About
The Pro Bono Action Tank
The Taproot Foundation's Pro Bono Action Tank (PBAT) is leading the pro bono movement to ensure organizations serving the public good have access to the professional services they need to achieve their missions.
The PBAT is a coalition of leaders across the business, government and independent sectors working together to unleash billions of dollars in high-quality pro bono services to organizations serving the public good.
The PBAT serves a dual role as resource center and advocacy network for the pro bono movement. In this dual role, the PBAT provides guidance, publishes standards, best practices, and resources as well as the inspiration to professional services firms, corporations, academia, trade associations, and nonprofit organizations seeking to expand and enhance access to world class capacity building services for organizations serving the public.
2008 - 2009 Initiatives
1. In partnership with Committee for Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), the PBAT will develop and publish the definition of "pro bono services" and the dollar valuation and key metrics necessary for measuring impact.
2. Conduct knowledge sharing conference calls with professional services firms to develop best practices for delivering high quality pro bono services.
3. Conduct knowledge sharing conference calls with corporations to create the business case for pro bono services within the corporate engagement spectrum and a Communications Toolkit to support corporate pro bono efforts.
4. In partnership with the PBAT, the Corporation for Community and National Service (CNCS) will gather and publish existing tools for creating and assessing nonprofit readiness for pro bono services. The PBAT will work with partner organizations to publish a position paper on nonprofit readiness and determine additional resources necessary to assist nonprofits in managing these resources.
5. In partnership with Business Volunteers Unlimited and San Francisco Schools Volunteers, the PBAT will develop the Pro Bono Skills Map 1.0 to provide an effective map to match common nonprofit needs with common professional skills. The Skills Map will provide guidance to corporate volunteer managers to audit internal competencies available for pro bono projects as well as to educate nonprofits on the range of professional services potentially available to address common capacity building needs.
Advocacy Network
To advocate most effectively and speak with a shared voice, pro bono leaders need a common playbook in order to avoid differing messages and duplicated efforts in this field. The PBAT will partner to develop a platform for knowledge management for advocating on behalf of the pro bono movement. This knowledge management platform will include:
· The doitprobono.org website
· Inspirational case studies to showcase high-quality pro bono work
· Support for the President's Council's Pro Bono Champions
· A national public relations plan which identifies:
- Key stakeholder groups
- A 'pitch kit' for the pro bono value proposition and respective messaging
- National platform plan (and advocacy calendar) for delivering these messages
PBAT Leadership
Jamie Hartman, Executive Director of the Pro Bono Action Tank
Jamie Hartman is the Executive Director of the Taproot Foundation's Pro Bono Action Tank. She leads the Pro Bono Action Tank's efforts to identify and overcome barriers to the adoption of the pro bono ethic in the professional community and to set national quality standards for pro bono work.
Jamie brings over twelve years of experience in marketing, business management, and implementation consulting that spans public and private sector organizations around the world. She has a track record of success in advising start-up and established firms regarding strategic plan development, market expansion, business process re-engineering and complex enterprise technology deployments. Prior to joining the Taproot Foundation, Jamie has held positions including, Senior Managing Consultant for IBM Business Consulting Services and a Senior Marketing Consultant at J.D. Edwards. Jamie has a deep-rooted commitment to the public sector. She has worked with Net Impact,
Aaron Hurst, President and Founder of the Taproot Foundation
Mr. Hurst founded the Taproot Foundation in 2001 to engage this country's millions of business professionals in pro bono work to build the infrastructure of the nonprofit sector. As president of the Taproot Foundation, Mr. Hurst leads the development of the organization across the nation, as well as sets the strategy and vision behind the Foundation's work. Under his direction, the Taproot Foundation has become the national leader in pro bono work, serving over 300 nonprofits each year across the country and setting the agenda for the development of the field.
Anne Friedman, Pro Bono Action Tank Associate,
The PBAT is guided by the Pro Bono Leadership Group, which includes:
· Lisa Campbell, Community Relations National Initiatives,Target
· Evan Hochberg, National Director for Community Involvement, Deloitte
· Emily Talley, Senior Director of Community Affairs, Capital One
A program of the Taproot Foundation
The Taproot Foundation is working to make the pro bono ethic a core part of the business community by 2020. Every year, we recruit and manage thousands of business professionals on pro bono projects that strengthen nonprofit organizations. Over the next three years, we will deliver $50 million worth of pro bono services to the nonprofit sector.