Taking Leadership to the Next Level

Laura Bernard’s journey with nonprofits began early, when she and her friends started a volunteering organization after college. Traveling around the country together fueled her passion for nonprofit work.
Bernard’s career at Feed My Starving Children began in November 2005, when she started working there part-time. She’s moved up the ranks and is now the VP of Manufacturing. As part of her onboarding for the new position, Bernard expressed an interest to complete additional training at The Leadership and Management Program within Executive Education at St. Thomas.

She was able to walk away with tangible takeaways to bring back to her team immediately. Bernard especially enjoyed the Myers Briggs Assessment, the case studies and the real world experiences that the instructors brought to the table.

Going into the program, Bernard’s hope was to bring back new skills to her team and organization. Being in a new leadership role, she’s been grateful for the opportunity for self-reflection and the in-depth discussions with other professionals in the program. “I returned to work with new insight and a group of peers to bounce ideas off of,” she said.

After taking this program, Laura was able to find practical and effective methods to lead her new team. She felt empowered to positively influence the culture in new ways and challenge the status quo. Prior to the program, she did not know how to start making these changes. Bernard now has a new sense of confidence in her leadership abilities and organizational impact.