Jeannie L. Howe Lecture- Extra Credit Assignment

Guest Speaker:
Jeannie L. Howe
President, BayCliff Associates, Inc
Building on more than 20 years in leadership positions with nonprofit, she worked with an organization that helps people get onto a donor registry for cancer patience (bone marrow), small grassroots organizations, legislative for the city of Baltimore, state wide advocacy, and became a board member of Everyman Theater and is currently operating her own business.

Jeannie, started out her lecture with discussing what the definition of an entrepreneur is. An entrepreneur is a risk taking business person, according to a dictionary definition she ran across. An adapt definition according to Jeannie, especially when it comes to the non-profit sector.

Developing relationships in the non-profit sector is the key to success. Although sometimes these relationships don't amount to anything, in the immediate sense, the contacts and the relationships usually come back to mean something for the organization.

She went on, for a little while discussing how talking to powerful people about important issues and really mustering up their emotions is necessary in a cause based, non-profit business. Finding people that really care about the mission, and the purpose of the non-profit, to understand the importance of the organization in a business aspect.

Pulling people into relationships with the non-profit, by exercising care, and responsiveness with these organizations. Having important people affected by issues be a spokes person for a cause, and an organization.

She discussed how even in the nonprofit organization that is nessicary to take risks for the good of the buisness, that ambition is needed to get things done and to make the money nessicary to keep these nessicary organizations functioning.

Being versatile, and being a flexible buisness woman is one of the major concepts that I am taking out of this lecture. Having an undergraduate degree in Theather to going long and strong in a non-profit buisness career and a freelance consultant, is definitely a way that she substains herself. She finds pleasure in being a non-profit- Jack of All Trades so to speak. The flexibility, and some of the blind risk needed to take to be successful is something that I hope to be more comfortable with the idea of and very willing to let the adventure of life take me for a ride.

Although Jeannie's life now, seems very glamarous as far as her getting to make a living doing what she loves, is only because she allowed herself to seize oppurtunities, she took time to find her niche, and she took smart risks without pressuring herself into success and goals.

An adirmable work ethic, that I am highly coveting.

Something else that, I got out of this lecture was the idea of making a buisness based solely on your skills, being a consultant to other people who need your specific expertise and services. This for me is an interesting concept, it almost has me interested in changing my buisness plan for the class!