Happy 4th anniversary!
This month marks the four-year anniversary of my nonprofit consulting practice. On January 20, 2020, I officially retired from my CEO...
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Your Leadership Partner in the Social Sector
TESS REYNOLDS
Leadership Advisor for
Nonprofits & Philanthropy
ABOUT TESS
Tess Reynolds helps social-sector CEOs and Boards lead their organization to achieve their greatest potential impact. Her consulting practice leverages her demonstrated success in the nonprofit and business sectors to lead executive teams and Boards in the areas of business and financial strategy; succession planning; organization/leadership development; board governance; and more. As an immigrant and woman of color, Tess brings an equitable and inclusive perspective to all she does.
Since 2020, Tess has coached and advised over two dozen nonprofit leaders based all over the U.S. at organizations ranging in size from about $2M to $60M. She also works with several Foundations to provide capacity building support and training to their grantees.
For 16 ½ years, Tess served as CEO of New Door Ventures, a nonprofit that provides employment and education to young adults (age 16-24) in the San Francisco Bay Area who are rising above their histories with foster care, homelessness, justice system involvement and more. Under Tess’ leadership, New Door established a new strategy that grew service levels tenfold to over 500 youth and 300+ paid interns employed annually in about 100 work sites, including five social enterprises owned and operated by New Door. Tess led the growth of New Door’s non-government revenue from approximately $600,000 in 2003 to about $8 million in 2019.
Prior to New Door, Tess spent two decades in the technology industry in the roles of Vice President of Marketing and Business Unit General Manager. She has served on eight nonprofit Boards and currently serves on the Boards of Wellspring and the Bothin Foundation, plus the Advisory Council of REDF (Roberts Enterprise Development Fund) where she also serves on the credit committee of the REDF Impact Investing Fund. Tess is one of the Consultant-Coaches of the LeaderSpring Center and a member of the LEAP Ambassadors Community of the National Council of Nonprofits.
SERVICES
BOARD TRAINING & FACILITATION
Facilitate Board meetings and retreats. Conduct Board Self-assessments and lead workshops on Board governance, fundraising, and more.
COACHING & ADVISORY SERVICES
Weekly or semi-monthly coaching or advisory sessions for ED/CEOs, individually or together with their leadership teams or Board Chairs. At the client's request, the engagement may include offline work to develop frameworks, curate resources, and write/edit critical documents.
PROJECT CONSULTING
Projects cover a wide range, including: business and financial strategy; training and leadership development; succession planning; organization sustainability assessment; board self-assessments; and a review/update of Board governance materials.
CLIENTS
ABLEWORKS
Executive Advisory Services
AXIS COMMUNITY HEALTH
Executive Transition Coaching
BEYOND EMANCIPATION
Board Development;
Executive Coaching and Advisory Work
BLACK CULTURAL ZONE
Executive Coaching
BOYS HOPE GIRLS HOPE
Global Gathering Speaker/Facilitator
CALIFORNIA COLLABORATIVE
FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE
BRAVEN
Executive Coaching
CITY HOPE SF
Executive Coaching; Board Retreat Facilitation
Executive Coaching; Board Training
FIRST STEP STAFFING
Leadership Development for Executive Team and Middle Management
FARMING HOPE
Executive Coaching for Co-EDs and Board;
Board Retreat Facilitation
FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN Portland
Executive Coaching; Board Self-Assessment
LEADERSPRING
Executive Coaching for Succession Planning Program Participants
IZZI EARLY EDUCATION
Board Retreat Facilitation; Board Development; Fundraising
ONE GOAL BAY AREA
Executive Director Coaching
OPEN DOOR LEGAL
Fundraising; Executive Coaching;
Board Development, Board Self-Assessment
Executive Coaching; Board Retreat Training;
Leadership Development for Executive Team
OPPORTUNITY JUNCTION
Succession Planning & Executive Coaching
STANISLAUS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
PIVOTAL
Workforce Development Training
REDF IMPACT INVESTING FUND
Credit Committee
REDF
Succession Planning Workshops;
Executive Coaching & Leadership Development for Grantees; CA RISE Session Facilitation
Executive Coaching; Leadership Development for Executive Teams; Board Retreat Facilitation
SOMOS MAYFAIR
TWO FEATHERS NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY SERVICES
Executive Coaching
UNDER ONE ROOF, INC.
Executive Transition Coaching
WELLSPRING
Board Retreat Training & Facilitation; Governance
UPSPIRE
Succession Planning & Coaching
TIPPING POINT COMMUNITY
Capacity Building and Coaching for Grantees
WILDFLYER COFFEE
Executive Coaching
TESTIMONIALS
In my 25 years of working with nonprofit leaders, Tess stands out as one of the best CEOs I know. She brings a powerful combination of business expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and an incredible gift for bridging the divide between people from different backgrounds, resulting in powerful personal and community transformation. Her commitment to helping advance people is very authentic. Any organization would be fortunate to work with her and benefit from her wisdom.
Tess is a force, but one who is counter-cultural from the self promoting, overly ambitious, entitled kind of force that is so common here in Silicon Valley. She is a force for good that is embodied by her heart, compassion and deep sense of service. In witnessing and supporting her leadership at New Door Ventures, she masterfully, yet humbly brought together disparate stakeholders and many moving parts to improve the lives of vulnerable youth. If you ever have the opportunity to work with or get to know Tess, take it, as her wisdom and experience will undoubtedly help you in your own leadership journey and immeasurably benefit your organization.
Barbara Pierce, Founder, Women with Capital
Eric Quan, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Telos Ventures Capital
TESTIMONIALS
"I've learned so much from Tess about Board Development. The Board and I continue to grow as we implement her wise counsel on fundraising, board engagement, and generative thinking. Tess puts a lot of thought into her training sessions, tailoring it to our organization and delivering it in a digestible and engaging way. Her guidance is helping us take the board to the next level!"
Amy Chiu, Board Director, Open Door Legal
“Our yearly Board Retreat was a great experience... because we had an experienced and knowledgeable nonprofit guru, who is also a brilliant facilitator, Tess Reynolds. She helped us get acquainted with each other and with what it means to be a great board and a fully engaged board member.”
Fernanda Perdomo-Arciniegas
Board Director, Somos Mayfair
TESTIMONIALS
When I first met Tess, I knew she was the coach for me. Not only did she validate my experience as a new Asian American female executive leader, she integrated the skills I needed to develop and how I could show up authentically as my whole self.
Diana Phuong, M.Ed.
Executive Director, Braven
"My sessions with Tess were INCREDIBLY helpful -- and fun! I am so grateful for the space she held for me and the work we did together.
Krismin Inocentes Bell
Executive Director, OneGoal Bay Area
TESTIMONIALS
Tess is fantastic at both a strategic and tactical level. She was able to help our board understand the importance of fundraising and to train them on the language, narrative, and ambassador tools needed to execute. The board loved working with her!
Adrian Tirtanadi, CEO, Open Door Legal
"Tess Reynolds' executive coaching was instrumental to my success and satisfaction at work. It was a privilege to be coached by her and to learn more about myself as a Filipina and as a leader."
Charmaine Lacsima, ODL Director of Innovation and Strategy
Tess Reynolds was an incomparable advisor to me in my early days in fundraising. She gave me the foundational skills I needed to be an effective development worker, and helped me create a roadmap that is contributing to organizational success. I always looked forward to our coaching sessions, and learned so much from Tess's incredible knowledge of the Bay Area philanthropic landscape. She is incredible.
Laura Ortberg Turner, Fund Development
TESTIMONIALS
Tess brings all her skills and abilities to the table as a CEO/Leader. She is very goal-oriented, which inspired our teams to try our best every single day. The other characteristics that made her such a great CEO/Leader were her analytical capacity and pure kindness. She knows how to bring the best out of each person and is an outstanding mentor.
Wade Walker, Vice President, Blue Frog
Tess and I worked together for 13 years at New Door. Under her leadership the organization grew in every way—social impact (service levels increased 10x), fundraising (5x increase), organizational capacity, board leadership and reputation. Tess is strategic, pragmatic, persistent, entrepreneurial, and deeply committed to making change in the world. She is a wise mentor and inspiring colleague. I can’t recommend her highly enough!
Mark Cole, COO, New Door Ventures
SAMPLE ENGAGEMENTS
Executive Coaching & Leadership Development
Board Training - Governance, Recruitment & Fundraising
Board Self-Assessments
Retreat/Meeting Facilitation
Succession/Transition Planning
Strengths-based Leadership Development
Fundraising Strategy, Financial Strategy, and more...
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