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Three Philadelphia-Based Women Nonprofit Leaders Chosen For Highly Selective Harvard Business School Nonprofit Leadership Program

Local Harvard alumni selected Patricia Wilson Aden, Maddy Booth, and Keisha Jordan to attend weeklong leadership program in Boston, MA

Last week, three local women and nonprofit leaders went to Harvard Business School to attend a weeklong immersive workshop titled Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. Patricia Wilson Aden, President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Maddy Booth, CEO of Vetri Community Partnership, and Keisha Jordan, President and CEO of Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia joined 157 other leaders from across the globe to address the pressing challenges facing today’s nonprofit organizations. Participants gained skills needed to take decisive action and create more responsive, impactful, and sustainable nonprofit organizations. Another Philadelphia-based CEO, Dr. Shirlana Dash of SELF, Inc., also attended the conference, and received a scholarship from Harvard Business School itself.

The workshop included topics such as Measuring Impact and Organizing for Change, led by leaders in the industry. Aden, Booth, Jordan, and Dash were able to collaborate in small groups with other members in their cohort to help one another develop a strategic direction and formulate an action plan that each person could implement almost immediately upon their return to Philadelphia.

Aden, Booth, and Jordan were nominated by previous program participants, and the Harvard Business School Club of Philadelphia selected them for 2024 participation. Their tuition for the week was paid for by an anonymous donor. Since 2001, the Harvard Business School Club of Philadelphia has sent two to four nonprofit CEOs to the workshop. Past CEOs include George Matysik of Share Food Philadelphia, Jane Golden of Mural Arts Philadelphia, and Maitreyi Roy of Bartram’s Garden among other distinguished leaders.

“Through a fund established some 20 years ago, the Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) of the Harvard Business School Club of Philadelphia supports scholarships for our area’s nonprofit leaders to attend the week-long HBS executive education program, Strategic Perspective in Nonprofit Management. Too often nonprofit organizations don’t have any budget for continuing education… and it can make a tremendous difference to them and their leadership,” said Sheila O’Shaughnessy, Co-Chair, Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI), Harvard Business School Club of Philadelphia. “The SEI Committee is very pleased to have sent three exceptional candidates to this program recently — Patricia Wilson Aden of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Madalyn Booth of Vetri Community Partnership and Keisha Jordan of the Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia. To date, we’ve sent 57 nonprofit leaders to Boston to recharge and bring that energy back to Philadelphia’s nonprofit community.”

“We’re honored to represent Philadelphia in Boston alongside several other amazing women and leaders, and grateful to the Harvard Business School Club of Philadelphia for nominating us for the opportunity to learn from experts and professors dedicated to developing nonprofit leaders in Philadelphia,” said the four CEOs jointly. “We’re going to bring our learnings back to Philadelphia to make our city a better, more joyful place to live.”

About Vetri Community Partnership

Vetri Community Partnership is a non-profit organization that provides nutrition education through cooking to more than 30,000 people across Philadelphia and Camden each year. Using the kitchen as a classroom, Vetri Community Partnership’s programs inspire people of all ages to develop the knowledge and confidence to make nutritious choices and build life skills for a healthier future. For more information, visit www.vetricommunity.org.

About Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia 
Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP) changes lives by providing scholarship funding for Philadelphia families to choose a tuition-based school that meets their student’s educational needs. It is the largest and most diverse provider of K-8th scholarship support in Pennsylvania, focusing on the highest need students in the lowest-achieving schools in the city. CSFP currently serves nearly 6,200 scholars enrolled at more than 150 area K-8th grade tuition-based schools. CSFP scholarships are all need-based and awarded by random lottery. To learn more about CSFP’s Breaking Barriers Campaign goals and priorities, visit www.campaign4csfp.org

About Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Established in 1972, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is the region’s leading arts and cultural advocacy, research, and marketing organization. Our mission is to “lead, strengthen and amplify the voices of a cultural community that ignites creativity, inspires people and is essential for a healthy region.” Our membership includes more than 450 organizations ranging from museums and dance companies to community art centers, historic sites, music ensembles and zoos. For more information on the Cultural Alliance, please visit philaculture.org.

About SELF Inc.

SELF Inc. is a 501(c)(3) human services agency that provides emergency and permanent supportive housing, housing-focused case management, mentoring, and other vital services and resources for Philadelphia’s most vulnerable communities.