Client Comments

“Thank you for all you did to help NYeC fulfill its purpose of advancing the adoption of electronic health records and health information exchange in New York State. You demonstrated considerable professionalism and diplomacy in stepping in quickly to stabilize the organization during a particularly challenging interim period and worked very hard and very effectively to bring all the stakeholders together and to position NyeC to obtain state and federal funds. I know the entire Board appreciates all your efforts to ensure that NYeC can fulfill its promise.”

— Carol Raphael,
Chair of the Board, New York eHealth Collaborative,
and President and CEO of Visiting Nurse Service of New York
 

“Lifesaving is the term I would use to describe John Corwin's interim presidency of the US Committee for UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund). After a strong board meeting in early May, our President sustained a life-threatening illness and we faced important and unanticipated decisions about the direction of our organization over the summer. Board officers temporarily could carry on but we needed a firm hand at the wheel — and that is what we got in mid-August when John Corwin arrived.
 
Not only has he fulfilled our immediate needs, he has given us much needed expert advice on non-profit governance, and how to make our organization stronger and more effective. In other words, we got much, much more than we had hoped for.
 
I am sure many non-profit organizations will face similar problems. I would recommend Corwin Consulting, LLC to them wholeheartedly. John is a smart, quick study, with enthusiasm and common sense, plus being fun to be with and good company. He has a terrific idea of marketing himself to fill real needs — and I feel certain many organizations can benefit greatly from his services.”

— Phyllis E. Oakley, Chairperson of the Board,
US Committee for the UN Population Fund,
and Former Assistant Secretary of State
 

“When the Board of Directors of Reach Out and Read decided to engage professional interim leadership and hire John Corwin, we expected excellence, and we were not disappointed. He enabled us to continue to conduct a thorough search for an Executive Director while maintaining the organization’s momentum, continuity, and stability. John Corwin provided us with an opportunity to strengthen Reach Out and Read as the organization moved into a new, more mature developmental stage as an organization and expand its amazing programmatic success. His professional guidance, expertise, and dedication provided supportive management and advocacy to the staff, to the Board, and of course, to the children nationwide that we serve.”

— Judy Newman, Executive Vice President and President, Scholastic Book Clubs, Teaching Resources, and ECommerce; Chair of the Board, Reach Out and Read
 

“Just months before the start of our 50th anniversary year, we found ourselves in need of an interim Chief Executive who could provide the smooth transitional leadership we needed at Learning Leaders, which recruits, trains and supports almost 15,000 volunteers through New York City’s public schools.
 
John Corwin proved himself able to quickly grasp our organization’s operations, opportunities and challenges, bringing an experienced, steady hand to a difficult period, and winning the confidence of our Board and staff. His skill, generous enthusiasm and good common sense enabled us to reassure our major supporters, carry out our planned activities for the opening of our anniversary year, and take the time we needed to find the best possible successor. His quick mastery of our finances and his shaping of our current year’s budget were especially insightful and critical.
 
In addition to his strong leadership, we really appreciated his expert advice on many issues. And, throughout our successful transition, it was truly a pleasure to work with John.”

— Iris Weinshall Schumer,
Chairman of the Board, Learning Leaders,
and New York City Commissioner of Transportation
 

“Just as our state-wide association (representing New York’s community health centers) was taking on new responsibilities and gaining new stature, we were faced with the unexpected departure of an exceptionally capable CEO.
 
We needed help and we needed it fast. We hoped for an interim executive who could learn our business on the run, reassure our funders through the transition, develop our staff, and engender the confidence of a strong but demanding Board.
 
John Corwin has done all this. Even more, he has identified new opportunities and secured new revenues while also gently (oh so gently) guiding our Board in the selection of a permanent CEO. And, most remarkable of all, he has carried it out with unfailing good humor that is undergirded by an improbable combination of modesty and aplomb. This man is a joy to work with.”

— John Rugge, MD, President, Board of Directors
Community Health Care Association
of New York State,
and CEO, Hudson Headwaters Health Network
 

“When we unexpectedly found ourselves in the position of needing to recruit a new CEO, we were very fortunate that John Corwin was available to step in on an interim basis. He provided us with invaluable advice and leadership and he was able to deal rapidly and effectively with a multitude of issues. Under his leadership the Foundation stayed on an even footing and he facilitated the recruitment of a permanent CEO. John's intelligence, experience and leadership skills significantly contributed to our ability to transition from an interim to permanent CEO.”

— James L. Boyer, Chair, Board of Directors,
American Liver Foundation,
and Ensign Professor of Medicine and Director of the Liver Center at Yale University School of Medicine.
 

“The last time we had to replace our Executive Director, it took AMREF USA a full year to rebuild momentum lost, and to restore relationships damaged, while we were without leadership during the months of our search process. This time, your work as Interim Executive Director enabled AMREF USA to win new grants during the search period and to seamlessly transition to our newly-hired Executive Director.”

— Charles H. F. Garner, Chairman of the Board,
African Medical & Research Foundation, Inc.
 

“I have had the privilege of working with John, as the Board Treasurer of CHACNYS, while he served as its Interim CEO. He quickly learned the organization and was able to guide it into the organization that it is today. As the Board Treasurer at the time, he provided me with a certain level of stability and control that was needed. Not only was the leadership going through a transition, so was the financial position of the organization. Because of his leadership and support, we were able to meet our financial goals and lead the organization to where it is today.”

— Paloma Hernandez, former Treasurer of the Board of the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS); Chief Executive Officer, Urban Health Plan
 

“I served as the Board Treasurer during John Corwin's tenure as Interim President at the U.S. Committee for UNFPA (now called Americans for UNFPA). John brought an entirely new level of sophistication, accuracy, transparency, and clarity to our financial and budgeting processes. His reports to the Finance Committee and to the Board were both detailed and easily understood. He wisely persuaded us to adopt an “investment budget” (expenses exceeding revenue) in order to ensure a solid infrastructure on which to build. That investment made it possible for John's successor to grow the organization to three times its size within five years. Finally, in addition to his financial acumen, John demonstrated just the kind of personal and professional leadership qualities we needed at that young stage of our development to guide us through a stressful period, resolve some outstanding conflicts, and enable us to attract a superb new President, who remains our leader to this day.”

— Karen Horn, former Treasurer of the Board at the US Committee for UNFPA (now Americans for UNFPA) and now Senior Managing Director, Brock Capital LLC
 

“John Corwin came to Learning Leaders during its leadership transition. I was the Chief Financial Officer at the time.

John used his extensive transition experience and skills to quickly understand our financial resources and the challenges we would face during and after the transition period. He immediately made sure that the Board of Trustees understood those resources and challenges and communicated the necessary details to staff.

Being a quick learner, he jumped right into the details of revenues, expenses, cash, and investments. He digested those details and presented them to the Board in an honest and thorough manner. He knew what elements of financial controls to check to make sure that all procedures were current and transparent. He reached out to our donors, auditor, and legal counsel as needed to ensure that we were operating in a sound manner. At the staff level, he was great to work for, because he was so professional and also brought his insights from prior engagements with him.”

— Greg Smith, former CFO at Learning Leaders, now Vice President for Finance, Human Resources, and Administration, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
 

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