In addition to providing grants, Pierce Family Foundation (PFF) offers “support specialists” to its
grantees, paying for highly qualified consultants sensitive to their needs. Someone with a true understanding of nonprofit talent development is hard to come by in Chicago which is why Kris has been on PFF’s short list of specialists since its inception. For 12 years, Kris has provided services for PFF’s grantees focused on homelessness prevention and stable housing. She’s developed ways to expand their capacity, hired diverse talent, developed improved HR practices, and trained their leaders.
In her work with PFF, one of the things Kris kept seeing was that mid-management nonprofit leaders were often not receiving the professional development and coaching support they needed. She came to PFF with her idea for the Top Talent Institute, a 10-month leadership program for managers that Kris had led for PFF for ten years.
“Kris has a specialty that is fairly unique in Chicago. There aren’t many people out there who understand all the different dimensions of nonprofit HR and who can make the kinds of decisions that are going to lead to stable staffing, so the organization is set up for success.”
Marianne Philbin, Co-Executive Director, Pierce Family Foundation and Kris prepare for her session with grantees
TOP PHOTO Graduates of the 8th Top Talent Institute