About Noonmark
The owner and president of Noonmark Nonprofit Services is Jane A. Van Buren, well-known in Vermont as the founding executive director of VANPO - the Vermont Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations. Her extensive experience in nonprofit management and consulting has spanned many crucial aspects of organization development including: empirically based research on board hiring processes and executive leadership development; organization start-up and nonprofit regulatory compliance; human resources, and the development of capacity building opportunities.
Noonmark Nonprofit Services, LLC is located in Burlington, Vermont, however clients have been located as far away as Afghanistan.
Jane Van Buren speaking at the 2007 Vermont Nonprofit Centennial Awards Ceremony
What is a Noonmark? If you are lucky enough to find yourself on an old New England farmstead one day, look at the barn wall or the parlor window and you might find a noonmark - so called because as the noon sun reaches the mark it casts a shadow.
Noonmark's Qualifications. Academically qualified, Dr. Van Buren earned a Master of Public Administration from Northeastern University in 1982 and a Doctorate of Management from the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University in 2005. In practice, Jane’s knowledge of nonprofit-specific management issues is extensive; matched only by her intimate knowledge of Vermont communities, nonprofit professionals and the resources they offer.
Jane has considerable experience understanding and filling the capacity, policy and sustainability needs of nonprofit organizations. In addition to her skills as a nonprofit practitioner, Jane has conducted extensive research on the process of nonprofit executive transition and presented her research at the Academy of Management in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Her work was also accepted for presentation at ARNOVA in 2005, and at the National Council of Nonprofit Associations in 2004.
What are some examples of the work Noonmark has accomplished?
In 2007 and 2008 Noonmark conducted a compensation survey of Vermont nonprofit organizations - the only one in the state focused specifically on nonprofits.
Noonmark has assisted several organizations in their executive search process - beginning with helping the board of directors articulate organizational goals and future plans and ending with the successful hire and transition of a new executive director.
Many boards have hired Noonmark to conduct one time skill training workshops on topics ranging from building a fundraising plan to budgeting to building an effective board.
Staff and boards have employed the help of Noonmark in their strategic planning processes - sometimes over the course of many months and sometimes in an intensive retreat.
Groups as far away as Afghanistan have asked Jane Van Buren of Noonmark to conduct assessments and provide organizational development training.