Building a sustainable, growing agency ain't easy.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has an ambitious goal to serve 5% of the children 'at-risk" nationwide. In 2005 they looked at the San Francisco Bay Area, and saw an under-served population of young people with three small, under-funded agencies struggling to serve 350 boys and girls in an area with 200,000 kids at risk.

I came on board as CEO in 2005, and merged the three agencies into a single unit. Consolidation required a complete overhaul of policies and procedures, the implementation of new technologies, and most importantly, setting a clear direction and getting the staff and Board to embrace it.

I revitalized the fund raising efforts, increasing the agency's income more than 50%. This required the ability to communicate our vision to individuals, corporations, and foundations, and it meant being committed to the results we promised.

We increased the number of young people with a mentor over 300%, growing from 350 to more than 1300. We accomplished this by setting clear goals and objectives, and holding people accountable to achieving them. Big Brothers Big Sisters has been in California for almost 100 years, but the 20 agencies in the State had no effective organization to represent them statewide. I energized the State Association, meeting with top State officials to secure funding for all agencies.