Testimonials – Kushner Management Advisory Services

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

When: 2004 – 2005

Responsibilities: Facilitating a strategic planning process

As we approach … the final draft of the Strategic Plan, I am very much reminded of the enormous amount of work that went before, in which you were so integrally involved and for which you worked so diligently. I want to thank you very much for your professionalism throughout the revision/rewriting of the plan, for your commitment and integrity in seeing the plan completed way beyond the call of duty, and for helping us to produce such a useful and appropriate document. We learned a lot during the process. Many thanks again for your wisdom and assistance.

Vera Wilson, President and Founder

Client: Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative

When: 2003 – 2004

Responsibilities: Capacity-building, organizational development, and professional development services to cultural organizations in the Philadelphia area

The Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative (PCMI) supports the building of strong and sustainable cultural institutions in the five-county Philadelphia metropolitan area. In PCMI’s work to support non-profit effectiveness, Roland Kushner, of Kushner Management Advisory Services, has been an important consultant and teacher. The seminar on effective planning that Roland developed and presented was well received and has had an impact on the day-to-day operations of several organizations. His one-on-one work with organizations – coaching, mentoring, facilitating, planning – has been integral to fulfilling our program’s mandate in fostering stronger cultural organizations in the Philadelphia region. Roland’s knowledge, insight, experience and expertise are well regarded in our community.

Martin Cohen, Director, Philadelphia Cultural Management Initiative

Evaluations from LaSalle Nonprofit Center, for engagements finishing Jan – June 2004

Reports from three clients, one engagement shared with another LaSalle consultant

Kushner Overall	Understood needs	Quality of Communication	Completed Tasks in a timely Manner	Knowledgeable about topic & client	Good fit for Client
100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

COMMENTS:

Roland knows his board “stuff”!
Roland is the perfect consultant (for us). We’re happy he was able to come back again.

Client: Great Valley Technology Institute, Wilkes-Barre, PA

When: 2003

Responsibilities: Develop a business plan as a platform to obtain state government funding

In 2003, we identified the need for a comprehensive business plan to help us solicit funding from government agencies and private funding sources, and to help us solidify our relationships with local colleges and universities. Based on a referral from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, GVTI engaged Kushner Management Advisory Services in June of 2003 to assist with the research and subsequent production of a formal business plan. Dr. Roland Kushner and his team worked with us through the summer of 2003 and produced just what we needed, on time, and within budget.

The business plan provides us with a clear set of goals and actions, and has been an excellent tool for explaining our goals and strategies to prospective funders and collaborators. It was well researched, and provided us with comparative information on a variety of other technology transfer programs around the country. The plan was a significant factor in our being awarded two years of funding, a total of $480,000, from Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development.

I would be pleased to recommend Kushner Management Advisory Services to any organization that is considering the development of a structured business plan, and who requires the expertise of a thorough professional.

Christopher J. Haran, Chief Executive Officer, Great Valley Technology Institute

Client: Community Service Society of New York

When: 2002 – 2003

Responsibilities: Develop tools for evaluating the performance of eight social service program areas individually, and across the CSS system

I am pleased to provide a description below of the very valuable engagement CSS had with you. Here is how I would characterize the work you did for the Community Service Society:

Last year, I retained Roland Kushner to develop and effectiveness measurement program for the Community Service Society (CSS). CSS is a 150-year old multi-service organization with a mission to address poverty in New York City. Roland’s primary responsibilities were to review the organization’s eight program areas and their goals, establish measures of program effectiveness in each, and identify ways to collect data for those measures. I was very pleased with Roland’s work; he established a five-dimension program performance framework that I found a very useful tool for measuring effectiveness. In the time since Roland completed his work with CSS in June 2003, our organization’s program staff and I have used his framework and have begun collecting baseline data. I expect CSS will continue to derive value from the tools Roland developed for us for the foreseeable future.

David Campbell, Ph.D., Vice President, Programs, Community Service Society of New York

Client: American Red Cross International Services

When: 1998 – 2001

Responsibilities: Evaluate organizational development mission in the Caucasus; Recommend long-range organizational development strategy; Develop performance assessment tools as a basis for organizational development support

American Red Cross International Services has been working with Roland Kushner of Management Advisory Services since 1998 on a range of capacity building initiatives. His contributions have challenged our thinking and advanced our understanding and our practices in Organizational Development (OD). His ideas and work applying the “Open Systems” model and Systems Performance Drivers to the complex global Red Cross environment have been adopted as the cornerstones of the global capacity-building framework used by the American Red Cross and in the International Red Cross Movement. Dr. Kushner has been a trusted advisor who has provided invaluable support in advancing the American Red Cross global OD strategy. His contributions to strengthening the institutional capacity of the Red Cross and the ultimate impact of our humanitarian services are being felt worldwide.

Luke Greeves, Director, Technical Assistance & Planning Unit, American Red Cross International Services

Client: RAND
When: 2000
Responsibility: Obtain and analyze 30 years of data from national service organizations for opera, dance, theatre, and orchestra

“We also wish to thank the national arts service organizations for explaining their data collection efforts to us, and, where feasible, providing us with data … Roland Kushner provided tremendous assistance in gathering, compiling, and assessing these data.”

McCarthy, Kevin, Arthur Brooks, Julia Lowell, & Laura Zakaras (2001). The Performing Arts in a New Era Santa Monica, CA: RAND (p. xxvii)

Client: Hostwindow.com
When: 2000 / 2001
Responsibility: Develop a business plan to attract private equity investment

Dear Roland,

It’s been a little over a year since we made the last changes to our business plan, and I wanted to let you know about the impact of your work with us. Together, we witnessed the bursting of the dot com bubble as we worked on our business plan and strategic map with you beginning in the spring of 2000. Despite that we were successful in raising external capital during the late fall of 2000 and early spring of 2001. We did achieve enough success to launch our new venture and are now beginning to prosper. Our work with you forced my colleagues and me to carefully deliberate our plans, and it has served us well since completion. We have referred back to our original work many times, and you’ll be happy to know that changes and updates have given extended life to our original work product … Please remember you have a standing invitation to attend our monthly board “retreats,” and sprinkle some additional wisdom.

Best regards,

Chip Buck
Executive Vice President, Hostwindows.com

Other client references available on request.