Blake Maher of SeriousFun Children’s Network: 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Lead A Nonprofit Organization

I’d say that people –your team — make the organization. In non-profit work, you and those that represent the organization are everything. How people interact with the public, with those you serve, with your donors, with the people who make deliveries, and certainly with each other, can have a powerful effect on an organization. I’ve seen negative individuals infect and organization and, conversely, people with energy and good intention make it soar. Of course, people need to be good at their jobs too! In short, build a good team.

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Blake Maher Bio — CEO at SeriousFun Children’s Network.

Blake Maher is Chief Executive Officer for SeriousFun Children’s Network. SeriousFun is a global community of 30 camps and programs serving children with serious illnesses and their families, always free of charge. Founded by Paul Newman, SeriousFun has delivered more than 1.4 million life-changing camp experiences to children and families from more than 50 countries since the first camp opened in 1988. Maher leads the Network’s overall program, development, and sustainability efforts, including the implementation of and adherence to program quality standards.

Thank you so much for doing this with us. Before we begin our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”?

I grew up in in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate NY in a family that loved all things outdoors, along with the arts. I studied and received my BA in English and Political Science from Tufts University, followed by my MFA and MA in Creative Writing at Hollins College and the University of North Carolina. In addition to writing for magazines and newspapers, and publishing a children’s…