Michael Dowlan

Michael spent thirty years as an executive working for Fortune 100 banks, startups and agencies, leading teams in marketing, strategic planning, new product development and product launch, and growing new businesses. During his Encore Fellowship, Michael led the strategic planning process for EngAGE — an organization that creates community and changes lives by transforming affordable senior and multigenerational housing communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness, and creativity.

”I now have new tools and skills that are tailored to and specifically support nonprofits.”

Michael spent thirty years as an executive working for Fortune 100 banks, startups and agencies, leading teams in marketing, strategic planning, new product development and product launch, and growing new businesses, as the head of marketing, communications and PR at the prestigious USC Thornton School of Music and as a consultant. Hearing about Encore Fellowships from NPR, he found himself intrigued at the idea.

“During my work life, I didn’t have much time for volunteering, but I had received so much, and I felt an Encore Fellowship would provide an opportunity for me to give back.”

Encore’s LA program director connected Michael with EngAGE, an organization that provides programming for arts, wellness and lifelong learning to affordable senior housing communities and multigenerational communities to reduce isolation and loneliness. EngAGE was beginning to expand nationally and needed expertise to develop a strategic plan.

Michael had never worked with a nonprofit or within the aging space but was intrigued. “I came to the interview with a proposal on how the process might work. I explained that this is what you can expect to happen.“

“What Michael brought was amazing, even in the first meeting, the level of preparation, the thought process, it stopped being ’Someday, something is going to happen’ to ‘Let’s look at it and plan,’” explains Tim Carpenter, CEO, EngAGE.

“I had always worked with people who understand how strategic planning works…I had to really consider that this was new to many on the leadership team. They understood the concept of a strategic plan, but not the steps that we had to take. I had to consider that people don’t always have the opportunity to step back and think about these ideas and hadn’t been exposed before, “comments Michael.

Michael created a six-phase plan and an implementation timeline with an explanation of each phase. He used a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The team had to define expansion, not just from a physical footprint, but what it meant for infrastructure, processes, human resources, and their clients, and consider how they could leverage their strengths to create new opportunities and potential, and identify and assess what needed to be changed in order to expand. “It was exciting to see the team start from scratch and realize what could be possible. We narrowed 600 ideas to 33 priorities (goals), all of which were assigned to one of 11 imperatives or broad categories.”

Michael worked with the team to prioritize their goals, built a scaling model to support growth needs in staffing and infrastructure and allow for “what if” scenarios, and created implementation guidelines. He also focused the team on measurement and outcomes, and how to use the data to drive change. “Tim was so excited, and forthcoming about his enthusiasm. It was the only position I’ve had where all the feedback was constructive. It felt good to think beyond shareholder value to making a difference in people’s lives.”

As a result of the process, EngAGE realized they wanted to push the dialog on aging and become a thought-leader on how to make aging a great experience. They will be driving the narrative and promoting the kind of impact they are having.

“It is satisfying that what I did will have a long- term impact in the aging space. It is unlikely I would have been a candidate before in the social-purpose sector but now I have a whole new career path ahead of me. I’m energized.” Says Tim, “Michael made sure we answered the question, ‘How you are going to get there’, not just “where to go” and developed the tools to do it. I can see the path now.”