7 Paths Blog

By Nick Vecchioni, Evergreen Leaders researcher

The biggest challenge? Increase literacy among Chicago’s most at risk kids.

Book Worm Angels (BWA) is the only Chicago program providing in-classroom lending libraries to elementary schools where the majority of students read below grade level. Since its 1999 founding, BWA has placed over a million books in over 156 Illinois schools. I recently met with Mike Ban, who has led this organization for roughly 4 years.

Mike agreed to meet and talk about some of the challenges that he faces as director of BWA. These days, the biggest issue is growth. BWA has more than tripled the number of schools it serves in just the last 3 years. While the program originated in Chicago, it now serves schools outside the city.

In recognition of the pressing need to build a board that can help direct that kind of growth, Mike was thinking of hiring a consultant. So, he reached out to the Kellogg School of Management’s Board Fellows Program. He was pleased with the guidance and resources, including a board matrix tool and pattern questionnaires for use in screening consultants. The consultant who he ultimately chose has been a big help in addressing the board issues.

As a volunteer ED serving roughly 30 hours a week, with only one (!!) part-time staff member, Mike finds himself too immersed in operational minutiae to devote much energy to strategic planning. One strategic imperative is finding ways to maximize the literacy impact of lending libraries. He’d like BWA to gain more visibility to the schools they serve – through programming and evaluation, for starters. He sees building the board and developing dedicated staff as the key means to meeting this goal.

We discussed the importance of understanding the literacy environment and the value of building partnerships. In Mike’s view, one of an ED’s chief responsibilities is networking and building alliances. He gave examples of informal collaborations that have yielded good things for BWA, including a book drive in association with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Mike doesn’t see himself in the ED position for very much longer. He’s thinking about succession. He’s got a rough idea of what his replacement’s salary should be, and thinks it will need to be raised through giving. He projects that the incoming ED would need to work 50-60 hours a week to keep everything running smoothly. When I asked whether his ideal successor would come from the nonprofit or the business sector, Mike thought for a moment before saying that he’d like to see someone from the nonprofit sector. He cited skills such as grant writing, as well as the rich networks, that someone coming in should have.

As Mike himself transitioned to BWA from the business world, there were many things he had to learn. He was lucky, he said, to find an experienced nonprofit leader who taught him the ins and outs of grant-writing. Without ever designating a formal mentor, he found a few other people who were willing to lend support. Formal mentoring is a good idea, he said, and would recommend it to any incoming nonprofit leader. “It’s a lonely sort of job,” he explained. “It helps a lot to have someone who’s walked in your shoes.”

Mike is a fantastic guy and BWA will be lucky to find someone who can fill his shoes. Best to him and to BWA!

1st published 1/29/09.