Course Information & Schedule

The Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership includes 14 half-day sessions. Most (12) of the sessions will be offered as half-day (3.5 hours) sessions. The remaining two (2) sessions will be offered as a full-day program.

In order to receive certification, students must attend a minimum equivalent of twelve half-day sessions. Students are required to take: either Session 1 or Session 2 (although we recommend they attend both); Session 3; and Session 12.

Students have up to 18 months to complete the series, although the new format allows students to attend all sessions within a single semester. Students can expect to spend at least two hours a week outside of class time on each required course.

Please choose from the following Sessions to learn more.

FREE Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program Information Session
Session 1: The Nonprofit Difference
Session 2: The Mission of Leadership
Session 3: Self-Styling Leadership
Session 4: Leading Others to Give
Session 5: Leading Values INSIDE the Organization
Session 6: Leading Values OUTSIDE the Organization
Session 7 & 8: Living Your Leadership Strengths (Strengthsfinder)
Session 9: Leading & Developing People & Teams
Session 10: Leading Change - Part 1
Session 11: Leading Change, Part 2 - Changing Leaders
Session 12: The Ethics of Leadership: Acocuntability & Integrity
Session 13: The Courage to Lead
Session 14: The Commitment to Lead

FREE Information Session - Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program
Thursday, August 21, 2008, 6:00 to 7:00 pm (Location: SMU)

Attend a FREE information session to learn more about the Nonprofit Leadership Certificate Program and see if it might be a good fit for you.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 1: The Nonprofit Difference
Date: Friday, September 12, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Discussion and activities explore the nonprofit difference --how the history and culture of 501(c)(3) organizations impact the art of leadership, with a focus on governance structures and the respective roles of the nonprofit chief executive and volunteer board leadership.

*Students MUST take either Session 1 or Session 2 for certification, although it is recommended to take both.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 2: The Mission of Leadership
Date: Friday, September 19, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

What are the most current and viable theories of leadership for today's nonprofit CEO? This session takes a look at key concepts and their application within nonprofit culture.

*Students MUST take either Session 1 or Session 2 for certification, although it is recommended to take both.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 3: Self-Styling Leadership (DiSC)
Date: Friday, September 26, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Honest assessment of our behaviors can support our engagement with the complementary strengths of those on our team for maximum effect. This session’s activities help identify the strengths and behaviors that shape leadership style and can be molded for greater impact.

* This session is REQUIRED for certification.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 4: Leading Others to Give
Date: Friday, October 3, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Nonprofit staff leaders’ effectiveness is increasingly measured by their achievements in the area of financial sustainability and growth. This session’s discussion includes the latest approaches to increasing contributed income through transformational leadership, navigating fluid roles of resource development teams, and practices that build enduring relationships with donors.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 5: Leading Values INSIDE the Organization
Date: Friday, October 10, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Honoring organizational values is fundamental to the vitality of a nonprofit’s mission and its culture. Leading a diverse workforce requires today’s leaders to cultivate and communicate passion for the mission, trust, integrity, inclusiveness, and accountability, ensuring a deliberate articulation and practice of these values as vital to the health of the organization.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 6: Leading Values OUTSIDE the Organization
Date: Friday, October 17, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Discussion and activities center around cultivating and communicating values such as passion for the mission, trust, integrity, inclusiveness, and accountability, and acquiring skills to advocate in the public interest. Focus is on the continuum of practices nonprofit leaders may engage in to legally and effectively raise the profile of constituents and issues served by their organizations.

Pre-requisite: Session 5.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 7 & 8: Living Your Leadership Strengths (Strengthsfinder)
Date: Friday, October 24, 2008, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

This session centers on creating a personal-professional development and action plan for cultivating individual leadership style and values. Emphasis is on leading from strengths, self-care for integration and balance, authenticity, modeling healthy leadership, and time/energy management.

NOTE: This is an all day session.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 9: Leading & Developing People & Teams
Date: Friday, October 31, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Accelerated change in today's world requires leaders to reevaluate their notions of effective leadership. Nonprofits need managers at every level -- staff and board -- who are dedicated to the mission, focused on the business, and able to get results, build partnerships, and mobilize their own teams. Discussion and activities focus on developing the leader as coach, transferring ownership to a working team, and managing conflict.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 10: Leading Change – Part 1
Date: Friday, November 7, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Community conditions change and yesterday's assumptions and practices no longer work. Innovation is needed, and innovation means change -- and transition. This session focuses on the skills, resources and practices nonprofit CEOs can access in order to anticipate and adapt with agility. Emphasis is on ways to leverage change from the CEO's pivotal placement --between board and staff, as well as between internal operations and external performance.

NOTE: This session is a pre-requisite for Session 11.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 11: Leading Change – Part 2, Changing Leaders
Date: Friday, November 14, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Continuing the discussion of change, this highly interactive session explores the leader's role in both catalyzing and undergoing change. Exercises promote development of critical skills for having “the real conversation” at every level, and honoring the transformation that is catalyzed as a result.

Pre-requisite: Session 10.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 12: The Ethics of Leadership: Accountability & Integrity
Date: Friday, November 21, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

The role of nonprofit organizations has been described as speaking for minority voices within a democratic society, ensuring representation of concerns that might otherwise be silent or powerless (Lester Salomon). Recent public alarm about corporate and nonprofit accountability has undermined the belief that principled leadership naturally follows from lofty missions. Nonprofit leaders frequently face decisions about significant value conflicts, as well as choices among alternatives that are equally justifiable, or about situations that entail significant consequences for their agency’s assorted stakeholders. This session includes discussion of ethical leadership practices, including stewardship of resources for mission fulfillment, values-based decision-making, and establishing an ethics-based organizational culture.

*This session is REQUIRED for certification.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 13: The Courage to Lead
Date: Friday, December 5, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Accessing our effectiveness as leaders means addressing with depth and accuracy questions posed by philosopher Parker Palmer: “Who is the self that engages in leadership? How does this self impact the practice of leadership, for good and bad?” This session introduces reflective practices that support a healthy relationship between one’s “talk” and one’s “walk” as a leader.

NOTE: This session is a pre-requisite for Session 14.

Click here to register. Back to top.

Session 14: The Commitment to Lead
Date: Friday, December 12, 2008, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Activities address the personal-professional commitment to leadership as "joining of soul and role," practicing integrity through aligning values, and making the inner journey along with outer decisions and responsibilities.

Pre-requisite: Session 13.

Click here to register. Back to top.