Leyna Bernstein is the Director of Programs at The CBO Center, where she oversees professional development and technical assistance services and programs for the over 8,000 nonprofit organizations in the East Bay. Leyna has spent the past decade developing and delivering capacity building services to nonprofit organizations throughout the Bay Area.

Prior to joining the staff at The CBO Center, Leyna was Program Director at the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin. Previous positions include Director of Consulting Services at The Management Center, a San Francisco-based nonprofit resource center serving all of Northern California and Principal with Brown Bag Seminars. She has also provided consulting and training services to nonprofit organizations through her own firm, Bernstein & Associates.

Leyna has taught and lectured throughout the Bay Area and beyond on nonprofit management and governance. Her consulting work focuses on nonprofit board excellence, executive transitions, and staff/board relations. She is the author of “Best Practices: The Model Employee Handbook for California Nonprofits” and “Creating Your Employee Handbook: A How-To Kit for Nonprofits”, published by Jossey-Bass.   

Leyna serves on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Partisans Education Foundation; previous board service includes President of The Women’s Philharmonic, Vice President of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and Vice President for Governance on the board of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Leyna earned her B.A. with Honors at the University of California at Berkeley.

Sampling of Board Consulting Clients

Marin County Farmer’s Market Association
Golden Gate Audubon
To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation
Solano County Children & Families Commission
Sonoma Land Trust
Spectrum Center for LGBT Concerns
Sterne School
Women’s Cancer Resource Center
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Board Training Experience

BoardWorks, The CBO Center
Board 101 & Board 201, Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin
Strategic Board Recruitment, Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin
Board Fundamentals Training, San Francisco, Contra Costa and Marin Counties
Board Basics, The Management Center
Board Recruitment & Retention, The Management Center
Executive Director 101 – Mission & Governance, The Management Center

Board Service

Advisory Board, Jewish Partisans Educational Foundation, 2001 –
Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter, 2004 -2005
Personnel Committee, San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, 2001-2004
Board of Directors, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, 1996-2002
Board of Directors, The Women’s Philharmonic, 1994-2001
Board of Directors, DeepECo. Inc., 1996 – 1997

Professional Development

Chevron Nonprofit Leadership Institute, 2006
Cultural Competency for Capacity Builders, Alliance for Nonprofit Management, 2006
Executive Transition Management, Transition Guides, 2004
Technology of Participation, Institute of Cultural Affairs, 2003
Facilitative Leadership, Interaction Institute for Social Change, 2001
The Skill to Guide, Trainers Institute for Drucker Foundation Org. Assessment, 2001
Executive Search Institute, The Management Center, 2001
The Masterful Trainer, Interaction Associates, 1996
Arts Leadership Initiative, Business Arts Council, 1995

Contact

Leyna Bernstein
Director of Programs
The CBO Center
359 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Oakland, CA 94612
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