Common Impact Expands As Corporate Skills-Based Volunteerism Becomes the New Normal
Expansion of leadership team and regional models shepherd in the next generation of pro bono
NEW YORK, June 4, 2018 /3BL Media/ — Common Impact, a national nonprofit that pioneered corporate skills-based volunteering is expanding its leadership team and introducing new regional models to meet the growing demand of companies who are integrating social and environmental outcomes into their core business practices. Skills-based volunteering has risen in popularity, with CECP research reporting that now more than 54% of companies host a formal program. Companies use skills-based volunteering to engage and develop their employees, who are demanding that social impact be a day to day part of their work.
The organization has expanded its portfolio of social impact programs to include citywide, cross-company models that activate skills-based volunteerism at a regional level. The first of these citywide models will launch in September 2018 in Boston, MA.
“The next generation of skills-based volunteerism is going to take a more overarching, citywide approach, and include more cross-company and cross-sector partnerships. We’re learning that no one business, nonprofit or administration can solve regional challenges alone,” said Danielle Holly, CEO of Common Impact. The office buildings in our cities and towns, large and small, are full of professionals that are eager to become civically engaged. Common Impact is developing the regional models that allow the connections between those professionals and the nonprofits that need their support to be forged and sustained.”
Leadership Team Expansion
In response to growing demand, Common Impact appointed three new members of its leadership team: Krista Van Tassel as Director, Partnerships; Season Eckardt and Marjie Bland as Senior Consultants.
As Director, Partnerships, Van Tassel will use her cross-sector experience in communications and corporate social responsibility at organizations like Wells Fargo, Net Impact, and Hewlett Packard to support Common Impact’s role as a thought leader in skills-based volunteerism and build new partnerships that expand the organization’s impact. She earned her undergraduate degree at Duquesne University and her MBA at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Van Tassel will be based in Southern California and will support Common Impact’s expansion to new markets in the western U.S.
In her role as Senior Consultant, Eckardt, formerly of multi-sector service coalition Reimagining Service, will leverage expertise to expand Common Impact’s cross-sector and citywide models. She earned her undergraduate degree at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and her MA in Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach. Eckardt will be based in Northern California and will support the organization’s west coast expansion.
Marjie Bland, Senior Consultant, brings a wealth of experience in community engagement to her role at Common Impact, where she will develop training platforms that will support nonprofits across the country effectively leverage skilled volunteers as a capacity building resource. She most recently worked with HandsOn Central Ohio, where she developed a variety of high-impact community and corporate volunteer programs, supported the work of more than 250 volunteer action centers around the world, and led the team's communication and training strategies. Bland earned her degree from Ohio State University. She will support Common Impact’s expansion to Midwest market and will be based in Ohio.
“Common Impact is growing and evolving rapidly to meet the ever-increasing appetite companies have to create positive social change in their communities” said Jay Althoff, Common Impact Board Chair. “We are thrilled to have knowledgeable and skilled leaders like Marjie, Season and Krista join our organization, and we are confident that their unique perspectives and cross-sector experience will benefit Common Impact as we expand our models of service.”
About Common Impact
Common Impact is a national nonprofit that works to build a society in which individuals and businesses invest their unique talents towards a shared purpose: strengthening the local communities in which we live and work. Founded in 2000, Common Impact has partnered with Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of the country’s leading nonprofit organizations to create this transformational change through skills-based volunteering. Learn more about Common Impact’s services, impact, and clients.
