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Fall Forum Sessions

9-10 a.m. Session One

Tom Pace

The Importance of Mentoring: How My Mentor Saved My Life, and How Mentoring Others Has Given Me Significance
Meacham Auditorium, 2nd Floor
Mentoring advocate Tom Pace will share how mentoring helped him overcome learning disabilities, depression and even suicidal thoughts to later become a successful entrepreneur with a multimillion dollar business. Pace, who is the author of Mentor: The Kid and the CEO will share his personal journey and why mentoring is so important to helping Oklahoma’s youth realize their full potential.

Elaine Free

Fundamentals for New and Developing Foundations
Regents Room, 3rd Floor
National school foundation consultant Elaine Free will share the basic steps in starting and building an effective public school foundation. Her session promises to be a great primer for new school foundations and a helpful review for established foundations. Dr. Free is the founder of Successful Ways Inc. of Trophy Club, Texas, and the author of A Guide to Education Foundation Policies and Procedures.

Darrell Slabaugh

Getting the School Board and Administration on Your Foundation Team
Scholars Room, 3rd Floor
Education foundations rely on cooperation and teamwork to achieve maximum results. Darrell Slabaugh, a trainer for the National School Foundation Association Certification Program, will share tips on building a positive relationship with the school board and administration so you can work together in the best interests of students. Bring your thoughts, frustrations and successes to this session that will have open dialogue among attendees to emphasize process over personalities to achieve success and minimize conflict.

Innovative Programming: OKC Teachers Warehouse
Governors Room, 3rd Floor
The average school teacher spends more than $500 each year buying supplies for the classroom. Come learn how the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools is helping teachers and students by gathering surplus items from businesses and individuals to provide free of charge through the Teachers Warehouse. Foundation staff members Lori Dickinson and Robyn Hilger will describe their award-winning program that is good for businesses, good for the environment and good for schools.

Jim and Scott Holdman

Redefining Fundraising: A New Approach that Works
Associates Room, 3rd Floor
North Dakota-based nonprofit consultants and father-son team Jim and Scott Holdman will share a dynamic new approach to fundraising that cuts through the ambiguity that restricts fundraising capacity. Discover how to increase impact, make the best decisions, mitigate conflict, lead fundraising operations, motivate your team and accomplish much more in your fundraising effort.

Cindi Hemm

Proven Ways to Build Community Partnerships: Crafting a Clear and Compelling Message
Heritage Room, 2nd Floor
Come learn how Principal Cindi Hemm increased her school’s community partners in education from three to 25. How do you approach a business, church, synagogue, hotel or restaurant and ask them to help your students? Hemm is the principal of Eugene Field Elementary School in Tulsa and winner of the 2011 Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Public School Administration.

Fred Campos

Why and How to Use Social Media
Frontier Room, 2nd Floor
Is social media an ongoing fad or the next paradigm shift in reaching your donors? How does a nonprofit run a successful social media campaign? Fred Campos, owner of FunCity Social Media and a humorous national speaker, will show you how Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can help your organization grow.

10:10-11:10 a.m. Session Two

Keys to Successful Foundations: Best Practices
Regents Room, 3rd Floor
Is your foundation struggling? Does your foundation operate as a business? Elaine Free, a nationally recognized consultant to public school foundations, will share best practices to help foundation leaders assess their organizations and discover operational changes that can lead to success.

Identifying Community Constituents and Fundraising
Scholars Room, 3rd Floor
Involving the right community individuals and organizations is a key element for new and established education foundations. Darrell Slabaugh, a trainer for the National School Foundation Association Certification Program, will help participants understand how to build support for their foundation’s programs, administration, development and marketing through community constituents.

Nancy Dye

Successful Fundraising Initiatives From Throughout the U.S.
Governors Room, 3rd Floor
Does your foundation struggle with thinking of unique fundraising ideas that don’t compete with other local nonprofits? Nancy Dye, executive director of the American Schools Foundation Alliance, will share tried-and-true ideas on alumni engagement, how students’ artwork brought in six-figure donations and increasing district staff contributions.

Milli Christner

Laurie Cromwell

Assuring a Successful Start to Your Foundation:
Years One to Five
Associates Room, 3rd Floor
Whether your foundation has been around for a few years or you are just starting out, there are key elements that must be in place for your organization to be successful. This session will review the research-based best practices and strategies to help you avoid common pitfalls and ensure an effective and sustainable education foundation. Nationally recognized foundation consultants Dr. Milli Christner and Laurie Cromwell will review corporate structure, board development, outcome-based programming, marketing and fundraising strategies.

Follow-Up Roundtable with Tom Pace
Heritage Room, 2nd Floor
Mentoring advocate Tom Pace will follow up on his opening session with time for questions and answers and open discussion about the impact of mentoring and his own experiences with mentoring.

Masie Bross

How to Launch a Faith-Based Mentoring Program
Frontier Room, 2nd Floor
Whether you are a school administrator looking for a faith group to partner with your school or a church leader seeking to build an effective mentoring program with a local school, you won’t want to miss this session. Masie Bross, director of CityCare’s Whiz Kids, has helped more than 60 Oklahoma City area churches develop mentoring partnerships. She will share the steps in building a safe and effective faith-based program.

Mary Alice Ahlgren

Evaluating Your Mentoring Program Using Youth Quality Assessment
Presidents Room, 2nd Floor
To ensure program quality and effectiveness, evaluation can be a key component. Mary Alice Ahlgren, program director for Camp Fire USA Green Country Council, will discuss the need for quality evaluation and present an assessment tool. Find out how your mentoring program stacks up.

11:20 a.m.-12:20 p.m. Session Three

Networking Sessions for Local Education Foundations
Concurrent sessions in Regents and Scholars Rooms, 3rd Floor
Join fellow school foundation volunteers, school administrators and teachers to share ideas and discuss issues facing your district, including budget cuts and funding priorities. How can foundations and school personnel work together to meet district goals during tough economic times?

Melynda Stone

The 3Rs of Mentoring: Recruitment, Retention & Rewards
Governors Room, 3rd Floor
How do you recruit reliable, committed volunteers to serve as mentors and keep them engaged in your program? Melynda Stone, executive director of Rogers County Volunteers for Youth initiated their school-based mentoring program called PAL 13 years ago. She will share her experiences with recruiting and retaining mentors.

Redefining Fundraising: A New Approach that Works
Associates Room, 3rd Floor
Repeat from session one. See above for description.

Best Practices: How Mentoring Changed Eugene Field Elementary School
Heritage Room, 2nd Floor
How would you like to have over 200 mentors in your building each week? Come see how one interurban Tulsa principal, Cindi Hemm, found mentors for most of her students and how mentoring has impacted student achievement at her school.

Why and How to Use Social Media
Frontier Room, 2nd Floor
Repeat from session one. See above for description.

Christine Sorrels

How to Train Mentors
President’s Room, 2nd Floor
Properly training your mentors is an element of effective practice for all mentoring programs and helps ensure a successful match for your mentor and mentee. Christine Sorrels, director of the Helping Hands Volunteers Program of Yukon, will describe how her program trains and prepares mentors for success.

Mentoring Children of Incarcerated Parents
Weitzenhoffer Room, 2nd Floor
Having a mom or dad in prison can make growing up more difficult. Children with an incarcerated parent often need additional support and guidance. Hayley Garrison, director of Big Brothers Big Sisters’ Amachi Program, and Anglia Smith, program coordinator for Passport to the Future Mentoring Program, will share the trials and triumphs that their programs experience and address how other programs can best serve children of incarcerated parents.