Managing Director, The Good Dog Foundation

>> My name is Michelle Coffey, and I work with nonprofits to make both individuals and organizations more efficient. Currently I'm Managing Director of the Good Dog Foundation; so I oversee operational development, communications, activities for them. And then I'm also the director of the Fellowship for Emerging Leaders and Public Service, which is a Fellowship through NYU's graduate school public service. An average day at the Good Dog Foundation I'm doing a variety of rules. Certain days I might be focusing on development. Certain days I might be focusing on PR. On other days I'm looking at operational management, strategic management, how are we in line with our strategic plan, what kind of resources do we need, budgeting, as well as working with external stakeholders including our board of directors. So for development I might be working and helping with the corporate sponsor, or I may be helping plan and execute one of our signature events that the organization is. Most public service organizations are very dependent on events and fundraising. Sure, so my schedule is never the same on a day-to-day basis. Some days are lighter on day-to-day work and I'm able to accomplish long-term tasks, like strategic management and priority setting. Other days are very heavy with a nitty-gritty if we have an event coming up or a major PR campaign we're undertaking. I might be dealing with a news crew. A few weeks ago I was at the CBS evening news and getting our piece on their program or, you know, dealing with the day-to-day gala. I'm also responsible for our strategic planning and looking at what that might mean for the future of the organization and the steps we need to be taking on a day-to-day basis. So that might involve meetings with internal and external stakeholders as well as a lot of kind of reflective practice and thinking so that staff involved are able to implement our larger goals.