EXPERIENCE - Emily Bass Strategies

Projects. Experience. Impact.

~    Over 25 years of experience as a leader.
~ Highly accomplished in coaching, teaching, and presentation skills.
~    Practiced in organizational development and program implementation.
~    Successful in project coordination and collaborations.
~    Advanced knowledge in grant writing and grant making.
~ Solid verbal and written communication skills.
~    Strong interpersonal skills in a wide range of settings.
~    Proven self-starter who is highly organized and professional.

Wrangell Mountain Center

Connecting people with wildlands through art, science,
and education in the Wrangell Mountains.

“At a time when we were going through a challenging organizational transition and our volunteer board was overtaxed, Emily was able to step in and be a leader when we needed one most. She helped us refocus our 30-year mission and literally kept us from dissolving as an organization. Even though Emily didn’t know the group all that well, her natural leadership skills provided us with direction and structure that was appropriate to our situation. We feel fortunate to have found her.”

~ Howard Mozen, Board President

ABOUT PROJECT

Issue & Action

The WMC is a small nonprofit that has been around for over 30 years. They operate in a unique setting in the backcountry of Alaska. I had offered grant writing services to them in the past and was taking a role as interim ED as they looked for new long-term leadership. New board members brought new ideas, new energy and new skill sets. What I observed after the first board meeting was the need for clarifying board member’s roles and responsibilities.

Solution & Outcome

Through exercises with the board, I helped them to identify that each had the same goal for the organization but with very different ways of getting there. This was impacting the services they provided, the marketing and development planning and the staff’s ability to operate. The board has taken my recommendation to simplify for a period so they can focus on the best plan of action for future growth. I started them on their business plan and I was able to help them identify new leadership who has now taken them to that next step.

EBS PROJECT COMBOS-Projects my office at the wrangell mountain center-1

The Wrangell Mountain Center, Built in 1911.
Photo: Dianne Milliard

Challenge Alaska

Challenge Alaska improves the lives of people with disabilities, their families and the whole community through adaptive sports, therapeutic recreation, and education.

“When I first met Ms. Bass, I knew she had the skills Challenge Alaska was seeking. She was an effective change agent, taking our ski school from a group of well-meaning volunteers to a highly trained cadre of instructors and assistants who could really teach and grow athletes to the level of proficiency they desired, whether as recreational skiers or as competitors. As Emily herself grew and expanded her interests, she brought the same level of passion to her evolving areas of expertise through writing grants for Challenge Alaska, expanding our ability to provide services as well as continuing to be a catalyst for strategic planning today. She currently serves on the Board of Challenge Alaska where she is respected for her depth of knowledge, level headed approach to decision making and her ability to build consensus

~Beth Edmands-Merritt, President and CEO

ABOUT PROJECT

Issue and Action
The organization was going through a transition of leadership in their ski school and this impacted their operational procedures, training, community relationships, and their staff and volunteers. Hired as a consultant for six weeks to assess the situation and offer a solution, I immersed myself in the organization as an instructor and trainer for the ski school. My first step was to listen to everyone from staff and mountain management to clients and board members. My observations revealed everyone had the same goal. This provided an easy platform to springboard to the next step. What was perhaps the most detrimental element was fear of change. The idea of change had people believing that it would change their goals and their outcomes.

Solution and Outcome
Keeping these concerns in mind, I addressed them openly and honestly. I was able to begin putting new systems into place that allowed the ski school to better serve and expand the number of clients; to have volunteers feel purposeful and successful as well as take what they learned from the new training requirements into other parts of their lives; and to assure community partners that Challenge Alaska offered a service that benefited their bottom line. Within one year the ski school grew from doing 6 lessons in a day to 36. Fewer staff members were needed because they learned how to better delegate and manage volunteers. Volunteers took pride in their role and took advantage of new training and certification opportunities, providing the ski school with more prestige, and eventually national recognition. Ultimately, the hundreds of participants each year were seeing their lives improved through sports and recreation.

Recover Alaska

Recover Alaska is an initiative guided by a multi-sector steering committee to reduce harms associated with excessive alcohol consumption in Alaska by focusing on making systems, policy, statutory and practice changes that will lead to long-term improvements.

“This was a challenging evaluation planning project because, although the initiative’s design and governance were coming together, the overall structure was still fluid. Emily played an important role building consensus among the committee members and experts, like myself, and helped us accomplish the task in a timely way while also bridging between the committee and the executive group. She was especially helpful to me as a non-Alaskan assisting me to understand and navigate local players and perspectives. Her understanding and respect for evaluation and warmth and regard for all players were crucial to the positive role she played.”

~Marjorie A. Gutman, PhD

Gutman Research Associates

Consultant for Recover Alaska

ABOUT PROJECT

Issue & Action

As part of the team, I worked closely with the executive director, the funding partners and the steering committee along with community members and outside consultants to move the initiative from the planning stage to the implementation stage. It was important to have a way to measure the initiative and each of its strategies for success. We brought in consultants who have done this work around the globe and together we worked to create an evaluation committee. This committee then focused on building an evaluation that would best measure progress while speaking the same language to all the stakeholders.

Solution & Outcome

As lead for the initiative’s evaluation committee, I worked with the consultants and other team members to provide a “crosswalk” that bridged the gap between the different types of evaluation processes. This allowed the evaluation committee to move forward and lay the groundwork for measuring impact. Today, Recover Alaska’s strategies are up and running and there are systems in place to measure its success.

Loon Mountain

Our mission at Loon is simple:
To be the leading provider of adventurous, innovative, high quality, value-packed, environmentally-responsible resort recreation, enhanced by service excellence.

“The first time I met Emily was during a national conference in Colorado on Adaptive sports. She was 25 years old and full of ideas and energy. I next worked with her as she advocated for people with disabilities and started the adaptive program at Loon Mountain. I went on to work with her in a number of different capacities around the country as her advocacy and leadership brought her nationwide. She has made a significant difference in the world of adaptive sports and it’s been a joy to watch her grow while continuing to keep her contagious, positive energy.”

~ Hal O’Leary,
Founder, National Disabled Sports Center
Author, Bold Tracks: Skiing for the Disabled
National Disabled Sports Hall of Fame recipient

ABOUT PROJECT

Issue & Action

When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, large resorts such as Loon Mountain were in need of complying with the new law. This meant they were required to provide accessible means to their services. With paying customers waiting in long lift lines and skiing on crowded slopes it seemed an obstacle and a safety issue at the time to allow people with disabilities using, often hand made, clunky adaptive equipment to be on the hill. Loon Mountain was forward thinking and wanted an adaptive ski school to address the needs of people experiencing disabilities.

Solution & Outcome

By starting an adaptive program as a nonprofit, I was able to provide snowsports education to people with disabilities of all ages. I trained instructors to engage the general public when they showed an interest. I empowered the students with disabilities to help us with this endeavor by being outspoken about their disability. I worked with the mountain management to allow certain times of day for safely training on the adaptive equipment and took an inclusive approach by having management come train with us to see that it was safe. I worked with volunteers to support beginning adaptive skiers by emphasizing the student’s abilities rather than his disabilities. Listening carefully and validating concerns offered me an understanding of problems. Using a relational approach that included everyone as part of the solution provided continuing success for Loon Mountain, as well as other resorts I worked with over the years. Loon Mountain now is host to a nationally-acclaimed adaptive ski school, New England Disabled Sports, providing thousands of lessons each year.

Grantmaking

“Emily is focused on solutions, has a positive attitude, and recognizes the strengths of others. Her education and nonprofit leadership experience allowed her to quickly come up to speed and add value to our team.”

~ Sammye Pokryfki, Senior Vice President, Rasmuson Foundation

Rasmuson Foundation

A private foundation working to promote a better life for all Alaskans.

The Alaska Community Foundation

A statewide community foundation working to transform gifts from Alaskans into extraordinary contributions for their state’s future by connecting people who care with causes that matter.

Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority

A state corporation that administers the Alaska Mental Health Trust, a perpetual trust, to improve the lives of beneficiaries. The Trust operates much like a private foundation, using its resources to ensure that Alaska has a comprehensive integrated mental health program.

ABOUT PROJECT

Issue & Action

I am fortunate to have had opportunities to work within three different types of grantmaking entities, learning the delicate differences between a private foundation, a community foundation and a unique-to-Alaska state funded foundation. Each entity offered the challenge of providing grant programs that were user-friendly and efficient for grantees seeking funds. In each of the organizations, we took action by asking grantees to provide feedback on their experience with the application process.

Solution & Outcome

Learning first from small programs at the Mental Health Trust to learning from a focus group process at Rasmuson Foundation, I was able to lead the streamlining process and creation of applications and reporting processes in partnership with grantees and the grantmaking committee at The Alaska Community Foundation. The result was an easier application process taking less time for applicants; better clarity for the review committee; improved efficiency for staff processing applications; and a user-friendly reporting system for applicants providing information that allows donors to see their return on investment. Ultimately, this resulted in more efficient grantmaking so nonprofits could spend their time doing what they do to serve Alaskans

CONTACT

EMAIL: emily@emilybassstrategies.com | PHONE: 907-632-1501