Thomas L Hark

About Thomas L Hark

A builder of people, programs, and organizations. I have been given two professional gifts in my career. The first was the opportunity to found and build the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, and the second was to research and develop the new Civilian Conservation Corps, USA model.In essence, I combined the best practices and principles from the private and public sectors for both organizations and built VYCC into one of our nation’s leading training and education nonprofit organizations.Both have a vision of a more civil society. Both build core values such as personal and civic responsibility, self-reliance, education, and service. These critical values turn today\'s youth into tomorrow\'s leaders.VYCC started with an idea and one dollar. That dollar was leveraged over $50 million, a 400-acre campus, 28 full-time staff, 300 seasonal employees, and alumni, with operations in four states. When I left VYCC, investors wanted to know if the model could scale as a private enterprise and enroll a million young adults annually without annual public appropriations. was created and funded to research, develop, and demonstrate such a model. Organizational Development and Capacity Building: Assist local, state, and federal partners in maximizing their funds and other resources. By understanding our partners’ goals and helping them make every dollar invested achieve multiple objectives, we build long-term and productive partnerships. Fundraising Strategies: Every organization is unique and builds its foundation based on private, state, and federal grants, Fees for Services, Capital Campaigns, and major donor events/solicitation. Public and private sector philanthropic relationships must be carefully cultivated, maintained, and built upon. Advocacy Work and Constituency Building: Excellent communication across the organization is often easier said than done but critical. Clear articulation of complex issues and management of diverse constituencies, including board, staff, committees, volunteers, and external audiences. Governance: Critical, dynamic, enormously challenging, rewarding, and key to organizational success. Vision, Mission, and Strategy: Having a shared vision, mission, and strategy is the why, how, and what, and helping organizations focus here has been my most rewarding work. I have a proven track record of translating vision and mission into operating plans with clear benchmarks and annual objectives. I would love to share my vision and plan, which could reunite all Americans.

Experience

1. President

   Civilian Conservation Corps, Usa

   Jul 2016 — Present

   is a highly innovative industry-changing model whose mission is to bring the Conservation Corps model, which enrolls young people today, to more than a million annually.The new enterprise is a self-funded, community-governed enterprise supported by a national team of highly experienced professionals. The focus is on conservation, climate, and poverty mitigation. After start-up, it requires no public or philanthropic funding, as all income is earned.Our vision is a more civil society and stronger nation. We believe we can achieve this by instilling and building bedrock American values in a generation of young people: personal responsibility, self-reliance, education, and public service.The traditional Conservation Corps model of small, diverse teams working under training leaders to accomplish high-priority projects while oozing with personal growth and learning is our vehicle to get from here to there.Love to have you join us and explore how you can get in your community!

Education

• Saint John's Preparatory School

  High School Diploma, General

• Minnesota State University, Mankato

  Master of Science (M.S.), Experiential Education

• Bemidji State University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Social Studies, Education, Geography

• MEDIC SOLO Disaster+Wilderness Medical School

  Wilderness First Responder

  2012 — 2012

Skills

• Event Management
• Capacity Building
• Non-Profit Administration
• Sustainability
• Workshop Facilitation
• Business Development
• Philanthropy
• Grant Writing
• Leadership
• Strategic Planning
• Public Policy
• Strategic Communications
• Grants
• Mentoring
• Environmental Awareness
• Budgets
• Community Outreach
• Community Development
• Mission
• Strategy
• Public Relations
• Government
• Nonprofits
• Team Building
• Management
• Program Development
• Board Development
• Staff Development
• Leadership Development
• Event Planning
• Economic Development
• Fundraising
• Program Management
• Teaching
• Entrepreneurship
• Editing
• Organizational Development
• Proposal Writing
• Youth Development
• Program Evaluation