As an ESC consultant, Jack Smith has applied his expertise, acquired through his career as a senior executive with Dow Corning Asia, to more than 20 strategic planning, marketing and branding, and facilitation engagements. Jack was first introduced to ESC while he was teaching business and strategic planning at Boston area colleges. He enjoyed the idea of being able to apply what he was teaching and what he had learned both in business school and in his career to advance the organizations he was passionate about. He joined ESC in 2003 and continues to find his work consulting in the nonprofit sector challenging, energizing, and fulfilling.
Among Jack’s most memorable consulting engagements are the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Centro Latino, Saint Francis House, and the Asperger Autism Network. He was motivated on all of the projects by the enthusiasm of the staff, board, and volunteers for the organization’s mission. While some of the consulting engagements proved quite challenging, the deep commitment and dedication of the staff created camaraderie and a personal connection that made the engagement even more meaningful and his commitment to his work even stronger.
Jack believes open mindedness is the key to ESC consultants being successful. He attributes the willingness to learn about an organization, its staff, and constituency essential for a successful engagement. ESC consultants do not simply hand over a report of static recommendations, but rather seek to individualize the project as it fits the organization. There is not a one size fits all, each organization has its own intricacies, and our consultants believe it is important to address them as such. ESC builds a team from a pool of 150 consultants each with their own particular area of expertise. Jack finds working with ESC consultants as one of the major benefits of consulting for ESC. He believes there is so much to gain by working with people who are also driven to help the nonprofit and provide a diverse and important set of experience and skills.
Over the past 11 years Jack has seen the need and demand for marketing and branding consultants go from almost nonexistent to highly sought after. As a marketing expert he worked with ESC to build this practice area, bringing in exceptional talent allowing ESC to rise to meet the demand and provide high impact work in this area. In addition to consulting, Jack is a lecturer for ESC and presents in depth professional development trainings on the subjects of marketing and branding and facilitation.
In 2011, Jack was a recipient of ESC’s Caleb Loring Jr. Award for Consulting Excellence, which recognizes an ESC Consultant who, through a significant number of consulting projects, has demonstrated innovation, excellence, leadership, energy and commitment. Jack is the former Dean of the Newbury College School of Business and Management and has taught International Business and Strategy courses at the Boston University School of Management. In the for-profit world Jack held a variety of positions, including the Director of Marketing and Sales – Asia for Dow Corning Corporation, and Vice President of Dow Corning Korea.
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