ValleyPBS executive masters her move in the nonprofit game | Fresno Bee

It’s March Madness and how fitting a metaphor for the transition of leadership at a nonprofit, public television station in its fourth decade. Your team is way ahead in the game, like UConn, a well-oiled machine.

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As No. 2, you’ve been called from the bench in possibly the last two minutes of your career. Now, you know, and the coaches likely know, that you can’t do much to screw up the lead. A team is made up of many talented players, hustling along offensively and defensively to bring home the championship yet another year.

In the case of ValleyPBS, the championship means exceeding goals, growing audiences and donors, and impacting the lives of countless individuals through parent workshops, family-oriented events, honoring veterans, fostering dialog on important issues of the day and, in general, carrying out the mission of a public service media organization, the very reason for fundraising in the first place.

Not to mention providing top notch educational, entertaining and engaging programming 24/7 from Merced to Bakersfield and on the interwebs.

Yet, you, have a vision to Be More and do more in your last 120 seconds of play. You want to jump higher than your opponents, grab every rebound and hand off the ball to your team. You want to land several, yes, several 3-point shots.

Experts in the field explain that the average tenure of the head of a nonprofit, community benefit organization is three to five years. It’s that stressful. At Channel 18 (let’s just call it by the name those who love the station know it), you’ve worked alongside three seasoned “head coaches,” whose tenure spanned 40-plus years. As executive vice president and chief financial officer, you’ve analyzed, advised and recommended.

You’ve agreed and disagreed. You’ve protested, waved your arms, jumped up and down, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. You have your own tiny list of big accomplishments, but you’ll spare dear readers. You’ve burned the night oil and weekend hours for 18 years, along with the best of them, pulling for a cause you all believe in.

You near heatstroke at a 105-degree Curious George Birthday Party. You do a number on your back stacking banker’s boxes on Clean-Up Days, setting up and breaking down at donor dinners, volunteer pot lucks, screenings, Family Circle member events, and PBS Kid’s Nite at the Zoo. You flip pancakes for Ready to Learn families. “Would you like syrup, blueberries and whipped cream on that?”

You reason with angry Great TV Auction donors, because they oversold the doggy beds on-air and once make a Costco run for a case of beer, because that item accidentally sold to someone else.

You stand with your mouth agape as a buyer, not the highest bidder, stomps behind the “Pick Up and Pay” counter and carries the office chair auction item out the studio door, his forlorn wife offering up her Visa card. You could fill a book with Great TV Auction stories.

You’ve high-fived and cried; a fantastically challenging and rewarding 18-year ride.

Now, you’ve donned the Dorothy slippers for the second time as the “Acting” or “Interim” or whatever appropriate title best signifies impermanence, and have a prime chance to make a final personal, significant difference.

Here’s your vision: Raise enough money to:

▪  repair the extinct A/C chiller leaking near-illegal Freon

▪  secure space for a PBS Kids facility to house the hundreds of workshops and children’s events we do every year

▪  install pricey UPS technology to protect our signal during outages, assuring transmission of important public safety information, when needed

▪  upgrade our 50-plus year old building at Calaveras and Van Ness avenues

▪  develop the empty lot next door growing weeds

▪  make the station completely non-reliant on Federal funding (20 percent of our budget) by 2023. OK, the latter may take more time and brain cells than you possess, but it’s always good to dream big.

▪  replace the plants in the front that some upstanding individual recently ripped right out of the ground.

Now, you have 120 seconds before the buzzer, when you’ll hand over the ball, onboard a new coach and think about retiring. It’s time to start dribbling, with a vengeance, and more resolve than you have ever, to date, mustered.

Want to help? A check, ideas, and elbow grease are always appreciated. Or a few plants, basic 1-gallon (people steal).

STAY TUNED. Be part of the ValleyPBS team. And truly – Thanks!