Montgomery Moving Forward

Montgomery Moving Forward November Update

2022-11-04T11:49:59-04:00November 4th, 2022|Montgomery Moving Forward|

The Children’s Opportunity Alliance (COA), the new Early Care and Education (ECE)  Coordinating Entity created by the County Council in February and supported by MMF, testified at a worksession of the County Council Education & Culture and Health and Human Services Committees on Monday, October 31. The COA reported on its accomplishments to date, including setting up the board and ratifying by-laws, developing a budget and workplan, and beginning the work of mapping the organizations involved in supporting ECE systems in the County.  Find out about the next board meeting (open to the public) and get more information about the COA here.

Josephine Garnem Named Director of Montgomery Moving Forward

2022-10-31T13:55:37-04:00October 28th, 2022|Member News, Montgomery Moving Forward|

For Immediate Release: Thursday, October 27, 2022

Rockville, MD – Nonprofit Montgomery is excited to announce the hiring of Josephine Garnem as the new Director of Montgomery Moving Forward, Nonprofit Montgomery’s Collective Impact initiative.

Ms. Garnem brings extensive experience as a leader and collaborator within the county and across the globe. She is highly skilled in community outreach, policy development, and cross-sector engagement strategies.

Ms. Garnem currently works for Montgomery County Government’s Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center as a Program Manager and was formerly the Continental Africa Liaison for the County Government’s Office of Community Partnerships.

She is also the Founder and CEO of Khalil Garnem Foundation, a nonprofit focused on providing equitable health care, education, and economic development to underprivileged communities in Sierra Leone. She leads volunteer diaspora medical, surgical, and training initiatives.

Ms. Garnem currently sits on the boards of The Michael and Mauritia Patcha Foundation, the Healey International Relief Foundation, and Carpe Diem Arts and is on the national council for Pax Christi, USA.

Given Ms. Garnem’s experience with a wide variety of organizations, businesses, government, and funders, she is well suited to build on the foundation of the cross-sector work of Montgomery Moving Forward. Ms. Garnem will assume her role as Director of Montgomery Moving Forward on November 14, 2022.

“Josephine is exactly the kind of leader we need as Montgomery Moving Forward enters its second decade,” said Executive Director Lavontte Chatmon. “With her breadth of experience, her skill in bringing communities together, and her knowledge of Montgomery County, she will help us do the critical work of bringing together a broad cross-section of Montgomery County leaders and innovators to address our most pressing challenges. Josephine is both passionate and strategic, and we are very excited to have her join our team.”

Kevin Beverly, Susan Madden, and Kathy Stevens, Co-Chairs of Montgomery Moving Forward, said: “We are happy to welcome Ms. Garnem to the team. Her experience demonstrates she knows that lasting solutions to the challenges facing our community are borne of true cross-sector collaboration—from business leaders to our most recent neighbors. No doubt, with Ms. Garnem’s guidance, MMF will continue to help our county move forward. Finally, we are grateful to Nonprofit Montgomery for their leadership and for managing this important search.”

Please join the Nonprofit Montgomery team and the Montgomery Moving Forward Leadership Group in extending a warm welcome to Ms. Garnem.

Job Opportunity: Montgomery Moving Forward Director

2022-07-29T09:02:50-04:00July 29th, 2022|Job Opportunities, Member News, Montgomery Moving Forward|

Montgomery Moving Forward Director
Rockville, MD

Application Deadline: This position will remain open until filled.
Anticipated Start Date: October 3, 2022

Who we are:
Montgomery Moving Forward (MMF) is an initiative of Nonprofit Montgomery, an alliance of nonprofit leaders and organizations in Montgomery County, MD.

We have a small and collaborative work environment with opportunities for your ideas to be heard and put into action. The right candidate will work with colleagues who value collaboration, innovation, transparency, community, and communication.

Who we are seeking:
We are seeking a visionary, entrepreneurial leader to lead MMF, a cross-sector community change initiative in Montgomery County, MD. This is an exciting opportunity to identify key issues that require collective action and develop community change strategies.

What the MMF Director will do:
In partnership with a cross-sector Leadership Group, the MMF Director supports community change initiatives using the principles of collective impact: gathering data and community input and developing a common agenda of system change strategies, educating stakeholders through continuous communication, recommending coordinating activities, evaluating results and supporting backbone infrastructure for the effort.

  • Provide visionary leadership to the collective impact effort.
  • Facilitate the work of a cross-sector Leadership Group (LG) of committed community leaders.
  • Oversee the selection of community priorities on which to focus and the research/problem analysis and strategy development to address the issue.
  • Seek input on priorities for action from all parts of the community and from those most affected by the issue.
  • Develop policy priorities and support the LG and subcommittees in advocacy work with state and local elected officials around key issue priorities.
  • Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and community partners.
  • Plan and implement learning opportunities and symposia to educate the community including elected officials and community stakeholders on critical issues related to the current issue.
  • Raise funds to support the effort.
  • Manage, engage, and leverage the LG who provides oversight of the MMF
  • Coordinate program and development strategy and activities with the Co-chairs of the MMF LG.

Reporting Relationships:

  • The MMF Director reports to the Executive Director of Nonprofit Montgomery (NM).
  • The LG and the MMF Co-chairs advise the MMF Director on the strategy, process, and implementation of the collective impact goals.
  • The MMF Director is responsible for supervising the work of the staff team.

Qualifications:

  • At least 10 years of relevant work experience, including at least 3 years managing teams in a fast-paced and high-growth nonprofit, social enterprise, start-up environment, advocacy entity, or community organizing entity.
  • At least five years of fundraising experience and demonstrated success in cultivating donor relationships.
  • Understanding of racial equity and demonstrated ability to promote equity in all aspects of the work.
  • Advanced strategy and planning skills, including an ability to think strategically on both organizational and systemic levels over multi-year horizons.
  • Strong data acumen and ability to oversee complex shared-measurement systems.
  • Strong facilitation and presentation skills before multiple types of audiences.
  • Existing relationships with, or ability to build relationships with, a cross-sectoral range of stakeholders in the local or regional area, including senior executives and elected leaders.
  • A track record of leading, inspiring, and developing high-performance teams.
  • Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build authentic relationships with a diverse set of high-profile stakeholders.
  • Comfort with ambiguity and ability to thrive in a fluid, entrepreneurial environment; willingness to “roll up one’s sleeves” and extend beyond formal responsibilities based on the needs of the work.

Desired Qualifications: Advanced degree in business, education, social work, policy, or related field. Familiarity with the local area and/or focus of the initiative.

Compensation and Benefits:

  • Salary ranges between $92,000-$96,000 per year.
  • Health, dental, and life insurance.
  • Optional Simple IRA plan with a 3% employer match.
  • Paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays.
  • Flexible work schedule and remote work options.
  • Professional development opportunities.

How to Apply: Submit a resume and a cover letter/statement of interest that explains why you are interested in collective impact and how your skills and experience relate to the position description. Please send to: connect@nonprofitmoco.org. All applications will be treated with confidentiality.

Nonprofit Montgomery is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.

Physical Demands of the Position: While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be required to remain in a stationary position 70% of the time. The person in this position needs to occasionally move about inside the office to access printers, file cabinets, office equipment, etc. The employee operates a computer and other office equipment, such as a calculator, copy machine, and printer. Disclaimer: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification and are subject to change. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Announcing the Launch of the Children’s Opportunity Alliance as the County’s ECE Entity

2022-07-18T10:46:42-04:00July 18th, 2022|Montgomery Moving Forward|

Montgomery Moving Forward (MMF), the collective impact initiative of Nonprofit Montgomery, is excited to announce that on July 12, the County Council took the final steps to officially launch the new Early Care and Education (ECE) Coordinating Entity. The Council unanimously named the Children’s Opportunity Alliance of Montgomery County (formerly the Children’s Opportunity Fund) as the new Entity and formally approved the appointment of the COA’s first Board of Directors.

The Children’s Opportunity Alliance will function as a public-private partnership that brings together a wide group of stakeholders, including employers, philanthropy, parents, and providers to strengthen ECE in our county.

This is the culmination of four years of work by MMF. We are grateful for the dedication and support of the County Council, the County Executive, the Children’s Opportunity Fund, the Greater Washington Community Foundation, the MMF Leadership Group and the providers, parents, businesses, nonprofits, philanthropies, and many other community partners who made this launch possible.

We could not have come this far without your invaluable advice and assistance! We are excited about the potential this entity holds for transforming access to high quality, affordable ECE for Montgomery County’s families!

Please contact infommf@nonprofitmoco.org if you have any questions or would like to know more about MMF’s role in the creation of the Early Care and Education Coordinating Entity.

Open Invitation: COA’s Inaugural Board of Directors Meeting

In compliance with the requirements of the Montgomery County Open Meetings Act, COA is inviting the public to the first meeting of the Children’s Opportunity Alliance board meeting on Thursday, July 21, 6-7:30 pm. The agenda for the meeting is here and the Zoom information is below.

Click this link to join the Zoom Meeting.
Meeting ID: 883 7156 6128   Passcode: 336702
One tap mobile: +13017158592,,88371566128# US (Washington DC)
+16469313860,,88371566128# US

Thank you Sharon!

2022-07-06T09:12:09-04:00July 6th, 2022|Montgomery Moving Forward|

After 10 years as the Director for Montgomery Moving Forward, the collective impact initiative of Nonprofit Montgomery, Sharon will be retiring. Sharon’s tireless energy, charismatic leadership, and natural ability to bring together diverse community and sector leaders to effect transformative systems change has had a lasting impact on Montgomery County.

We’d like to thank Sharon for her years of service to the community and wish her a very happy retirement! If you missed her special message, please click here to read it.

Early Learning Educator Compensation Survey

2022-06-16T12:25:36-04:00June 17th, 2022|Montgomery Moving Forward, Nonprofit Resources|

Virescent Group is partnering with Wonders Early Learning + Extended Day and MMF, to survey Greater Washington early learning organizations to understand the current state of early learning compensation. The goal of the survey is to:

  • Understand and develop potential strategies associated with transforming the early care and education workforce
  • Ensure adequate compensation and professional development opportunities
  • Address the challenges of recruiting and retaining a ready and qualified workforce

They are asking both early learning administrator and educators to complete the brief 2022 Greater Washington Early Learning Survey by Friday, June 24. Everyone who completes the survey will be (1) entered to win one of five $50 Amazon gift cards with winners announced at the end of June and (2) receive a summary of the 2022 survey findings at the end of July.

Please access the survey here: 2022 Greater Washington Early Learning Survey

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