Barry Silverberg, President & CEO
Barry Silverberg has over 37 years of diverse leadership, management, resource development and communications experience within the nonprofit arena as both a professional and volunteer leader. He is passionate about promoting “strategic creativity”, fostering greater understanding and appreciation of the Nonprofit Sector as a Sector distinct from the Corporate/ Business and Government/ Educational Sectors. He is a strong advocate of promoting creativity, credibility and ethics throughout society; but especially within the Nonprofit Sector.
Barry enjoys serving as a nonprofit coach, mentor, consultant and community resource, as well as sharing his experiences, insights and perceptions at Conferences, organizational leadership gatherings, and with individuals considering careers in the Nonprofit Sector. He serves on the faculty of the Center for Community-Based & Nonprofit Organizations at Austin Community College, which he leads as its Founding Director; as well as adjunct faculty at St. Edward's University New College (Austin) where he created and has long lead a course on nonprofit leadership and management.
Active as a mentor and consultant, Barry has provided assisted hundreds of nonprofits, government entities, and individuals, including his service as a resource to the United States Department of State for whom he shares his insights on the nonprofit sector with foreign delegations in Austin under the auspices of the International Hospitality Council of Austin. He is co-producer of a 3/5 hour DVD on Strengthening Your Nonprofit Organization, in which he also serves as a content expert on Board matters.
Barry conceived and implemented, and now co-directs, the Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership & Management, jointly sponsored by TANO and the ACC CCBNO.
Following many years as a TANO Board member and as TANO's Board Chair, Barry assumed his current role of President & CEO in March 2008. At the same time, he leads the Center for Community-Based & Nonprofit Organizations at Austin Community College (Nonprofit Austin) and maintains an active life as a nonprofit volunteer.
During 2011 - 2013, Barry serves as co-chair or the Task Force on Improving Relations with Nonprofits, a Texas Legislature Task Force under the aegis of the Health and Human Services Commission. Prior to that, he was a member of the Task Force on Strengthening Nonprofit Capacity, also am HHSC Legislative Task Force. He also serves on the Texas Connects Coalition (TXC2) Advisory Board.
Barry was the first recipient of the 2009 New College Community Partner Award (St. Edward's University, June, 2009). He served as Chair of its New College Dean Search Committee (2008-9) and continues to serve as Chair of New College's Advisory Council. He also served on the Advisory Council of Texas Campus Compact; the Advisory Board of Partners for Sacred Places - Texas Regional Office; the Human Services Advisory Council at St. Edward's University, the Review Committee of the 26th annual Governor’s Volunteer Awards, and the Advisory Committee of the 2009 Governors Nonprofit Leadership Conference (GNLC).
His civic service includes being Board Advisor to Community Weaving & Family Support Networks International; and current and past service on leadership bodies of Samaritan Center for Counseling and Pastoral Care, Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, River City Youth Foundation (RCYF),as the Higher Education Sector's representative on the Community Resource Council of the Community Action Network and on the Planning Committee for the 2006 Nonprofit Organizations Institute of the School of Law at the University of Texas at Austin, Leadership Council of CREATE Austin.
Prior to founding the Center for Community-Based & Nonprofit Organizations at Austin Community College, and also serving as TANO's President & CEO, Barry served multiple roles - often at the same time - as the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Austin (1995 - 1998), Executive Director of the American Creativity Association, and 20 years as Executive Vice-President (or Associate Director) of the Syracuse Jewish Federation (New York; 1975 - 1995). As Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Austin, Barry provided professional leadership for the development of the Dell Jewish Community Campus (Northwest Austin) and as Publisher of The Jewish Outlook newspaper. In Syracuse, he served as Publisher of The Jewish Observer newspaper.
A resident of Austin, TX since 1995, Barry was born in Brownsville (a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York).
Among Barry's professional recognitions are:
- 2003 Bellwether Award Finalist at the Community College Futures Assembly. for the ACC CCBNO's excellence and its innovative approach in Using Strategic Creativity and a Partnership of Business and Community College to Meet Workforce Needs of the Nonprofit Sector;
- Special Recognition Award - Austin Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (2006);
- in 2006;
- Ethics in Business Awards Finalist (2004) - co-sponsored by the Samaritan Center and St. Edward's University's Center for Ethics and Leadership;
- For Pete's Sake Award, Impact Austin (2004) for his role in mentoring its leadership and assisting with its creation;
- Austin Young Lawyers Association Liberty Bell Award (2003) "presented to a non-lawyer who has made a significant and selfless contribution to the community. This award recognizes dedication to community service that promotes a better understanding of the principles of American government and strengthens the effectiveness of the American system of freedom under law."
Active in promoting greater understanding application of creative thinking, Barry was co-Publisher of Creative Pulse Magazine (now resting creatively), and chaired the 2005 & 2006 International Conferences of the American Creativity Association in Austin, as well as serving as President of the ACA Austin chapter.
Reflecting his commitment to organizational integrity, Barry served as the last president of the Central East Austin Community Organization (CEACO), leading the organization's leadership to close the organization with all the dignity it deserved for its decades of service to Austin's citizens. He has also served on the Board of Directors of University of Texas Center for Performance Excellence, on the Planning Committee of Communities Connecting for a Better Tomorrow, chair of the Learning Opportunities Committee for the 2003 and 2004 Governors Volunteer Leadership Conferences sponsored by the OneStar Foundation (previously known as the Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service; on the Blue Ribbon Panel for 2003 and 2004 Annual Governor's Volunteer Awards; on the volunteer recognition selection panels for the Texas Department of Health and Texas Department of Human Services; on the Project Advisory Committee of the Training Better Board and Committee Members Project of NAMI Texas, and contributed to the resulting manual for Board members; as President of Summer Wonders (a camp for gifted and talented children); on the 1999-2000 Austin Community College Citizen Advisory Council; Chair of the Communications, Personnel and Executive Search Committees of the Austin Jewish Community Day School; on the United Way/ Capital Area's 2000 New Initiatives Committee; the Central Texas Chapter of the American Red Cross Board of Directors (where he served as Chair for Leadership Education; on the Board of the Greater Austin Quality Council (GAQC), as a Baldridge Award Examiner; and Vice-president for Communications for the Austin Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). He also served on the 2007 & 2009 Peer Panelist Review Committee for the Capacity Building Level II Grants for the City of Austin's Cultural Arts Division of the Economic and Redevelopment Services Office.
As Project Director for the Adult Literacy Organizational Training Project (ALOTP), Barry designed the program to enhance the organizational capacity for adult literacy programs throughout the State of Texas. The 18 month, $385,000 grant received from the Texas Education Agency is a comprehensive effort that includes a variety of resource materials being produced by the Center. Copies of those materials are available upon request at the ALOTP's web site; including a series of audiotapes and CDs of (edited) ALOTP presentations. Some of these, including Barry's presentation on Building Effective Boards of Directors, can be listened to at www.austincc.edu/npo/alotp/audioresources.htm
Barry collaborated on two books: Conflict to Mediation, A Process for Mediating Group Differences with Dr. Garry McDaniel; and Thinking Strategically Within Nonprofits, Every Organization Is Created For A Purpose, Thinking Strategically Will Achieve That Purpose with Michael Dore. He wrote the Foreward to The Courage to Lead, An Essential Guide for Volunteer Leaders, Board Trustees, and Public Servants by Robert Floyd.
A graduate of Leadership Austin Class of 2000, Barry was the initiator and chair of the Interreligious Fund for Kosovar Refugee Relief and Resettlement conducted under the auspices of Austin Metropolitan Ministries, now known as the Austin Area Interreligious Ministries. He also helped initiate and serves on the Nostra Aetate Award Committee at St. Edward's University.
While in Syracuse, NY (1975 - 1995), Barry was a founder and president of the Syracuse Area Interreligious Council, where he worked extensively on broadening ethnic, racial and religious involvement on such critical issues as discrimination, racism, Interreligious understanding, human and civil rights, refugee resettlement, transitioning ex-offenders, housing, food bank, and hunger relief. He initiated and served as the chair of three community-wide efforts that raised approximately $200,000 for hunger relief in Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda, among In addition, Barry served on the Board of Trustees and Capital Development Committee of the Public Broadcasting Council of Central New York; as chair of the Finance and Program committees of the Onondaga Pastoral Counseling Center; as Vice-president and Board member of the Americanization League of Syracuse and Onondaga County; as a member of Thursday Morning Roundtable (a weekly forum of select business, civic, religious, political, educational and social service community leaders); and as an Advisory Board member for the New York State Voluntary Enterprise Commission.
Nationally, Barry helped pioneer the computerization of Jewish Federations across North America as the founding chair of the Council of Jewish Federations' National Computer Committee. He also served on the Council's Management Services Committee.
Active in the Association of Jewish Community Organizational Personnel, Barry served as Chair of its Professional Development, Constitution and By-laws, and Publications Committees. He authored a regular column on management literature, entitled POSDCORB, in its newsletter.
During his 23 year Jewish communal service career, Barry traveled often to Israel. In addition, he learned a great deal about Eastern and Western Europe through visits to Rome, Warsaw, Krakow, Vienna, Prague; and the former concentration camps of Theresienstadt/ Terezin, Mauthausen, Auschwitz-Birkenau - visits which left abiding impressions.
Barry created, and, for several years, published a periodic journal entitled Beyneynu (pronounced bay-nay-new), which means "Between you, me and the gatepost" in Hebrew. Beyneynu sought "to enlighten, to expand personal horizons, to make connections among ideas, and to cause the "aha: feeling that unleashes the curiosity and creativity with us all." It published reflections and personal essays on a variety of topics that relate to its stated mission.
Barry has authored a number of published and unpublished articles on nonprofit leadership and management issues. He was recognized in the mid-1980s as a Syracuse Herald American (newspaper) Mover and Shaker in Religion, a recognition of leaders under 40 years of age (at that time!). He is also the recipient of the Esther and Joseph Roth Award for Outstanding Jewish Community Leadership for his service in Central New York.
Summing up Barry’s career in Central New York upon his departure for Austin, the Syracuse Herald American newspaper published an editorial - Farewell To A Class Act – and an article - An Examined Life, Thoughtful Local Jewish Leader Take His Leave.
Barry is married to Marcia Silverberg, Vice President, HR Strategic Initiatives and System Office Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Ascension Health and formerly Senior Vice-president for Human Resources and Organizational Development for the Seton Healthcare Network (Austin). Their daughter is a graphic artist working in Austin and their son is completing his studies in the School of Business at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
For an updated list of Barry's consultation activities and presentations..