Now is the Time to Gather Interim Executive Professionals Across the Country
By Jeffrey R. Wilcox
Today, more than ever before, we are seeing at Third Sector Company that interim leaders are in high demand.
Nonprofits across North America are facing increasing executive attrition, and their governing boards are becoming more appreciative of the unique skill set that interim leaders can bring to these vacant positions. With this increase in demand for interim executives, it is essential that there are significant investments being made throughout the country in the development of the interim executive profession and the diverse community of people desiring to provide strategic transitional leadership to community impact organizations.
Moreover, in the wake of the pandemic and a reawakening to end systemic racism, we are seeing a recalibration of the nonprofit sector to engage and edify a new generation of diverse leadership. The need for a critical review of leadership in the nonprofit sector extends to the interim leadership profession as well.
With guidance from the Interim Executives Academy, Third Sector Company offers to function as a national catalyst to convene, for the first time ever, professional interim leaders from across North America using a national conference format to advance shared learning amongst professionals with a broad range of professional interests.
We proudly invite you to the National Interim Leadership Summit!
The Summit experience will offer content and learning opportunities related to interim leadership, recent research conducted in the nonprofit sector, a refresher course on the basic models and protocols of Interim Leadership as presented in the Academy, and a roster of compelling speakers and practitioners.
We envision this will be the primary annual opportunity for graduates of the Interim Executives Academy to return for a multi-day deep-dive learning experience that creates intersectionality between our evolving industry and the ever-changing nonprofit sector. The Summit will also be an excellent way for prospective Academy participants and long-time practitioners to build community using the most recent published professional works in interim executive management and nonprofit sector research.
Key components of the Summit will include:
- A “Research to Practice” theme that presents current nonprofit research data by the researchers with a challenge to conference participants through panel presentations, guest commentators, and break-out discussions to discuss and discover the implications of current trends in the nonprofit workforce and workplace for strategic transitional leadership.
- A Deep-Dive Essentials Program that serves as an intensive 8-hour review or introduction to the methodologies and models presented in the Interim Executives Academy.
- Interim Executives Office Hours that create informal roundtable discussions on key topics of interest to a diverse community of interim professionals and led by practitioners from throughout the country with direct experience in the subject matter. Interim Executives Office Hours is patterned after the “Doctor is in” program that is popular with many conference programs in the nonprofit sector.
- Career Clinic Roundtables which create spaces for practitioners to talk about how they brand and package their professional skills, compete in successful interviews, create a work/life balance as an interim professional, create a diversified income portfolio, and identify opportunities for service as an interim executive leader in a variety of capacities including interim executive director, interim chief development officer and interim chief financial officer.
- Regional Affinity Group Networking Sessions create a way for interims from specific geographic regions of the nation to talk with one another, build relationships, and identify ways to advance interim executive opportunities in their communities. Participants will be invited to consider continuing a regional networking program throughout the year based on conversations held and introductions made at the Summit.
- “How To” Break-Out Seminars that offer tools, materials, and a portfolio of “takeaways” on specific subjects related to the advancement and practice of Interim Executive Management. Topics could include “Successful Volunteer-Led Search Committees,” “Financial Check-Ups for Nonprofit Organizations,” “The Essential Elements of Nonprofit Succession Planning, “and “Leading the Remote Nonprofit Workplace as an Interim Leader.”
The ultimate goal of the Interim Leadership Conference is to produce a “crowd-sourced” White Paper or Case Study that will advance the practical work of interim leaders and support their work in the field.
The conference will be coordinated by a team of volunteers and Third Sector Company sub-contractors from across the nation excited to welcome their colleagues and the funding community to a three-day experience dedicated to advancing one of the fastest-growing career opportunities and management solutions taking place in community impact organizations and throughout the nonprofit sector today.
Jeffrey Wilcox, CFRE is a nationally-recognized pioneer in the field of nonprofit executive development, retention and transition. Founder of Third Sector Company and its Interim Executives Academy and Board Chairs Academy, Jeffrey is an author, columnist and popular speaker on succession planning, board and staff talent development and retention, and strategic interim leadership solutions for nonprofit charitable organizations, trade and professional associations, and congregations. He is the former Senior Vice President of Community Development for the United Ways in Los Angeles and Phoenix, the former Nonprofit Columnist for the Long Beach Business Journal, past president of the Orange County Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and was named Alumnus of the Year by the School of Business, Economics and Government at Seattle Pacific University where he chaired the Executive Advisory Board for four years. In 2022, Jeffrey was presented the Innovation Award by the Washington Society of Association Executives. Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn.