In Their Words
Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club
ESC Engagement: Strategic Planning
Partnering with Executive Service Corps was a game changer for the Neighborhood Boys & Girls Club. We needed more than just a vendor; we needed a true partner that understood our rich history and mission. ESC helped us move from making decisions that were tactical and reactive to being more strategic, boosting our efficiency and clarifying our path forward. Our Leadership Team is more empowered, and our mission is the strongest it has been in the organization's 94-year history. ESC's understanding of the nonprofit sector allowed them to deliver results that directly translated to better outcomes for not only for NBGC, but for all the communities we serve. We highly recommend ESC if you want to be data driven, strategic, and results oriented. We promise you will not be disappointed.
One thing that I wanted to mention is the experience / education of all the ESC consultants. They are all retired, highly successful C-Suite professionals. I learned something from each of the consultants. This was transformational not only for me, but for our organization. I did not know where I could insert this information in the aforementioned testimonial. If you can include this, that would be great.
— Jeff Sadowski Executive Director
Total Link to Community
ESC Engagement: Executive Coaching
"First of all, ESC matched me with the perfect coach. From my experience, if the match isn't right, the entire experience loses its impact, and this one was spot on.
My Coach tailored his coaching style in a way that brought out my confidence while giving feedback I could actually hear, without taking it personally or being hard on myself. He broke public speaking down into small, digestible parts, assigned homework, held me accountable, and helped me refine, refine, and refine. That structure made the process feel doable and empowering.
He also added personal touches and humor, and I genuinely felt how much he was rooting for my success. There was real care behind his coaching, not just technique.
Sometimes in life you don't know who you've made a lasting impression on, but I want my coach to know that he is someone I'll remember forever as the person who helped me launch my public speaking abilities and meaningfully enhance my career."
— Emily Raming, Executive Director
Irish Community Services
ESC Engagement: Human Resources
Irish Community Service (ICS) engaged the Executive Service Corps to develop both an employee policy manual and to conduct a compensation study. ICS wanted to update its policies, and to understand staff pay equity.
I was impressed by how easy it was to work with ESC. I found the ESC consulting team to have great follow through. They really helped keep me accountable by pushing the project forward.
The ESC work products enabled us to clearly communicate our policies and to make better HR related decisions. For example, as we hired employees, we used the comp study to set salaries and the policy manual in orientation.
I highly recommend ESC to other nonprofits as a valuable and cost-efficient source of customized management consulting.
— Paul Dowling, Executive Director
The SUM
ESC Engagement: Executive Coaching
"SUM is an organization in its infancy. We are experiencing a lot of early success in advancing our mission - restorative experiences outside for all - but it is a real challenge to execute quality programming in the present while planning for the future. Our engagement with ESC was instrumental in balancing near-term prioritization with growth and development strategy for the future. Ron was empathetic, knowledgeable and brought a healthy objectivity to our conversations. I would wholeheartedly recommend ESC to other organizations seeking to get ahead of their own growth."
— Josh Ellis Executive Director, Co-Founder
Family Service Lake County
ESC Engagement: Human Resources, HIPPA Compliance Review
“Just WOW! We received support that we could never afford on our own. The talent on the ESC team just blew me away. The deliverables were timely, professional, and ‘spot on’ … Any NFP that does not reach out to ESC to discuss its needs is missing a wonderful opportunity to make its organization stronger.”
— Nancy Sawle Knobloch, Executive Director, Family Service of Lake County
Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance
ESC Engagement: Strategic Planning
“Executive Service Corps provided the perfect match in consultants for our strategic planning work. It assembled a team with diverse backgrounds and varied expertise to efficiently and effectively conduct a bench-marking survey to support our organization’s strategic plan development. The survey directly contributed to the successful completion of our strategic plan – allowing us to set the stage for the next phase of the organization based on data gathered from across our industry. ESC truly delivers on its mission to make nonprofits successful.”
- Jennifer Van Valkenburg, President & CEO, Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance
Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois
ESC Engagement: Human Resources, Strategic Planning
“We have used ESC on numerous projects. ESC led our strategic planning process, assisted with identifying both an interim and permanent CFO, re-tooled our performance management system, and redesigned our employee manual. The access to top level professionals and consultation, at fees friendly to non-profit budgets, is worth every penny of the investment.”
— Mike Bertrand, President and CEO, Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois
ESC Engagements: Strategic Planning, Executive Search and Placement, Consultant in Residence, Executive Coaching
“Cure SMA has engaged with Executive Service Corps (ESC) for several years. The work has ranged from the development and execution of a comprehensive strategic plan to collaborating with our senior leaders and board of directors on specialized targeted projects. The team from ESC has always exceeded our expectations. We will continue to utilize the services of ESC for future projects.”
— Kenneth Hobby, President, Cure SMA
Forward Momentum Chicago
ESC Engagements: Executive Coaching
“Executive Service Corps (ESC) has been instrumental in helping the Forward Momentum Chicago team develop in ways that not only support the individual but also the organization and its growth. I have been really pleased with the level of quality and flexibility ESC’s volunteers have provided and look forward to continuing to partner with ESC in future areas of professional development.”
— Tammy Hsu-Hartenstine, Operations Manager, Forward Momentum Chicago
Deborah's Place
ESC Engagements: Human Resources, Executive Coaching
“Deborah’s Place has benefited from the services and programs of ESC for over 20 years. We have worked with ESC consultants on strategic planning, financial analysis, executive and team coaching and, most recently, succession and staff development planning. With our ESC consultants, we developed tools such as a succession planning model and matrix, individual development plans, and recommendations. We deeply appreciated the work of our consultants, Jeanne and John, who listened to us and built their work around our articulated culture and needs. They were engaging, respectful, collegial and flexible. We will look forward to future projects with ESC. They are a vital and accessible resource for nonprofits in Chicago.”
— Audrey Thomas, Executive Director, Deborah’s Place
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