Sunbridge has teamed up with AWSNA in presenting a three-part online workshop series on matters of financial sustainability, designed for Waldorf administrators and committee members, including faculty, staff, and Board. These workshops are being presented in conjunction with AWSNA’s October and November financial primer webinars. ATTENDANCE AT AWSNA’S WEBINARS IS ENCOURAGED, BUT NOT REQUIRED, FOR PARTICIPATION IN SUNBRIDGE’S WORKSHOPS.

 

AWSNA’s Primers in Financial Terminology and the Usefulness of Financial Reports
These webinars explore the fundamentals of financial management and reporting at an introductory level. For those faculty and board members without financial acumen and prior experience in this realm, we will review financial terminology and common financial reporting and suggest key factors in report analysis to best understand a school’s financial stability. Components of revenue and expenses, including the full cost of payroll and benefits, and common reports of financial activities will be explored to gain a greater understanding of how a school is using its financial resources to drive its mission.

Part I: Revenue. Presenter: Denese Giordano
Friday, October 22. 12pm PT/1pm MT/2pm CT/3pm ET
REGISTER HERE.

Part II: Expenses & Reporting. Presenter: Denese Giordano
Friday, November 5. 12pm PT/1pm MT/2pm CT/3pm ET
REGISTER HERE

Note: These free webinars will be recorded and available for viewing to anyone with access to the AWSNA Community Hub.

 

SUNBRIDGE WORKSHOPS 

Dates, Topics, and Facilitators

Friday-Saturday, November 19-20: Budget as a Reflection of Organizational Ethos
Facilitators: Stephanie Rynas and Denese Giordano
An organization’s budget should reflect the values and priorities of that organization. The choice of policies, procedures, and practices  in place for specific budget categories point towards the principles and values to which the organization aspires. By default, therefore, where a school spends its money demonstrates in concrete ways what is important to that school. This is especially apparent in compensation and in financial aid policies and procedures. In this workshop, we will discuss pathways to aligning schools’ values and their deployment of funds.

 

Friday-Saturday, February 4-5: Phases of Decision-Making as Applied to the Budget Process
Facilitators: Jessica Heffernan Ziegler and Stephanie Rynas
Phases of decision-making is a time-honored leadership concept. This workshop uses school budgets and the budgeting process to explore the decision-making process.

 

Friday-Saturday, March 18-19: Applying Concepts of DEI Into Organizational Culture
Facilitators: Meggan Gill and TBA
A school’s organizational culture—including how it approaches recruitment and retention of faculty and students from commonly marginalized and minoritized populations—has a significant impact on its financial sustainability. Through the lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion concepts, this workshop explores how decisions are made and who makes them, while also examining emergent strategies, power structures, and cultural assumptions.

 

Facilitators

Denese Giordano is a seasoned school administration professional who is currently a consultant as well as ANA coordinator for AWSNA’s mid-Atlantic region. Denese has been in the workforce for over four decades, including 34 years spent working with mission-based organizations in the non-profit independent school realm, honing her skills in program development, budget strategies, and long-term planning. She specializes in establishing healthy systems in finance, human resources, administrative operations, and outreach and development efforts. A graduate of Kenyon College, Denese completed the Foundation Studies Course at The Waldorf School of Garden City, the school from which her four daughters graduated, providing her a parent’s (client) perspective and gratitude for Waldorf Education.

 

Stephanie Rynas is AWSNA’s executive director for operations and member resources. In this role she works with the AWSNA board to steward the association, shepherds the strategic plan, and develops and supports member resources. Prior to her role with AWSNA, Stephanie was the administrator at the Waldorf School of the Peninsula for 10 years, supporting its growth to full PreK-12 on two campuses. Before finding Waldorf Education, Stephanie worked for many years in marketing and management in Silicon Valley companies, where she studied the art of collaboration and meeting facilitation. Stephanie received her BS in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, her MBA from Santa Clara University, and her Waldorf teacher education certificate from Rudolf Steiner College.

 

Jessica Ziegler has been the executive director of Sunbridge Institute since 2008. Her professional focus on leadership skills, governance issues, and personnel development are utilized both in her executive director role and in her work as co-instructor of Sunbridge’s “Collaborative Leadership” course and related workshops; she also teaches Waldorf school administration in Sunbridge’s Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Education program, and previously taught in Sunbridge College’s Administration and Biography programs. Jessica works as an executive coach and organizational development consultant for Waldorf administrators and teachers and other professionals in diverse institutions and schools in both the US and Germany. She served as the first administrator and as a board member at a Waldorf school she co-founded in Everswinkel, Germany; is a partner in MIRA Companions for Development, an international consulting group; and has sat on many boards, including her current role as trustee of the Otto Specht School in Chestnut Ridge, NY. Jessica holds a BS in business management and did her biography training with Karl-Heinz Finke and her executive coach training with SECA International.

 

Meggan Gill became Sunbridge’s director of education and organizational culture in 2021. A specialist in diversity, equity, and inclusion, she is also a trained Waldorf early childhood educator and currently sits on the WECAN IDEA committee. Meggan’s teaching experience includes most recently serving as lead toddler teacher at City of Lakes Waldorf School and, from 2009 to 2020, serving on the faculty of the Brooklyn Waldorf School where she led parent-and-child and kindergarten classes and was active on the Faculty Council. Prior to joining BWS, Meggan taught kindergarten at the Olympia Waldorf School and parent-and-child and nursery classes at the New Amsterdam School. Meggan earned her undergraduate degree in health sciences from The Evergreen State College and her certificate in Waldorf early childhood education from Sunbridge.

 

Presented over Zoom, each Sunbridge workshop may be attended separately. There is a cap of 22 participants per workshop. These workshops will not be recorded.

Timing

Friday: 7pm-8:30pm ET
Saturday: 10am-11:30am ET and 12:30pm-2 pm ET

In order to receive a Certificate of Attendance, you must attend all three sessions. 

 

Cost

$160 per workshop, includes non-refundable $25 registration fee

Discounts

15% off for Sunbridge program graduates and current program students
15% off for schools sending two or more registrants (per workshop; not across the series)  NOTE: In order to equitably serve as many schools as possible, there is a limit of four (4) registrants per school for each workshop. Should you wish to exceed this cap, please contact Barbara Vitale at 845-425-0055 x20 or [email protected].

Discount codes will appear on your registration form. Discounts may not be combined.

 

 

Questions?
Please contact Barbara Vitale, admissions and summer coordinator, at [email protected] or 845-425-0055 x20

 

Sunbridge reserves the right to make faculty substitutions when necessary.