HSC Groups
Originally convened by the Human Services Coalition to provide a supportive environment for not-for-profit leaders and supporters. HSC Groups build capacity through connection, resource sharing, and community-building.
Board Chair Roundtable (BCR)
Board chair roundtables provide a peer environment where board chairs can learn together. Although offered around a governance theme, these sessions are designed for chairs to explore leading governance practices, share challenges, brainstorm solutions, and build connections. New and experienced not-for-profit board chairs are welcome. Incoming Board Chairs are welcome to attend the roundtable events within three months of assuming the Chair role. They may attend with their current Board Chair or on their own
Compassion Corner
Calling all direct service providers in Tompkins County!
Contact jdrader@hsctc.org for more information.
Consultants, Trainers, and Coaches (CTCs)
A group for those interested in or currently providing quality consulting, training, and coaching services to the local and regional not-for-profit community.
Executive Exchange (ExEx)
Executive Exchange (ExEx) supports and inspires not-for profit executive directors in Tompkins County through personal and professional growth, and networking opportunities that embody diversity, equity, and inclusion in all we do.
EXEX envisions an inclusive, inspiring community for current and emerging not-for-profit leaders in Tompkins County.
The Values of ExEx are Curiosity, Integrity, Equity and Community. This shows up for us in the following ways:
Curiosity. We are open to new ideas, information, and experiences that lead to learning and growth.
Integrity. We embrace accountable reliability and create a space for mutual trust and respect.
Equity. We make the organization accessible and inclusive, work to remove barriers and cultivate emerging leaders.
Community. We share and mobilize ideas and resources, collaborating and being intentionally welcoming and inclusive.
- Monthly meetups on the 2nd Thursday of each month from 9-10:30am at the Child Development Council (609 W. Clinton St.)
- Opportunities to share resources, expertise, encouragement and support
- Occasional impromptu gatherings for socializing, support, and fun!
- An annual retreat on a topic that group members indicate resonates with their needs
- All Tompkins County Executive Directors and CEOs are welcome regardless of the organization’s ability to pay dues.
- Meetup Dates:
- January 9, 2025
- February 13, 2025
- March 13, 2025
- March 19, 2025 – 4-6 pm at Liquid State – ExEx Social
- April 10, 2025
- May 8, 2025
- June 12, 2025
- September 11, 2025
- October 9, 2025
- November 13, 2025
- December 11, 2025
Join us for a day-long, interactive retreat focused on advocacy & public policy for leaders of mission-driven organizations!
Advocacy in Action
Thursday, May 8, 2025
LA TOURELLE HOTEL & SPA
1150 Danby Road, Ithaca
8:30am – 4:00pm
- 8:30am – 9:00am: Networking Breakfast
- 9:00am – 3:00pm: Retreat (Lunch included – see menu options below)
- 3:00pm – 4:00pm: Happy Hour (One drink included)
$30 – Register by May 1st
Sessions Include
- Legal Updates for Nonprofit Leadership with Carrie Pollak, Non Profit Attorney at Hancock Estabrook
- Advocating for your Org through Op Eds with Sarah Wisdorf, Ithaca Board of Realtors Executive Officer
- New York State Policy Advocacy for Nonprofit Leaders with
- Professor Alexandra Dufresne, Professor of the Practice and Director of the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University
- Hattie Seten, Policy and Advocacy Fellow, State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University
- Erin Boell, undergraduate public policy student in the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University
- Yewon Kee, undergraduate policy analysis and management student in the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University
- Elina Natarajan, undergraduate policy analysis and management student in the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University
This retreat is open to Executive Directors of mission-driven organizations with service focus in Tompkins County as well as leaders who report directly to a Board.
Retreat Menu
Breakfast: fruit, pastries/muffins, yogurts, coffee, tea, fruit infused water
Lunch: artisan sandwiches, seasonal soup, mixed greens, potato salad, chips, cookies
Speaker Bios
Carrie J. Pollak is a partner in the Corporate, Real Estate, Tax and Health Care Practices. Her legal practice concentrates in the area of corporate governance. Ms. Pollak regularly advises tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations on diverse legal issues including formations, taxation and tax exempt issues, corporate governance, corporate restructurings, regulatory matters, and a variety of commercial ventures, contracts and transactions, and tax-exempt financing, including bond issuance. She routinely represents providers of charitable services, such as long-term health care and affordable housing, and works with various nonprofit groups. Ms. Pollak teaches Nonprofit Organizations at Cornell Law School.
Ms. Pollak also represents a variety of companies and for-profit businesses in the areas of corporate governance, commercial real estate, commercial ventures, contracts and transactions.
She routinely represents clients before the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, and the New York State Office of the Attorney General, Department of Taxation and Finance and Affordable Housing Corporation. She has represented clients before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the New York State Department of Environmental Protection.
Sarah Wisdorf
Sarah Wisdorf moved to Ithaca from Duluth, MN in August of 2022 to serve as the CEO for the Ithaca Board of Realtors. She received her MBA in 2019 with an emphasis in Leadership & Change Management. Within her industry, she has served on numerous committees and boards at the local, state, and national levels. Ithaca Board of Realtors prioritizes advocacy at all levels.
Professor Alexandra Dufresne, Director of the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University, is a lawyer who works at the intersection of law and public policy. Before joining the Brooks School, she directed a human rights clinic in Switzerland and taught law and policy courses at Yale College and at various Swiss universities. Working closely with community partners in the U.S. and Europe, she has led several successful advocacy campaigns at the state level and before various U.N. Committees and has served on numerous government commissions and boards of nonprofits in the U.S. and Europe. In addition to leading the clinic, Prof. Dufresne teaches courses in international human rights, immigration law and policy, and child law and policy at the Brooks School. Prof. Dufresne began her career by clerking for the Hon. Martha Craig Daughtrey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, litigating commercial cases at large international law firms, and representing detained immigrants and children in the child welfare system at various legal services nonprofits. She is a legal fellow at Cornell Law School, where she co-directs the Migration and Human Rights Program.
Hattie Seten, Policy and Advocacy Fellow at the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University, has a background in public policy, rural equity, and human rights advocacy. Before joining the Brooks School, Seten most recently worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Switzerland, where she advocated for displacement-affected communities and coordinated international initiatives supporting refugee children. Previously, she interned in the visa unit at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, completed U.S. Department of State-sponsored Arabic fellowship programs in the Middle East and North Africa, and analyzed the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant communities as a Princeton University Public Policy and International Affairs Program Fellow. Seten’s experience also includes serving on several nonprofit boards, leading successful state and local advocacy campaigns, and volunteering with rural community-based organizations in South Dakota. A Rhodes Scholar, Seten is a dedicated public servant committed to advancing equitable and impactful social policy.
Erin Boell is an undergraduate public policy student in the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University. Boell serves on the State Policy Advocacy Clinic’s criminal justice team where she advocates for the New York State Legislature to pass the CARE Act to protect the healthcare of incarcerated mothers and their infants. Boell also works at Cornell University as a Student Athlete Support Services Tutor and as a Literary Research Assistant. Her prior experience includes interning as a consumer affairs intern at the Delaware County, Pennsylvania Government Administration.
Yewon Kee is an undergraduate policy analysis and management student in the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University. Kee also serves on the State Policy Advocacy Clinic’s criminal justice team where she advocates for the New York State Legislature to pass the CARE Act to protect the healthcare of incarcerated mothers and their infants. Kee is interested in the intersection of health policy, hospitality and design. She also serves as a Research Fellow at Cornell’s Health Design Innovations Lab. She also serves as a Community Coordinator at Planned Parenthood Generation Action at Cornell where she communicates with local high schools to create student mentorship opportunities. Her prior experience includes interning at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Elina Natarajan is an undergraduate policy analysis and management student in the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University. Natarajan serves on the State Policy Advocacy Clinic’s children’s rights team where she advocates for New York State to improve children’s access to healthcare. Natarajan is passionate about leveraging public policy to advance equity and justice and will be applying to law school in the fall. Outside of the classroom, Elina serves as a Literary Research Assistant at Cornell, she is a Legal Volunteer with the Cornell University Parole Initiative, and she is a dedicated student-athlete on Cornell’s Varsity Swim and Dive Team.
Suggested membership donation for one year (January 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025) is $100.
Please include the Executive Exchange Dues Invoice with your payment.
Finance Directors (FINZ)
Finance Officers Association of Tompkins County, N.Y. (FINZ) is a voluntary association of finance directors, managers, and persons who live or work in or near Tompkins County and have an interest in the financial management and health of not-for-profit organizations.
The purpose of FINZ is to enhance the ability of not-for-profit finance professionals to perform their duties at the highest professional level.
Email us at finzmgrs@gmail.com