arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston
Boston Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA
Boston, Massachusetts

Succession Planning: Creating Successful Transitions
01/27/2004

Moderator: Laura Mandeles, Consultant, Wolf Keens & Company

Panelists:

• Valerie Wilder, Executive Director, the Boston Ballet
• Peter Karoff, Founder and Chairman, the Philanthropic Initiative
• Nicole Pierce and Jody Webber, Co-Executive Directors, Green Street Studios Center for Movement and Dance

The Forum consisted of a speaker and a panel. The speaker and moderator, Laura Mandeles, is the author of a white paper on succession planning and a consultant with Wolf Keens & Company, an international consulting firm specializing in nonprofit with a specialty in arts and cultural organizations.

Ms. Mandeles gave a perspective on the importance of succession planning, putting systems in place before a top executive steps down, how to show sensitivity during the process, how to avoid communication pitfalls, and how to motivate the Board of Directors to take charge of the process in advance. The importance of hiring a consultant, when appropriate, to assist with the process was stressed. A discussion around founders leaving an organization was discussed as panelist Peter Karoff was the founder of his organization. Valerie Wilder had been through five directors during her tenure at National Ballet of Canada and was able to provide insightful comparisons. As the successor to a long-time director at the Boston Ballet, she was also able to give the perspective from the new person hired to fill the shoes of an exiting director. The panel reflected a range of organizational budgets by design in order to have the audience hear the experiences of small, midsized, and large organizations.

The forum was attended by arts groups, business people experiencing change in their organizations, and an area foundation about to begin the succession process.