I am honored to be writing my first note as the newly appointed Executive Director of Backyard Sports Cares. I will be forever indebted to Danny Bernstein for hiring me three years ago and then offering me an opportunity to lead this wonderful organization.
For those who may not know, I spent most of the last three decades working in the television industry as a journalist and executive producer for companies like CNN and MSNBC and then as an executive at E! Entertainment and MTV. Throughout those years, I was volunteering in New York City at the East Harlem Tutorial Program and in Los Angeles on the board of my son’s school where I oversaw development and fundraising. When Covid hit, I decided it was time for a change and began looking for work in the nonprofit sector.
Searching Idealist (also called the “Indeed for nonprofits”) I came across a post for a Director of Development at Backyard Sports Cares. Danny and I had remained friends since we both attended Amherst College back in the 1980s. I called Danny and as they say, the rest is history.
Backyard Sports Cares has proven to be a perfect fit. I am a lifelong athlete having played lacrosse, soccer and football in high school and then lacrosse and football in college. The values that I learned on the playing field including hard work, self-discipline, and teamwork have shaped both my professional and personal life.
This past summer I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Boston at one of Harvard University’s Executive Education Program’s titled “Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management.” Along with 150 nonprofit CEOs from all over the world, we wrestled with some of the most challenging issues facing nonprofits. Not surprisingly, managing a nonprofit organization after a founder/executive director departs took up an entire afternoon.
I learned two things during those discussions. First, you need committed donors, which I am so proud to say we have. And I am pleased to share that our efforts over the past 10 months to create a Legacy Fund paid off. Many thanks to all those who stepped up to contribute to the fund. And, second, stay on mission. Do what you do best. Here at Backyard Sports Cares that means bringing sports and recreation to underserved and special needs children here in Westchester.
It may sound simple, but that is what we do and we do it very well. And I am looking forward to carrying on that tradition.
