In the private sector, return on investment (ROI) is a standard measure of success. In social services, measuring impact – and knowing which programs truly move the needle – is far more complex.
And yet, donors want accountability, and communities deserve meaningful outcomes. Leaders must make difficult decisions about where to invest, expand, or close programs.
Join us for a candid, interactive conversation with leaders from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, one of the 20 largest food banks in the United States. Executive Director Kristin Warzocha and Chief Programs Officer Jessica Morgan will share how their organization:
- Defines and measures impact
- Uses data to inform strategic decisions
- Determines which programs to grow and which to sunset
- Communicates impact in ways that resonate with funders and stakeholders
If you are wrestling with how to demonstrate ROI in a mission-driven organization or how to make data-informed decisions in service of your mission, this conversation is for you!
***
Length: 1 hour
Location: Virtual; held via Zoom
Who should attend:
- Nonprofit leaders seeking to better define, measure, and communicate impact
- Professionals responsible for strategy, evaluation, or data-informed decision-making
- Anyone grappling with tough decisions about where to invest, expand, or sunset programs
Cost: Free
Meet the speakers
Kristin Warzocha, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Food Bank
Kristin Warzocha is the President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Northeast Ohio’s largest hunger relief organization. She has been with the organization since 2000, and has served as its President and CEO since 2014.
She collaborates with the Food Bank’s Board of Directors to create impactful and innovative strategies to provide nutritious food and support to more than 1,000 partner agencies and programs and more than 400,000 people in need annually in six counties, and champions the organization’s mission.
She works to ensure that our community is able to provide nutritious meals to those in need along with services to shorten the line at local hunger programs in the future. The Food Bank has built new partnerships with organizations that address the root causes of hunger – employment, housing and healthcare.
Most recently, Warzocha led the Food bank’s Expansion Campaign, which raised $80M to address hunger today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime. These investments have resulted in a new, 197,000 square foot Partner Distribution Hub, creating capacity and providing millions more meals each year to the Food Bank’s partner agency network. The campaign has also allowed the Food Bank to reimagine and renovate their former facility into a nationally recognized Community Resource Center, collaborating with more than 15 other onsite nonprofit partners to provide neighbors in need with more access to nutritious food as well as well as connections to address the underlying issues of poverty and food insecurity. Plans for a second Community Resource Center, on the west side of Cleveland, are currently underway. Thanks to the success of the Campaign, the Food Bank is also making investments in the form of additional capacity building support for the Food Bank’s partner network.
Kristin is on the Board of the Ohio Association of Food Banks and the Cleveland Public Market Corporation. She is on the Board of Visitors for Tri-C’s Workforce Development School. She is a graduate of John Carroll University, and is working on an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership at Harvard University. Coursework has included Governing for Nonprofit Excellence, Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, and Nonprofit Financial Stewardship. Warzocha is happily married with two daughters.
Jessica Morgan, Chief Programs Officer, Greater Cleveland Food Bank
Jessica Morgan has been a member of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank leadership team since May 2012. She started as Director of Agency Services, then served as the Vice President of Programs and Agency Services, and has recently transitioned into the role of Chief Programs Officer.
She and her team are directly responsible for the strategy and initiatives which guides the Food Bank’s external facing work around serving our communities and clients. This includes building and maintaining partnerships with other nonprofit food distribution organizations, overseeing our advocacy efforts, leading our communications and special events team, providing oversight to our food sourcing and community production kitchen operations, and leading our benefits outreach efforts. She sits on the Community Impact Advisory Council for Baldwin Wallace University, the United Way’s Emergency Food and Shelter Board, and is a recent graduate of Cleveland Bridge Builders, a program of the Cleveland Leadership Center.
Meet the facilitator: Laura Freebairn-Smith is a Partner and co-founder at OPG. Her specialty is assisting leaders in realizing the full potential of their organizations through humanistic and analytical practices, while offering guidance in the redesign of infrastructure, the creation of strategic plans, and with organizational development.
