Madge McGuire, CEO of homelessness non-profit Catherine House Inc., spent a week at Harvard Business School (HBS) earlier this year after receiving SVA’s David Clarke Scholarship to attend Harvard’s ‘Strategic Perspectives in Non Profit Management’ course.
Madge joined 159 other non-profit CEOs from around the world for seven busy days of interactive lectures and discussion groups. The group were given 25 research papers to read in advance as preparation.
They interrogated issues including alternative funding models from around the world, measurement and evaluation, developing a theory of change, and the importance of having a very clear mission.
Standout sessions for Madge included a lecture by Frances Frei that unpacked the intriguing dictum ‘in order to be great we have to be bad.’
‘We were told that we should be able to articulate our mission in one or two goals, and that all of our activities should be aligned to those goals.’
‘There is a notion that it is noble to be as much as possible to everyone; but we were challenged to realise that trying to be great at everything leads to exhaustion; and exhaustion leads to mediocrity. It takes courage to say no to opportunities that could take your organisation off path.’
Another speaker that left a lasting impression on Madge was Bill Strickland, President and CEO of the non-profit Manchester Bidwell Corporation that works with disadvantaged people through the arts and on-the-job training opportunities.
‘Bill believes that a nice environment –artwork, flowers, music playing – helps to instil a sense of worth in people.’
‘People are a function of their environments so if you treat people like assets, you change their perception of their value. Bill said it perfectly; “poor people like beauty too”.’
‘This really resonated with me as it’s out of this same understanding that we invest in making Catherine House a welcoming and attractive environment for women experiencing homelessness.’
Madge is already putting some of the insights from the week in to practice and has asked each of the programs at Catherine House to create their own Mission Statement, from which a new collective Mission Statement will be built.
Overall, Madge said the week was affirming and incredibly stimulating.
‘The whole experience was quite extraordinary, quite life changing. The place, the people and the constant learning certainly kept my mind in overdrive. I would like to thank SVA and the Trustees of the David Clarke Scholarship for the wonderful opportunity to attend HBS. The learning and new insights have been of tremendous benefit to me personally and, of course, our work.’
