HBS Community Partners of Connecticut
Community Partner’s (“CP”) mission is to enable HBS alumni to promote excellence in nonprofit leadership in CT through pro bono consulting, education, grant awards, and related initiatives that provide a rewarding opportunity to work together to benefit our community. We recognize that our success depends on the efforts and contributions of our volunteers. We want to express our appreciation to the 58 volunteers who helped to make 2025 another successful year.
Apply your business skills and career experience to help local nonprofits tackle their management challenges and opportunities.
Explore our advisory offerings, both several month consulting projects and single evening brainstorming sessions, tailored to your organization's needs.
For over 20 years, CP has invited applications and granted scholarships to one or more CT nonprofit leaders to attend the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM) executive education program. This Executive Education course is an HBS Social Enterprise Initiative program that allows senior executives to examine their missions and develop strategies for the new global economy. It is an intensive six-day program taught by the HBS faculty. Over 150 nonprofit leaders worldwide, representing a wide range of nonprofit sectors, make up the student body. Over 29 of our state’s recognized best nonprofit leaders have attended this program and unanimously report that SPNM was the most “outstanding executive education experience of their entire careers.” This year we launched
a bi-monthly roundtable where past SPNM attendees reconnect, exchange ideas, and share both
challenges and best-practice solutions.
The 2026 Lee Barnes Memorial Scholarship for Nonprofit Leaders Recipients were Rachel Kornfeld, CEO of Jewish Family Services of Greenwich, and Sabina Smeltz, CEO of Wakeman Boys & Girls Club.
Jewish Family Services of Greenwich (JFS) is a nonprofit human services agency committed to strengthening individuals and families across Connecticut through behavioral health, food security, immigration support, and community-based care. Serving children, adults, and older adults of all backgrounds, JFS delivers comprehensive, trauma-informed services designed to meet people where they are.
Since 2019, JFS has rapidly expanded into a regional provider, delivering over 65,000 moments of care annually through its Bennett Center for Behavioral Health and community partnerships in schools and local organizations. With a growing presence in Fairfield and New London Counties, including a satellite location in Norwich, JFS is a trusted leader in accessible, high-quality care.
Wakeman Boys & Girls Club (WBGC) guides and inspires young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible individuals. Through a focus on Academic Success, Character & Leadership, Health & Wellbeing, and Life & Workforce Readiness, WBGC provides academic support, mentorship, enrichment, and career pathways that help youth succeed in school, graduate, and prepare for college or the workforce.
WBGC currently serves 6,900 youth ages 3–18 across five sites in Bridgeport and Fairfield, including two Clubhouses and three school-based locations. The opening of the Madison Avenue Clubhouse in 2023 and the addition of an Early Learning Center in 2024 expanded services to support youth from early childhood through high school graduation. Programs operate year-round, offering after-school, extended teen hours, school break coverage, and a nine-week summer camp.
HBS Community Partners plans to invite scholarship applications for the 2027 SPNM program in February. Please direct your questions to our Awards Committee [email protected].
The Robert Whitby Turbo Award was granted with the generous support of our lead sponsor DR Bank. The Turbo Award aims to catalyze or “turbocharge” a local nonprofit by launching a new initiative or improving an existing program. It is open to all Connecticut nonprofits.
We are thrilled to announce Generation S.O.S. as the winner of the 2024 Robert Whitby Turbo Award. This award helped S.O.S. create the Video Library Program featuring teen and young adult speakers of all socioeconomic backgrounds from across the country, sharing their stories about how they struggled with and overcame their challenges with mental health, social pressures, and substance abuse.
Congratulations also go to the Fairfield Museum and History Center, our runner-up, which will receive a special recognition prize for its inspiring contributions to preserving and sharing local history. This award helped Fairfield Museum and History Center’s new program to provide free hands-on educational field trips for Bridgeport students in grades 6-8.
DR Bank is a Connecticut state-chartered and FDIC member bank that offers a comprehensive suite of products and services, including fintech sponsor banking, commercial lending, commercial cash management, and digital banking throughout the region.
The demand for CP traditional consulting services throughout CT continued to be strong: we completed 15 consulting projects. Clients included agencies focused on empowering those in need with nutrition, housing, mental health, immigration, and self-sufficiency; providing crisis and supportive services for victims of domestic violence; preserving endangered species; and delivering fresh meat, vegetables, bread, canned goods, and boxed foods to food pantries. 2026 begins with 7 projects either underway or about to begin.
Brainstorming sessions are ninety minutes long and designed to address a tactical challenge. Two agencies requested brainstorming sessions in 2025.
In 2025, we held working sessions for three clients seeking to build board consensus on strategic issues, answer strategic questions on growth, identify
The 2024 Robert Whitby Turbo Award was granted to Generation S.O.S. A secondary award was granted to the Fairfield Museum and History Center. The Turbo Award aims to catalyze or turbocharge” a local nonprofit by launching a new initiative or improving an existing program. It is open to all Connecticut nonprofits. We are thankful for the generous support of DR Bank, which enables us to make this $ 20,000 grant.
In June 2025, HBS Community Partners (HBSCP) completed its second successful pilot of a new consulting format inspired by the Harvard Business School case method. This approach mirrors the dynamic classroom discussions at the heart of HBS pedagogy and continues to prove its value for both alumni participants and nonprofit clients. The client was the Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust (ASMT), which oversees scouting in Darien, Connecticut. In the face of nationwide declines in scouting participation, ASMT sought strategic guidance tailored to its local context. Four HBSCP team members created the case materials, and an additional 14 alumni joined the project to submit written recommendations and participate in the Zoom session.
CP awarded the 2026 Lee Barnes Memorial Scholarship for Nonprofit Leaders to Rachel Kornfeld, CEO of JFS of Greenwich, and Sabina Smeltz, CEO of Wakeman Boys & Girls Club, so they could attend the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM) executive education program. This six-day program taught by the HBS faculty allows senior executives to examine their missions and develop strategies for the new global economy.
In 2025, 58 HBS alumni volunteers made significant contributions to strengthen the nonprofit community, sharing their business skills with leaders of local organizations. We worked for a total of 5000 hours of Pro Bono consulting and workshops, creating an estimated value of $2.3 million. Out of the 20 clients benefited from our work, 100% said the projects had an impact, with 82% reporting significant or highly significant impact. All of them said they would recommend CP to their non-profit friends.
Pro Bono consulting and brainstorming projects .
Report Projects had impact with 82% reporting Significant or Highly Significant Impact
Benefited from our pro bono consulting services.
Volunteered for pro bono consulting and Skills Gap Initiative activities.
We are all deeply grateful for the "above and beyond" commitment of the entire HBS Community partners team as we navigated both internal changes and external challenges, including change in leadership that would directly impact our strategic goals. As I reviewed the SPC strategic plan summary, the depth and breadth of our strategic journey since we began last fall was striking. With everything we faced, and continue to face, it would have been easy to get stuck in the present. You all helped us to see beyond the immediate challenges and thoughtfully develop a plan that is trulty strategic.To say we could not have done this without guidance from the HBS team is an understatement. You enabled us to understand more deeply the potential for Building One Community to continue fulfill its mission.
- Mary Sommer, Board Chair, Building One Community
The Club of CT Community Partners has dedicated time and energy to help support Future 5 strengthen our work. We have been able to identify clear goals and are on a path to developing an even stronger and more dynamic Future 5 than ever before thanks to your help. Thank you for your dedication to Future 5 and our community.
- Amanda Dubois-Mwake, Executive Director Future 5
"THANK YOU BOTH for all your work on the Retreat. The feedback has been incredibly positive and very supportive. I think we moved the Board ahead significantly, and we will be working far better -- more effectively -- because of the work we did yesterday. Your planning and personal involvement made all the difference in helping our Board to get to know/trust each other so we can concentrate on the issues we need to address in the coming year, and I feel eternally grateful to you for helping to make this happen. Thank you!"
- Nancy Gramps, Board Co-Chair Intempo
“Not only did you give us a plan and path forward, you energized our board to reach out and we have 5 new members joining in April
- Gaby Rattner, Chief Development Officer Barbara’s House
"We truly cannot begin to express our gratitude for taking the time to provide guidance to Winning Ways. The insights you and your team provided were invaluable and will not only contribute to the growth and expansion of Winning Ways, but also the personal and professional growth of the three of us. We are eager to implement the suggestions and increase positive change in our communities."
- Benjamin Backes, Co-Founder & President, Winning Ways
"Community Partners exceeded our expectations in every way! Your team provided the expertise and vision to guide The Community Fund of Darien into the next three years by developing a detailed strategic plan based on initiatives. It was time for our treasured 70-year-old organization to focus on its future and HBS delivered. We could not have done it without the HBS team.”
- Janet King, Executive Director, The Community Fund of Darien
"I can reiterate the compliments for the previous consulting project Community Partners did for Malta House in Norwalk, CT. I was on the board at the time. You will be happy to know we are still following the recommendations. We are moving into a new home next year, also in Norwalk, which will allow us to increase our services by 50% in an even better environment."
- Laure C. Aubuchon ’76, Board Member, Malta House
"We are grateful for the expertise and support provided by our CP team. Because of this project, we now have measurable strategies to put into place that will increase our impact on our student population."
- Krisy Jelenik, Executive Director, Housatonic Community College Foundation
"At the tender age of eight months, our new 501(c)3 organization adopted its first strategic plan with CP's support. CP's help was invaluable as the plan was designed, edited and re-edited. Our CP team was smart, focused, respectful and economical with everyone's time, for which this overworked ED is very grateful. Thanks, CP!"
- Joy Haenlein, Executive Director, CLICC
"Thank you for an engaging discussion on the ALICE Marketplace. We walked away with great ideas as well as some cautionary steps to take…These brainstorming sessions are a wonderful service to the community, and we feel fortunate to have had this opportunity…I will keep you all posted as we build momentum! work with."
- Kimberly Morgan, CEO, United Way of Western Connecticut
"I wanted to let you know that based on the HBS project we did together, we implemented your feedback and executed a Susan M. Ross New Executive Director Institute in September 2020 that served 20 new Executive Directors of Fairfield County nonprofits. We collaborated with the Nonprofit Support Center to run this program."
- Danielle Marchione, Manager, Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Fairfield County's Community Foundation
"We can't think of a more-worthy recipient [of the Humanitarian Award sponsored by the donor-advised Thumbelina Fund] than the HBS Community Partners. Their commitment to elevating the performance of the nonprofit sector is having a positive impact on the thousands of lives that are touched by these agencies each year."
- Bob Arnold, CEO, Family Centers
"[Your project] will benefit the agency for years to come."
- Mary Guerrera, Executive Director, Fellowship Place
"I can say that we would not have moved as comprehensively and rapidly as we have without their guidance and leadership. They support the executive level work of the initiative through countless hours of meetings and documenting and organizing the movement along with the backbone staff."
- Mara Silada, Executive Director, Stamford Cradle to Career
"The CP team's consultation helped our organization clarify the necessary steps to take in planning for the transition of a senior administrator, who after over 25 years in the organization, performed integral roles in many areas outside of his sphere of responsibilities.
The CP team provided us with assurances that we were on the right path and aided our decision on which choice of direction would benefit our organization's future."
"The HBS CP team creates tremendous value for the individual organizations they support as well
as an at yet, immeasurable collective impact, across the region. We are constantly seeking ways to improve our ability to deliver services and improve the lives of older adults in need of community support. HBS CP has helped us establish our North Star and numerous initiatives along the way."
"The Zoo has thoroughly enjoyed working with CP. CP listened to our needs, gave clear and concise direction and worked with us to ensure the project was complete. CP is truly an asset to our nonprofit community.
THANK YOU!
“We simply cannot say enough about CP and the work they did for us here at Connecticut
Foodshare over the past year. With their help, we were able to develop a multi-year plan that will
completely revamp and reinvigorate both our programs and our presence down in Fairfield County.
Their research and observations were rooted in both quantitative and qualitative analysis, and their
ultimate recommendations were rooted in practicality. We are incredibly thankful for the
opportunity to work with CP, and we look forward to sharing our results with them in the years to
come.”
“As a not-for-profit startup, our team needed help to create a more sustainable business model.
The CP group researched the space we are in and led a strategy session with our team which
produced valuable and tangible results. We successfully tweaked our revenue model – doubling
our monthly revenue in six months, and we will likely build on that and make even more
adjustments using their feedback. Our team is sincerely appreciative of CP’s assistance as they have
made a tangible difference to the sustainability of our new kind of library.”