Testimonials
"Bill’s experience, insight, and extensive knowledge have been essential to the growth and development of our board and staff leadership. His ability to reflect on challenges and empower leadership to identify solutions supported our building and maintaining a strong board and team! His ability to gather input and process different perspectives led to the development of a comprehensive 5-year strategic plan that will guide our organization, and through the process his facilitation skills enabled our staff and board to optimize diversity of thought, positioning Listen and Talk for growth and sustainability.
Bill also uses his substantial leadership experience and masterful coaching skills to develop leadership skills. He highlighted my strengths as he identified growth opportunities within challenges, coaching me to become a more effective leader."
"As a leadership coach, Bill has been wonderful to work with. He is an incredibly skilled listener, and is able to wade through details both large and small to get to the heart of an issue or concern with precision. Our sessions have been efficient and focused, and have helped me to step back and gain perspective beyond day to day responsibilities to be a more successful and strategic leader. Bill tailors his approach to my needs and style, and he developed a quick grasp of our organization, the challenges we face, and my skills as a leader.
Bill has a knack for bringing calm and humor to the deeply intense work that I do and having those moments for deep breaths and laughter only make additional space for great thinking and insight. I cannot recommend him enough!"
"Bill has provided invaluable advice and training on our fundraising strategy in particular and on organizational planning in general. His breadth of knowledge, innovative strategic thinking and ability to work well with a wide range of personalities are all excellent, and have helped us to become a more effective organization."
"Bill Corwin’s work was instrumental in moving our school forward at a time when strategic thinking and planning was a critical “must” for our institution. By tailoring the strategic planning process to our unique circumstances, Bill was able to create a process and a plan that was not only matched to our current resources and needs, but forward-thinking in terms of propelling our conversations and ultimately our plan to the next level.
I’ve been in education for over 46 years and have been a participant and sometimes, sub-leader in strategic planning efforts. Working with Bill Corwin and Mission Velocity has taken what I know about strategic planning to yet another level of excellence for our institution.
I highly endorse Bill and his work and would fully recommend him and his company to anyone interested in moving their organization forward with a strong strategic plan."
"Bill very effectively led our team through an intensive strategic planning process. He brought impressive skill and knowledge to the table, and has an uncanny ability to make each team member feel heard and valued."
"Bill's depth of knowledge about board development helped us look comprehensively at our Board's needs and he insightfully guided our creation of a plan to effectively address them. As an older organization, this review was overdue and Bill was skillful in helping address topics sensitively and clearly.
Bill's breadth of knowledge and experience in fundraising was also invaluable and helped Friends of Children create a compelling case and an excellent development plan. His ongoing guidance and support was also extremely helpful in our efforts to secure support for a special project and the organization overall."
"Bill brings excellent analytical skills and a wealth of nonprofit experience to his role as a consultant. He is a creative problem solver and is able to balance an insightfulness on "big picture" issues with an excellent eye for detail. Bill is also able to quickly develop strong working relationships with a broad range of people. In assessing an organization or program he brings both a fresh perspective and a strong ability to focus in on the questions that need to be answered."
"I served on the Board of Clarke for several years while Bill was President. When Bill started at Clarke, the organization needed a great deal of change and redirection. Bill successfully led the organization through a major transformation of its program and business models, while maintaining high quality programming and gaining the investment of the staff, the Board and the affected families for the substantial changes.
In addition to his excellent knowledge and strong experience with nonprofits, he possesses many of the personal traits needed to be a successful consultant: he is a good listener and a clear communicator, he is collaborative, and has an excellent ability to think critically and work effectively with Boards and staff leadership to develop creative approaches and strategies. I believe strongly that a wide range of nonprofit organizations can benefit greatly from his advice and support."
"Bill's greatest strength was his skill in bringing our diverse board to consensus on a succession plan for our founding executive director of 30 years. We came to a shared understanding because he listened to all opinions, addressed every concern, and helped us chart our future course together. Bill provided invaluable guidance on how to manage expectations, anticipate and address possible challenges, and successfully navigate the many aspects of the succession process.
Bill possesses thorough knowledge of and deep expertise in all aspects of leadership transitions for non-profits. His quiet competence enables him to successfully work with a range of personalities and perspectives, which proved tremendously helpful to us in developing the roadmap to find our founding director's successor."
"As a funder, we look for organizations that have both compelling visions and pragmatic, sustainable plans for achieving them. Bill has an excellent ability to assist nonprofits in achieving both of these. He has a high level of leadership experience, a clear passion for supporting nonprofits and is skilled in working with a range of individuals and organizations. I would recommend him highly to groups seeking to increase their impact, to nonprofit leaders seeking an experienced coach, or to organizations in need of temporary leadership."
"Bill’s depth of knowledge on strategic planning is a gift for any non-profit, regardless of size or scale. He has a unique ability to listen, engage and encourage staff, board members and other stakeholders through a process that results in meaningful outcomes for all. Bill's experience and analytical abilities can be of great value in developing strategy, building capacity, or managing through change. He is also an excellent thought partner and a trusted advisor for executive directors, and someone who brings deep integrity to his work. I recommend him highly."
"Bill Corwin is an outstanding group leader. When I needed an outside consultant to help to train our Board in Governance best practices I selected Bill based on his extensive experience and excellent reputation. Bill exceeded all of my expectations. Bill was extremely knowledgable and thoroughly prepared. His presentation was clear and compelling, and we came away from the session with some strong new directions in our approach to Governance. His facilitation skills are strong and his advice is both insightful and thought-provoking. Every detail was handled with skill and professionalism. Bill has my greatest respect and highest recommendation."
"I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Bill since 2007. He has an exceptional ability to see and understand trends in the context of developing strategy and innovative approaches to achieving an organization's mission. Bill is very adept at initiating and managing organizational change and creating more sustainable business models. He has an excellent grasp of nonprofit strategy and program analysis and development, and is able to be both analytical and creative in looking at issues, challenges and opportunities."
"Bill is able to quickly assess an organization's strengths and weaknesses, and provide great advice and guidance on prioritizing, management approaches, and overall strategy. His extensive experience as a nonprofit leader and advisor gives him a unique and valuable perspective."
"Bill has a phenomenal understanding of the challenges facing nonprofits and their CEOs, and is adept at spotting opportunities to increase mission impact. He is a creative problem solver, with great people skills, and has excellent abilities in brainstorming with leaders on innovative and pragmatic approaches to resource development, culture change and overall organizational structure and strategy.
Bill has exceptional experience and insight regarding all aspects of volunteer engagement and the development of effective volunteer programs."