Laurence A. Pagnoni - Resume
Supporting nonprofit client services by developing strong organizational
infrastructures comprises the last 20+ years of my executive leadership.
With a focus on marketing, strategic planning, staff and board
training and support, and outcome evaluation, the agencies with
which I have worked have been able to make lasting contributions
to improve the quality of the lives of their clients.
I have served as executive director of three community agencies
and as president of my own consulting firm. These agencies have
had budgets of $500,000 to $26 million dollars and staffs from
12 to 75 people.
With senior managers and trained consultants, I lead the establishment
of creative collaborations with select affiliates, often between
unlikely partners, resulting in successes that continue today.
I am experienced at public speaking and have been evaluated by
professionals as an audience-engaging speaker, using dynamic written
and verbal communication to convey intricate ideas and plans.
Excited by missions requiring public education, I am at my best
when the mission creates positive, people-centered behavior change.
My expertise is requested by members of the staffs and boards
for whom I once worked, and by those who were in my employ. My
job responsibilities have shown increasing degrees of trust and
compensation. I have recruited and hired three chief executives,
10 development officers, two controllers and 22 program or division
directors.
Laurence A. Pagnoni & Associates, Inc. (LAPA) provides two
distinct services: Management Consulting and Fundraising Development.
Management Consulting:
Over the past decade LAPA has worked with hundreds of nonprofit
agencies with annual budgets ranging from $500,000 to $26 million.
By using organizational development models, we have worked to
aid our clients in crisis intervention and planned change. We
work to help their agencies become more adaptable to market and
environmental changes.
The management consulting products at which I am most skilled
include:
Board
of directors evaluation using a 12-point assessment instrument
that culminates in an engaging report and a half-day board retreat.
Executive director consultations for goal setting, strategic
thinking & long-range planning, especially in the context
of group coaching.
Feasibility studies to test new program ideas or proposed
expansions.
Property and real estate acquisition searches.
Business plan development.
Training seminars for mission, vision and team growth.
Recent management consultations have included a board assessment
for the Empire State Pride Agenda, a program design and evaluation
for St. Luke in the Fields Church, a survey for 20 CEOs regarding
their support and training needs in conjunction with research
for New York University and a 5-year strategic plan for the Puerto
Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Fundraising Development Services:
My skills in fundraising development focus on major donor solicitation
and grant prospecting and writing. As a long-term member of AFS—Association
for Fundraising Professionals, I work in accordance with their
ethical guidelines and therefore establish measurable performance
goals prior to the start of work. Currently we have three clients
for whom we provide this service. In the context of major donor
solicitation, we have conducted telephone fundraising events and
direct mail solicitations.
I strive to strengthen the clients' fundraising muscles as opposed
to having them be dependent upon my services. My overarching goal
is to help diversify the client’s revenue base. All of our services
involve cutting edge research, data collection and hard analysis.
My own thinking is macro-oriented, the big picture. In order for
details not to get lost, I support my talent with the talent of
highly trained associates.
In 1998, I served as the New York State Director for Finding
Funds For AIDS Projects, 3rd Edition, a Welfare Research, Inc.
publication. The popular directory is used by development officers
to identify thousands of funding possibilities among foundations,
community grant makers, and government.
From 1995 to 2005, I provided consulting services to Family Services
of Westchester’s Camp Viva, a sleepover summer camp for economically
poor families and individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Westchester
County, NY. Plans for the camp had been initiated the year prior
but had failed. Camp Viva strove to be an innovative summer camp.
I recommended that they add a year-round follow-up program, an
innovation that has proven to be successful. In 1996, I negotiated
the transfer of the camp to Family Services of Westchester, Inc.,
a well-established family mental adoption programs. In ten years
of work, the total contracted revenue goal was $1,104,950 and
the total revenue secured was $2,054,136 on contract fees of $350,000.
That is a 17% fundraising cost, very low. I am a firm believer
that outsourcing is cost effective and often produces a higher
quality product than what you can obtain through in-house staff
and this ten-year experience makes that case. By summer 1998,
Camp Viva hosted 125 campers and has been accustomed to expanding
each year. Its current annual budget is $210,000. Camp Viva has
enjoyed extensive press coverage and I have been retained each
year as its lead fundraising consultant. In 1998, my contract
was expanded to also include Family Services of Westchester's
mental health and child services.
With five other consultants, I prepared the year IV federal grant
applications for the NYC Mayor's Office for AIDS Policy; I have
facilitated executive support seminars for the National Skills
Building Conference; conducted seminars in service-learning for
NYS Americorps; established the process for mission assessment
and strategic planning for Iona Prep School, New Rochelle, NY;
and have been engaged in confidential consultation with two executives,
monitoring their goals and charting their progress toward desired
behavior changes. I have worked with the NYC Quakers in developing
Friends House, a 50-studio apartment residence for homeless people
located at 25th and Lexington Avenue. This project was a $6.5
million dollar purchase and renovation for which I raised over
$600,000 in 6 months. Also, under contract with the New York State
Department of Health, I was hired from 1999 to 2001 to assist
seven NYC harm-reduction programs in diversification of revenue
tasks.
Over the years I have documented human rights violations in a
number of countries, all of which suffer from civil unrest, violations
of religious freedom, and challenging population growth. As a
field delegate, I toured to test compliance with U.S. Foreign
Assistance Act; we also interviewed political and religious leaders
and made presentations in the U.S. upon return. Trips include:
Nicaragua, 1985-86, with Witness For Peace, touring twenty clergy;
Cuba, 1986, documentation of religious liberty; Mexico City, 1986,
Global Awareness Through Experience, relief efforts evaluated;
Israel and Occupied territories, 1988, American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee; Haiti, 1989, Catholic Diocese of Richmond, VA, to aid
people of Hench, Haiti.
I was recruited to ASC after their nationwide search, having
resigned my previous post. ASC had a staff of fifty, a $4 million
budget, and a dedication to serving the needs of over 2,000 people
living with AIDS in S. Calif.'s San Gabriel Valley, many of whom
were homeless. Case management, pediatric homecare, nurse case
management, policy and treatment advocacy, AIDS in the workplace
outreach, and harm reduction initiatives in communities of color
comprised the core services.
Restructured
the development office to create revenue diversification.
Identified $183,000 of deficit previously undocumented.
Through major donor fundraising, eliminated the deficit within
six months.
Conducted search and hired a new senior director of development.
Searched for and hired the Wellspring Group, fund development
consultants, as grant writers. Within six months we increased
our private grant requests by 60% above the previous 12 months.
Co-facilitated a board of directors retreat weekend within
the first month of my arrival to establish the board’s goals
and work plan for the year.
Analyzed and vetoed a plan for a new agency physical plant.
Addressed physical plant crisis: the lease on its existing
site had to be broken in order to move so I began negotiating
with the current landlord while simultaneously searching for
new space which was secured one year later.
Met with each of the 43 staff members to learn their perspectives.
Was appointed to Ryan White Planning Council as representative
for the Los Angeles County Supervisor.
Implemented ASC's first comprehensive budget with narrative
and graphs showing past years' budgets. The budget was a management
tool we developed, led by our four-person team, after consultation
with program staff. It received the Finance Committee approval
and subsequently the full board's approval. The budget called
for a $1.5M service expansion over the previous fiscal year's
budget.
Implemented a major donor campaign with the new development
director and the board.
Researched and recruited five new board members in conjunction
with the Nomination Committee.
Wanting to apply my previous experience in homeless services
to HIV/AIDS, I was recruited here as the first executive director.
(In 1994 the name changed to Harlem United: Community AIDS Center.)
We provided physical and spiritual support to homeless people
living with AIDS in Harlem.
In 1990 The Upper Room had no staff or budget; but over the next
four years, it established itself as a premier AIDS service provider
operating the only Adult Day Health Care Center for PLWA's in
Upper Manhattan. The Day Center was supported by over 100 scattered
site apartments and a Pastoral Care Program that was comprised
of bereavement counseling, home and hospital visits, living wills,
and weekend retreats. The combination of the three services helped
clients make positive changes, substance abuse recovery being
primary.
By 1994 a $2.3 million annual budget and a staff of 27 people
had been realized. Board and staff development, community relations,
fundraising, program planning, and implementation and monitoring
of our ten-year strategic plan comprised my core tasks. I resigned
in 1994 when, as planned, indigenous leadership was in place to
assume my duties. Today the agency’s annual budget is approximately
$17M based on the growth that had been established in the strategic
plan.
Nominated, recruited, and retained ten directors in consultation
with recruitment consultants.
Facilitated board communications: monthly meetings, ad hoc
committees and planning days.
Initiated the public relations campaigns for extensive print
and broadcast media.
Established and maintained reporting requirements and compliance
with city, state, and federal laws.
Assured fiscal reporting requirements per all related regulations.
Established and maintained overall administrative costs at
14%.
Designed data collection reports for program evaluation system
with Philliber Research Associates.
Implemented five-person management team, an innovative model
focused on training and support.
Designed and edited three policy manuals: office, fiscal,
program.
Hired and collaborated with CLR Associates for staff development.
Introduced a 15-station local area network (LAN) computer
system.
Facilitated design of the organization’s first brochure
and annual report.
Facilitated in-kind gifts of equipment totaling $350,000.
Exploring employment offers and a
move to a new city, I worked with an executive coach for the advancement
of management skills. I also maintained board of directors membership
in the Richmond Peace Center, the Christian Relief Foundation,
and the VA Coalition for the Homeless. During this time I lived
at a monastery, Richmond Hill, for an experience in contemplative
prayer as directed by Avril Maklouf, Ph.D.
Recruited to Freedom House, I succeeded the founding executive
director. I was sought out for the position because of my reputation
for effective community work stemming from my previous position
as director of community outreach at Salesianum School. Founded
in 1979, Freedom House offers a soup kitchen and drop-in center
for 120 homeless men, women, and children a day. In consort by
the Roman Catholic Bishop, Walter Sullivan, the agency was given
a building that we redesigned as a 14-bed transitional residence,
a change requiring $340,000 of renovation; following a public
speaking campaign that I launched throughout the city’s churches
and synagogues, the agency was also given an unused department
store which we converted into a shelter. Our main support came
from 250 local faith congregations and a 20-person staff, some
of whom were live-in professional volunteers. In my first month
at Freedom House, we committed to a business partnership with
our sister agency, the Daily Planet, Inc., the city's leading
mental health provider to homeless people. As the executive director
in one of the two lead agencies in a coalition of 20, I was one
of two negotiators chosen to work with the City of Richmond to
obtain a municipal building that was renovated to serve as a central
service point for the homeless, The Richmond Street Center. I
was responsible for Board and staff development, overall fundraising,
and fiscal management of a $450,000 annual budget and all community
relations.
Relocated
agency to a modern renovated social service center.
Developed a 14-bed transitional residence, Sean's Place, requiring
$340,000 renovation.
Developed a 50-bed pre-detox shelter, The Community Shelter,
requiring a $90,000 renovation.
Purchased a volunteer staff residence, requiring a $90,000
renovation.
Co-founded SRO Housing, Inc., the city's first nonprofit to
develop single room occupancy housing.
Co-founded the VA Coalition for the Homeless, a statewide
legislative lobbying and policymaking body representing over
130 homeless and housing service providers.
A private college preparatory school with a 70-person faculty,
Salesianum serves 800 students and is well known for the high
percentage of its graduates who enter and graduate from highly
rated institutions of higher learning.
As director of the Community Outreach Program, an innovative
program that combined academic studies with volunteer community
service, I placed 200 students a semester in 110 different agencies
for 40 hours of volunteer service. Journals and book reports were
used to aid students in reflecting upon their experiences. Duties
included participation in the school's five-person ministry team;
coordination of retreat weekends for all 800 students; conducting
one-day retreats for 200 Junior students. As instructor of theology,
I taught courses in ecumenism, justice, world mission, and sexuality.
Major accomplishments included revising the social ministry course
syllabus and student handbook, increasing the agency placement
list from 40 to 110, serving on the committee for Middle States
evaluation, and establishing a section in the library dedicated
to social justice texts. I was awarded a faculty grant in 1983
for summer research.
I taught a social justice seminar at Villanova University (Philadelphia),
1986; I worked as a teacher and administrator with the Upward
Bound Program (Philadelphia), summers 1981-1982; while in college,
I taught a sixth-grade class in religious education one day a
week for three years at Annunciation Elementary School (Havertown,
PA), 1979-1982; I volunteered with the Brandywine Peace Community
(Philadelphia), 1981-1985 as a community organizer.
I have been awarded the Child Service Award, 1995, by Family
Services of Westchester, White Plains, NY; the Seminar Success
Award, 1994, National Catholic AIDS Network, Chicago, IL; Housing
Development Award, 1992, SRO Housing, Inc., Richmond, VA; Life
Achievement Award, 1990, Italian American Society of Virginia;
Human Rights of the Year Award, 1989, City of Richmond, VA; Faith
and Life Award, 1982, St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA;
Salutatorian, Class of 1978, St. Joseph's Preparatory, Philadelphia,
PA.
I hold membership in professional groups including AFP—Association
of Fundraising Professionals, the NY Regional Association of Grant-makers,
National Society of Fundraising Executives (NSFRE), Association
of NY Executives, Board Source, and the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force.
MPA
/ MS, Management, 1998, New York University, Wagner School of
Public Service
MA, Socio-political Theology, 1986, LaSalle University, Philadelphia,
PA
BA, Systematic Theology, 1982, St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia,
PA (Dean's List)
Secondary Education, 1978, St. Joseph's Preparatory School,
Philadelphia, PA
Peter Drucker Institute, advanced training for systems and
organizational planning, 1992
Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, Washington, DC,
Certificate in Spirituality, 1993
Computer literate. Physically fit (6' 1" / 170lbs.) nonsmoker,
active in running, weight lifting, and yoga. Born August 18, 1960.
A list of publications and/or references is available.
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