Executive Director Learning Circle
About the program
Since 2015, the Executive Director Learning Circle has offered a dedicated space for learning, reflection, and peer dialogue among nonprofit executive directors.
A supportive space for nonprofit leaders
Leading a nonprofit is both a privilege and a distinct challenge. Executive directors balance many responsibilities — from stewarding organizational vision and managing daily operations to cultivating partnerships, securing financial support, and supporting their teams.
Led by Marsie Silvestro and Sarah Silva, this learning circle brings executive directors together to connect with peers who understand the complexities of the role, share experiences, and learn from one another in a supportive environment. Session topics have included board diversity, federal tax changes, organizational growth, marketing and communications, financial management, and personal resiliency.
Meet the people leading the conversation
Marsie Silvestro
Marsie Silvestro
Marsie Silvestro brings four decades of expertise to her roles as an intuitive and dynamic Executive Director, Board and Staff Trainer, Group Retreat Facilitator and Mentor. Her leadership experience spans work on both the local and national levels. She is proficient in the Appreciative Inquiry Strategic Model which focuses on identifying an organization's strengths through individual and group interviewing progresses that honors what has been done, creates transformative collective dreaming and creating effective solution based and accomplishable work plans that will move an agency toward growth and a new pathways toward a successful mission.
Marsie believes that no matter what someone’s position is in an agency or the community, all are needed to steer towards a future that elevates the voices and needs of those they serve, as well as ensures that staff and board members feel heard, listened to, included, and appreciated as a thread in the web of service and safety.
Sarah Silva
Sarah Silva
Sarah is a Chicana with Mexican, Spanish, and Indigenous roots, born in Las Cruces and raised in Vado, New Mexico. A graduate of Gadsden High School, she comes from a family of farmers and mechanics. After graduating at the top of her class, Sarah moved to San Francisco, California, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in Theology and Latin American History from the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit institution.
While living in El Salvador, Sarah learned community organizing from Catholic nuns—an experience that shaped her lifelong commitment to social justice. After six years of community organizing in San Francisco, she returned to Las Cruces and, in 2009, founded a nonprofit focused on grassroots organizing.
Sarah is a community organizer, former executive director, and certified coach for people working in social movements. She is the parent of two teenagers and the partner of someone living with a chronic illness. In her personal life, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and learning new things.
She identifies proudly as both Chicana and New Mexican and is intentional about creating brave, accountable spaces. Sarah is unapologetic in her belief in the power of vulnerability, an understanding of power dynamics, and consistent practice as pathways to lasting change. Open-minded and curious, she encourages clients to examine their behaviors and mindsets in order to explore new possibilities and choices.
Meet the people leading the conversation
Marsie Silvestro
Marsie Silvestro
Marsie Silvestro brings four decades of expertise to her roles as an intuitive and dynamic Executive Director, Board and Staff Trainer, Group Retreat Facilitator and Mentor. Her leadership experience spans work on both the local and national levels. She is proficient in the Appreciative Inquiry Strategic Model which focuses on identifying an organization's strengths through individual and group interviewing progresses that honors what has been done, creates transformative collective dreaming and creating effective solution based and accomplishable work plans that will move an agency toward growth and a new pathways toward a successful mission.
Marsie believes that no matter what someone’s position is in an agency or the community, all are needed to steer towards a future that elevates the voices and needs of those they serve, as well as ensures that staff and board members feel heard, listened to, included, and appreciated as a thread in the web of service and safety.
Sarah Silva
Sarah Silva
Sarah is a Chicana with Mexican, Spanish, and Indigenous roots, born in Las Cruces and raised in Vado, New Mexico. A graduate of Gadsden High School, she comes from a family of farmers and mechanics. After graduating at the top of her class, Sarah moved to San Francisco, California, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in Theology and Latin American History from the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit institution.
While living in El Salvador, Sarah learned community organizing from Catholic nuns—an experience that shaped her lifelong commitment to social justice. After six years of community organizing in San Francisco, she returned to Las Cruces and, in 2009, founded a nonprofit focused on grassroots organizing.
Sarah is a community organizer, former executive director, and certified coach for people working in social movements. She is the parent of two teenagers and the partner of someone living with a chronic illness. In her personal life, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and learning new things.
She identifies proudly as both Chicana and New Mexican and is intentional about creating brave, accountable spaces. Sarah is unapologetic in her belief in the power of vulnerability, an understanding of power dynamics, and consistent practice as pathways to lasting change. Open-minded and curious, she encourages clients to examine their behaviors and mindsets in order to explore new possibilities and choices.
Meet the people leading the conversation
Board Leadership & Managing Difficult Board Dynamics
Facilitated by Marsie Silvestro & Sarah Silva
Navigating board relationships is one of the most common — and least supported — challenges faced by nonprofit executive directors. This session creates space for practical learning and peer dialogue around managing difficult board dynamics and strengthening board-staff collaboration. Registration is required. This event is free.
