 months and the class gathers four times beginning in January, offering time to connect with other class members, hear outcomes of project teams, and attend a marketplace to review pitches from area nonprofits hoping to gain strategic advice from an Encore Louisville team.
Add Comment