Marjorie L. (Marge) Smith

Marge Smith has been involved in building community and nonprofit organizations for over 30 years. As a consultant and workshop leader, she brings the added advantage of having experience in the role of staff member, executive director, Board President and volunteer. These experiences enable her to truly understand the perspectives of the different constituencies and to design workshops that address their various needs. She has recently worked with the following groups: Faith in Action, Interfaith Caregivers of Trenton, The Bonnet Foundation, AmeriCorps, Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, The Senior Resource Center, Community Without Walls, a Senior Virtual Retirement Community, Enable, The Girl Scout of Mercer County, The Child Care Connection, The ARC of Monmouth County, Jewish Family Services, Family Services of Central Jersey, Leadership Trenton, Princeton University Art Museum Foundation Board, The Historical Society of Bordentown, Volunteer Managers of Mercer County and the Junior League.

In addition to serving as a consultant and workshop leader, in 1998 Marge designed a certificate program in nonprofit management for Mercer County Community College. She continues to be the instructor for the course on Fundamentals of Nonprofit Management, Human Resource Management, and Skills for Working in Nonprofits. Marge loves teaching and finds the opportunity to work with committed individuals inspiring. In addition, as part of the Business Communication Certificate, Marge teaches Assertiveness and Building Self Esteem.

Also, in order to address the needs for nonprofits to network and gain more skills, Marge founded and chairs a conference, Community Works, held at Princeton University each January (www.princetoncommunityworks.org). This year was the seventh year of the conference with over 350 people attending.

Before devoting full-time to consulting and training, Marge was Executive Director of the Princeton YWCA. During her 8 years as Executive Director she had the opportunity to work with a staff of 20 full time, 200 part-time, and 1000 volunteers. Prior to that job, Marge worked part time for the N.J Department of Personnel, running workshops all over the state on such topics as Time Management, Stress Management, Communication Skills, Supervision and Management Skills.

In addition to running retreats and trainings, Marge is involved in the community as a volunteer and leader. Currently, she is President of the Human Services Commission, which overseas Civil Rights, Seniors, Youth and Welfare, and is President of the Child Care Connection Board in Trenton. She is Vice Chair of an internet volunteer clearinghouse, Hand on Helpers. She serves as a member of the Foundation Board for Thomas Edison State College and is a member of Princeton Rotary and the J. Seward Johnson Senior Charitable Trust. Some of her previous leadership roles have been President of the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance and President of the Princeton Regional School Board.