Author Archives: Laura Otten

Dodge TA: Building the board you need to grow in tumultuous times

Posted on by Laura Otten

Pennsylvania went into “lockdown” first. Within a week, New Jersey, and New York had followed suit.  My conversations with board members and executive directors started on March 13, the day Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf announced that the Commonwealth would go on … Continue reading

Posted in Board Leadership, COVID-19 pandemic, equity, Technical Assistance | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Power of Using Talent for Good

Posted on by Michael Bzdak, Executive Director, Global Community Impact, Johnson & Johnson

When considering the ways in which the private sector can advance global health and development and improve our world, a few obvious options come to mind. Funding is usually high on the list, as is research and development, but other … Continue reading

Posted in Collaboration, Community Building, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, Philanthropy | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Survey of the Social Sector: Rising Demand, Resource Gaps, and Opportunities

Posted on by Laura Otten

  The Center for Non-Profits has been surveying the New Jersey non-profit community at least annually since 2001 to gauge the effects of the economy, funding and programmatic trends, and other issues in our field. This year’s report, New Jersey Non-Profits … Continue reading

Posted in Center for Nonprofits, Collaboration, Community Building, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, Leadership | Leave a comment

Board Leadership: Relationships Among the Parts

Posted on by David Grant

Faithful readers of the Dodge Blog know that I have repeatedly urged practitioners in the social sector to “plan backwards” from a shared vision of success, using qualitative assessment rubrics as a tool. If you make time for the process … Continue reading

Posted in Board Leadership, Collaboration, Leadership, Nonprofit, Philanthropy, Technical Assistance | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Arts Ed Now: From Armenia With Love

Posted on by Argine Safari, NJ Teacher of the Year

The most important life lessons I have ever learned came from my music teacher in Yerevan, Armenia. When I was 15, Rita Israelovna Petrosian was my music theory and solfege — the study of singing and musicianship using solmization syllables … Continue reading

Posted in Arts Ed Now, Arts Education, Creativity, Education | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Arts Ed Now: Seasons of Love — An Art and Music Mural Project

Posted on by Alison Wallace, Arts Ed Now

A few years ago, I found myself in a new situation as an art educator. After seven years of teaching high school art, I was embarking upon a new adventure: middle school. Here I was, several years into my career, … Continue reading

Posted in Arts Advocacy, Arts Ed Now, Arts Education | Leave a comment

Arts Ed Now: Youth Art Month Kicks Off to Celebrate “My Art, My Story”

Posted on by Kristin Wenger, New Jersey Arts Education Partnership

  Youth Art Month encourages support for quality school art programs, and promotes art material safety. March is Youth Art Month, a time “to celebrate visual arts for grades K-12, emphasize the value of art education for all children, and … Continue reading

Posted in Arts, Arts Advocacy, Arts Education | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Morris Arts: Living Wall at 14 Maple Ave Inspiration for New Art Exhibit

Posted on by Lynn Siebert, Morris Arts

Black, White and Green Opens at Gallery at 14 Maple on March 3 The living wall that anchors 14 Maple Ave is the inspiration behind a new art exhibit that opens this week on the building’s third floor gallery. A free … Continue reading

Posted in Arts, Green Ideas, Morristown, News & Announcements | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

News Sites Partner to Put Spotlight on Immigration in New Jersey

Posted on by Lee Keough, NJ Spotlight

NJ Spotlight, Center for Cooperative Media and New America Media launch $30,000 crowdfunding campaign The run-up to the presidential election has thrust the subject of immigration squarely into the center of public discourse. Yet much of the discussion thus far … Continue reading

Posted in Crowdfunding, Informed Communities, Media | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Patron Saints of Dancers

Posted on by Laura Otten

Laura Aden Packer, Program Director, Arts Saint Vitus may be the acknowledged patron saint of dancers, but New Jersey dance companies and artists know that the true patron saint of dancers is Randy James. Saint Randy, currently an assistant professor … Continue reading

Posted in Dance | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Season of Faith’s Perfection for the Arts in NJ

Posted on by Laura Otten

Laura Aden Packer, Program Director, Arts I was watching “Finding Forrester” a couple of nights ago. I may be the only person in the Western Hemisphere who hadn’t seen this film yet. The plot in brief: A gifted, African-American teenager … Continue reading

Posted in Arts, News & Announcements | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Survey Says: It’s Still Pretty Tough Out There

Posted on by Laura Otten

Laura Aden Packer, Program Director, Arts It’s not easy being a nonprofit arts organization in New Jersey according to the latest results of a survey done by ArtPride/New Jersey, our state’s arts advocacy organization. And it’s really tough being an … Continue reading

Posted in Arts | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Inspiring Books, Blogs, Websites, and Articles

Posted on by Laura Otten

Laura Aden Packer, Program Director, Arts Over the summer, we asked several of our grantees to share their thoughts on a range of issues with us – Environment Program Director Michelle Knapik wrote about some of their responses in her … Continue reading

Posted in Tidbits | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Posted on by Laura Otten

Laura Aden Packer, Arts Program Director My husband, Mark and I returned not too long ago from a glorious two-week vacation in northwestern Maine, where we stayed on a beautiful, pristine body of water with the unlikely name of Mooselookmeguntic … Continue reading

Posted in Environment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Camden: The Garden City

Posted on by Laura Otten

Laura Aden Packer, Program Director, Arts If we were playing a word association game about places in New Jersey, what would be the first thing you’d think of if I said “Camden”? Did you answer “community gardens”? No? Well, you … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Food Systems | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment
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