Foundation for New Directions CONTACT:131 Oliver Street Boston, MA 02110 617-624-3355 websiteMary M. Westropp, Executive Director
DESCRIPTION:Philanthropic volunteering is an excellent, sure-fire, way to explore and develop one’s values, as well as to extend professional skills and expertise in new and life-enhancing arenas. FND was founded in 1998 by the staff of New Directions, a career-transition coaching firm, as the parent company’s gift to the community, sharing its job-finding skills with homeless and low-income adults. FND partners with charities, including YMCA Training Inc. and YearUp, to identify program candidates. FND volunteers — 300 management executives, attorneys, doctors, academics and others — run workshops and work with 1,100 individuals one-on-one to identify job skills, create résumés, search for employment and rehearse interviews. What a great idea! FND executives also serve on a city task force to expand permanent housing for homeless persons, and FND volunteers offer pro bono assistance to partner institutions and their projects. It has worked so well it now has growing pains: with only a part-time executive director, FND must raise outside funds to hire a deputy director to increase its volunteer force and to manage the significant expansion of its programs. You can help provide the growth investment needed. (2005: PROMOTING PHILANTHROPY: Charities Helping Charities)
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