January 19, 2011

Community Advisor's: Their Role in our League

By Nandini Gondhalekar (Community Outreach Member-at-Large, Board of Directors, JLPA•MP 2010-2011) and Summer Brill (Web Marketing Assistant Chair/Social Media, 2010-11)

Tonight at our General Membership Meeting, we will talk about community needs with a panel of our Community Advisors.

So, what is a Community Advisor and what role do they play in our League?

A Community Advisor is a business/professional person, approved by our Board of Directors to advise the Board on community, business, financial and legal matters, or any other area deemed appropriate for the League.

Not only does a Community Advisor bring breadth and depth of understanding community issues to our League, they also educate others in the community about the JLPA-MP.

The Community Member At Large (Community MAL) oversees the Community Advisors Program. This year (2010-11) the League’s Community MAL is Nandini Gondhalekar.

The League taps into the Community Advisor's expertise on various issues as needed, but the Community Advisors meet as a group once every year at the League's Community Roundtable held at the Gatehouse. This event is attended by the President, Community VP, Sustainer Community Advisor, Community Projects Co-Chairs and other guests.

We are fortunate to have the support of several Community Advisors, offering their expertise and guidance on a broad range of community topics. To see a list of our Community Advisor’s, click here.

This evening we welcome three of our Community Advisors as they join our meeting to talk about Community Needs.

Bill Somerville: President and Founder of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation. Bill brings 50 years of experience in non-profit work, including 17 years as Executive Director of the Peninsula Community Foundation.Bill is nationally recognized as an expert on creative grantmaking. He has consulted at over 400 community foundations in the United States, Canada and abroad on effective operations and grantmaking. Bill publishes the periodical Building Community Foundations, distributed to 950 community foundations worldwide. He currently teaches courses on philanthropy at Stanford University, UC Berkeley's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and Laney Community College, in Oakland, CA.Bill is a recipient of the 2004 Gerbode Fellowship Award in recognition of outstanding achievement as a non-profit executive. He is a member of the National Advisory Board, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University, and the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare Advisory Board.

Margot Malliard Rawlins: Margot has been with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation community for ten years. Currently, she oversees two initiatives. Fostering the Future was designed to help youth in foster and kinship care develop the skills and connections needed to become healthy, productive adults by age 25. Envision Bay Area’s mission is to strengthen the ability of Bay Area residents and community leaders to make informed decisions about the growth and development that will shape the future environment, economy and everyday life in their communities. She also works on public policy and large convenings for the community foundation. Margot went active with the Junior League of San Francisco in 1978 and went sustaining with our League in the early 90s. While here, she served as chair of several community projects and was also nominating chair and Community VP. Much of her local volunteer work has been as a board member for both TheatreWorks and the Environmental Volunteers and her major volunteer focus now is as a CASA volunteer supporting a 17-year old foster youth.

Carrie DuBois: Sustainer Community Advisor. Carrie went sustaining from the JLPA-MP in 2002. She is a past President's Cup awardee and has been a three time board member: Fundraising VP, Community Member at Large, and Community Outreach VP. Carrie also co-chaired the following committees in the League: Recovery Road, Holiday Boutique, Rosalie Rendu Committee. Carrie's other volunteer commitments include: elected School Board Member in San Carlos; Executive Board member, San Mateo County School Boards Association Delegate for California School Board Association; Current PTA volunteer at Carlmont High School. Carrie was awarded the 2003 San Jose Magazine Woman Making a Mark Award and was the 2005 San Carlos Citizen of the Year.

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