Marci Sternheim is a broadly experienced and deeply knowledgeable consultant/coach/facilitator/advisor dedicated to the success and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, foundations, and academic institutions. She works closely with boards of trustees and high-level staff in customized engagements to develop their leadership in governance and management, and to build organizational capacity for greatest mission impact. She also specializes in the complex dynamics of family philanthropy, working with foundations to align values, vision and best practices in the fulfillment of mission. As a trained scholar, teacher and former university professional, she brings a nuanced understanding of academic culture to the organizational, governance and philanthropic needs of colleges and universities.
She is also an effective and strategic grantmaker. As Senior Advisor for the Israel Program, an internal consulting role at the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, she helped develop the Trust’s strategic grantmaking program in Israel, deploying $35-$45 million annually to high-level programs in scientific, technological, and medical research; healthcare and preparedness; and the enhancement of Israel’s standing in the world.
Formerly, she was President of The Dibner Fund, a $100 million family foundation located in Fairfield County, where for nine years, she directed all aspects of its giving to programs in the history of science and technology, science education, humanitarian aid, peaceful coexistence, the preservation of water resources and Jewish heritage and culture as well as selected community organizations. Prior to coming to the Dibner Fund, she was the founding Executive Director of The Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, an independent nonprofit organization on the Yale campus, serving students, faculty, staff and alumni of the University, as well as New Haven community members. Earlier she worked in the Office of the Secretary and Vice President at Yale where, as Assistant University Secretary, she managed a portfolio of responsibilities ranging from town gown and public relations to campus security as well as being the principal staff liaison to the Yale Corporation.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Colgate University, she holds a doctorate in Spanish and Latin American literature from Yale University, and she taught at both Yale and Wesleyan. She is a trained mediator, having earned her Certification in Mediation from the University of Connecticut and the Quinnipiac University Law School. She is also a BoardSource trained governance consultant and has received Interim Executive Director leadership training from the Support Center in New York. She is an Associate at Interim Executive Solutions; an affiliate consultant for The Human Resource Consortium, LLC; and she is a nonprofit governance and leadership educator in a variety of programs, including the Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s Susan M. Ross Executive Leadership Institute. She has taught nonprofit/foundation, professional practice classes in the UConn Encore!Connecticut Program; she has served as a leadership coach for Leading Edge; and she was a regular guest lecturer on mentoring and on nonprofit leadership at NYU/Stern School of Business Women in Business Leadership course. She is a frequent public speaker/conference presenter on topics ranging from organizational culture to the philanthropic partnership to mentoring to nonprofit advocacy; and she is the author of “My Path to Family Philanthropy or How I Fell in Love with Good Governance” (https://www.sternheimconsulting.com/publications ). She has served on a wide variety of boards, locally and nationally including as Advisory Committee Chair of Ask Big Questions, a national program engaging young adults on campuses and others in reflective community conversations about purpose, identity, and responsibility, and most recently as Secretary and Governance Committee Chair of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) in Washington, DC.; as well as the chair of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s Consultants Network. Currently, she is a Board member at Temple Israel in Westport, CT and a volunteer early-stage organization mentor for YANA (Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance).
LinkedIn: Marci Sternheim