As the executive director and co-founder of South Bronx United, a sports-based youth development organization, Andrew So understands the importance of performance measurement and management. To advance his knowledge and skills in this area, he attended Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations (PMNO) at Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education. Looking back on his participation in the program, he discusses what he took away from the experience.
I heard about the PMNO program from the HBS Club of New York's Community Partners program. South Bronx United had worked with a consulting team of HBS alumni on a project, and they recommended that I apply.
I had thought I was very familiar with theory-of-change frameworks, but the program provided new ways of looking at the theories of change and program models for organizations. These models helped me discover new insights into the programs at my own organization, as well as the planning that needed to be done to improve our existing programs or start new ones.
Funding is a constant challenge. While PMNO was not a fundraising course by any means, the structure and cases provided some new perspectives on how performance measurement and fundraising are linked. The case studies also opened my eyes to new ideas.
The program gave me a framework and new tools to bring to my staff as we try to institute better performance measurement and management throughout the organization.
The experience felt like a combination of a crash course in a world-class graduate degree program and a stay at a five-star hotel. I couldn't have asked for anything more. The accommodations were perfect, and HBS made it very easy to focus on the course content, the learning opportunity, and the networking.
If you have the opportunity to attend HBS and learn from professors who spend their lives studying what makes organizations successful, don't pass it up. This program requires a short time away from everyday life, but you will exit with a trove of resources and case studies to help you grow your organization and develop your skills and perspectives.
