The BOLD Podcast

Alfonso Cornejo is a 30-year resident of Montgomery, where he and his wife Marilyn raised three children. Cornejo was born and raised in Mexico. He is a business consultant that helps small companies do business in Latin America.  Cornejo moved to Cincinnati with P&G 30 years ago and continued in HR positions with Clorox and Chiquita before retiring in 2002.  Alfonso has been president of the all-volunteer Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA for nearly 20 years. Initially he agreed to lead the organization temporarily, having little knowledge of nonprofits. But he liked seeing the grass-roots enthusiasm and realizing results the sector delivered.  Alfonso has sent two of his board members through the BOLD program.

Beth Hartman has over 24 years of banking experience at both Fifth Third Bank and National City Bank / PNC Bank.  She is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and payments expert.  Beth manages a team of five treasury sales professionals who support the Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky markets.

Beth is a BOLD 1 graduate and currently serves as Vice President of the Southwest Ohio Association for Financial Professionals (SWOAFP) and on the board of trustees at CET TV.

Andy Freeze is a fundraiser and developer for StriveTogether.  John Webster works in business operations for Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  Both are alumni of the BOLD Program.

Joel Willis is the Editor in Chief of "The Dad", a lifestyle brand for dads.

Tanya Mack is Director of Global Transportation Capability at Procter & Gamble. Deon Mack is a Police Officer with the City of Cincinnati. Both are graduates of the BOLD 4 Class.

Danyele Harris-Thompson is a change management professional with proven experience designing and executing integrated plans to engage employees and activate organizations’ strategies.

Maribel is a BOLD 4 graduate and GE Aviation Sr Technical Project Manager working on an important migration project across the whole engineering community. Born and raised in Mexico City, Cortes Conde holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the Polytechnic Institute in Mexico. Her career in a male dominated industry includes managing outsourcing IT operations with teams in Mexico, India, China and USA. Some of the clients in US included GE Aviation, GE Energy, GE Transportation, Anheuser Busch and Mitel Networks in Canada.

Maribel’s passion for education moved her to support the Cincinnati Ohio Hispanic Community with volunteering work at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, supporting organizations such as Su Casa, LULAC and Santa Maria etc.

She is an active member of the GE Aviation Hispanic Forum and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which have been a platform to support Cincinnati Public school kids during the pandemic, where she led the initiative to provide refurbished laptops to ESL students within the school district.

Maribel has 2 daughters, Sophia Munoz(16) and Tamara Munoz(14) who attend Walnut Hills High School and is married to Walter Munoz, who is also an active member supporting the Hispanic community.

Michael Moore is the founder of Black Achievers, a networking organization with over 27,000 members nationwide. Michael's mission is to build a network of Black professionals who can work together to make the world a better place for everyone to live.

Michael is also the author of "Achieve Your Dreams, The 9 Principles of African American Success"

At age 19, Michael taught himself how to write computer code. He started designing and programming websites for businesses as a hobby while still in college. He eventually started his own web development business called Websites Express, which he grew into a multi million-dollar business employing over 10 people.

Michael has also worked in corporate America. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He has been an account manager for a Fortune 500 Company where he managed a $5 million dollar business unit in the IT/Engineering field. He currently works as an IT Project Manager overseeing a team of 30 developers at one of the largest Banks in Ohio.

BOLD is grateful to call Janice Weiss of Mayerson Academy a BOLD faculty member.  As Senior Manager Strengths-Based Initiatives, Janice collaborates with organizations and businesses to infuse workplace cultures with a strengths-based mindset, sharing hands-on character-strength tools uniquely designed to inspire authentic employee well-being and everyday associate engagement. She’s a serial entrepreneur who launched a fruit and vegetable-themed cookie company called Yucky Cookies in her third year of law school in Philadelphia. While Janice’s “sweet dreams” eventually crumbled, it allowed her to pivot from law into a marketing career that combined over fifteen years of classic consumer product management in Fortune 100 companies with nine years of employee engagement and internal branding work at Macy’s Inc. Originally from New York, Janice brought her family to Cincinnati almost twenty years ago, falling in love with everything Cincy from the moment they arrived. Driven by her signature strengths of fairness and gratitude, Janice’s personal passion is to fight for social justice and, in the words of Dr. Neal Mayerson, “help tip humanity towards its better nature.”

As Senior Manager of Strengths Based Initiatives, Philip works to strengthen workplaces, universities and neighborhoods across Cincinnati and beyond. He focuses primarily on Mayerson Academy’s Strong Cincinnati Institute, which engages cohorts of local organizations in using strengths-based practices to transform workplace cultures and unleash the potential of people in order to increase performance. In addition, Philip also provides consultation on topics such as organizational development, adult learning, leadership development, public and private partnerships, educational product development, design thinking and workforce development. Before joining Mayerson Academy, Philip led marketing and development efforts at McGraw Hill Education/Cengage Learning as the Market Development Team Leader and Marketing Manager. Philip earned his MBA from the University of Toledo.

Philip is a member of the BOLD faculty.

Do you know what it takes to lead on a nonprofit board?  Have you ever wondered if there is a community of practicing nonprofit board leaders?  The BOLD Blog was created by Leadership Council for Nonprofits and the BOLD program for conversations dedicated to the practice and experiences of nonprofit board leaders. We wanted to create a community of practice around nonprofit board leadership. This podcast will provide you with knowledge, experience, and resources to become a board leader.  We will interview BOLD faculty members, program participants, current board leaders, and nonprofits that have benefitted from using BOLD as a resource for finding board leaders.

The Board Orientation + Leadership Development program has been around for nearly 30 years and trained over 1,500 professionals for nonprofit board service. For those who want to serve, this program can help you to become a board leader. Our board leadership program will educate and empower you to serve the nonprofit community as a nonprofit board member. For nonprofits, our program will make it easier than ever before for you to recruit diverse, educated board members. Upon program completion, BOLD graduates become a part of the candidate pool.  There are hundreds of board seats that go unfilled each year. Your community needs your leadership. I hope you find the conversations that follow to be enriching. And don’t forget to be BOLD.

Improving refugee and immigrant lives, a tidbit at a time.  Heartfelt Tidbits provides support to refugees and recent immigrants living in Southwestern Ohio by facilitating integration and self-sufficiency through our innovative education, cultural and employment-enhancing programming.  Transitioning to American life is multifaceted and not easily achieved for refugees and recent immigrants.  That's why Heartfelt Tidbits provides the ‘long welcome’ to clients who have arrived in the Cincinnati area. With the support of over 110 passionate volunteers and in partnership with over 75 community organizations, Heartfelt Tidbits enhances refugee and recent immigrant integration through a variety of innovative programs.  These programs include English and citizenship classes, connecting clients to neighborhood resources, facilitating art and sewing programs, creating community gardening projects, and promoting youth empowerment.  Much of their work focuses on women who are particularly vulnerable due to limited language skills and isolation. Their sewing and art programs focus on economic self-sufficiency and the building of community among refugee and immigrant women.  All of their programs are grounded in our firm belief in the importance of alleviating refugee and immigrant isolation, which takes a toll on both physical and mental health.

In 2014, Megan was pregnant with her second child and learned diapers are not covered by food stamps or WIC. She read stories about babies being left in the same diaper for days, disposable diapers being reused, and the infections children get from a lack of clean diapers. As a parent, she couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to not be able to provide for the basic needs of your babies, and tried to find a diaper bank in Cincinnati to volunteer with. When nothing turned up, an idea took shape, and Megan envisioned an organization that could work with social service agencies in Cincinnati to make sure every baby in the city she loves had clean diapers. In the fall of 2015, Megan attended the Unpolished Conference for entrepreneurs at Crossroads Church in Oakley, and it proved to be the spark she needed to stop ignoring the call she felt to start a diaper bank. Just a few days after the conference, Megan had an amazing team in place ready to throw their support and talents into starting Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank, and she’s been working hard to create a thriving program for families in need ever since. In February of 2017, Megan made the move to Sweet Cheeks full time.

Megan graduated from BOLD in the fall of 2020 & is on faculty with the program.

Bella is a BOLD graduate and BOLD Mentor on the Steering Committee.  She works as an Early Childhood Resource Coordinator at Learning Grove, serves on the advisory board of Public Allies, and the board of Southwest Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children.  

Michele joined Gilman Partners in 2004 and is the co-leader of their Nonprofit Leadership Practice. Michele enjoys leading nonprofit searches because of the deep relationships she builds with search committees and the impact each hire has on both the organization and the community. In addition to her work with nonprofit organizations, Michele leads executive/C-suite searches as well as senior-level searches in finance and accounting, manufacturing, operations, human resources, and sales/marketing.

Michele came to Gilman Partners with 15 years of HR, recruiting, and labor relations experience in manufacturing, technology, and consulting firms. Early in her career she worked in HR/labor relations with General Motors and then in New York City with healthcare and technology consulting firms. A Deloitte alumna, Michele has extensive expertise in recruiting for the consulting, finance, and accounting industries. She has evaluated the behavioral assessments of thousands of job candidates and currently leads Gilman Partners’ use of the Predictive Index Behavioral Assessment.

https://gilmanpartners.com/

Leadership Council is an association of nonprofit agencies, with over 230 nonprofit members, representing an economic impact of over $1B in our community.  Leadership Council supports the nonprofit community by offering leadership development programs, training, cost savings (including medical insurance, retirement plans at no cost, and group purchasing) and networking opportunities for its members.  Leadership Council is a growing group of local non-profit agencies who wish to build capacity, connect, collaborate with and learn from each other in order to meet the needs of the community.

Michael Jones is an Associate Professor, Educator of Economics at the University of Cincinnati. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Notre Dame and his M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati. Prior to receiving his Ph.D., he worked as a Senior Research Analyst for the Nielsen Company and as a Senior Business Development Manager at Cincinnati Bell. He is currently the Executive Director for the Kautz-Uible Economics Institute and the Academic Director for the MS Applied Economics program at the University of Cincinnati.

Beth Short handles outreach and education for the Ohio Attorney General's charitable law section and has spent her career working for and with nonprofit organizations. Short's work in the charitable law section focuses on the development of strategies aimed at strengthening the nonprofit sector.

https://charitable.ohioago.gov/

Beth has 18+ years of experience in dynamic organizational settings, including the past 13 years in positions of bottom-line accountability.  She has a demonstrated history of success in creating and implementing comprehensive nonprofit programs.  She is adept at developing multimillion-dollar partnerships with public funders, private donors, and foundations.  She is a hands-on leader who is accessible, relatable, and connected to clients and staff.  She is an effective communicator highly skilled in multiple environments.  She has served as the President and CEO of Cincinnati Union Bethel since November of 2017.  Prior to CUB, Beth served as the CEO of Jewish Family Service from 2006 to 2017.

Cincinnati Union Bethel's mission is empowering women to break the cycles of poverty, addiction, and human trafficking.

https://www.cubcincy.org/

The mission of the S.T.A.R.S. Youth Enrichment Program (Skills, Talent, Action, Results, and Success) is a unique program which supports at-risk youth. S.T.A.R.S. promotes community focused interventions which can improve the "quality of life" for youth and adults in underserved areas. S.T.A.R.S. accomplishes its mission by providing academic, social, physical and cultural programs along with life skills training to produce lasting behavioral changes. In addition, S.T.A.R.S. Youth Enrichment Program engages youth in the fellowship of sport.

This unique combination of personal growth and experiential learning produces visible results by allowing young individuals to take ownership and responsibility for a new and improved quality of life which will contribute to a sustainable and a successful future. Throughout the day the S.T.A.R.S. program offers multiple classroom sessions helping to develop their physical skills on the court and how to make smart choices off of it.

Scott Priestle is Marketing and Communications Manager at Cincinnati Works.  Scott is a former sportswriter, always a fan of good writing.  He is the board chair of Cincinnati Matters.  Community Matters mission is to create a thriving and more just community by removing barriers to opportunity.  Founded in 2014, Community Matters has deep roots in the Lower Price Hill community, developed from the over forty years of work by its sister organization, Education Matters. Community Matters was created from the will of the Lower Price Hill community to address the overwhelming disparity in access to opportunities for our residents.  Community Matters is charged with listening to the voices of the Lower Price Hill community and seeking out new opportunities with our neighbors.

https://cmcincy.org