Snowden Becker

Archival Consultant - Myriad Consulting & Training. We are a recently founded consulting group that specializes in work with small-to-medium-sized collecting institutions and private collectors, on everything from physical and digital preservation assessments to grant-writing, training, and strategic planning.

I took some really great courses on the way to my certificate. Audiences for Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Strategy & Entrepreneurship, Principles & Practices of Effective Leadership, and Fundraising. I use what I learned in these classes every day in my work--both as a consultant, and in my service as a board member and volunteer and colleague within the professional community!

One thing in particular that really shaped my thinking and all the work I've done since then was a group project I worked on for the Leadership course. We were assigned to look into the research and data on women in leadership roles, and what factors were decisive in women rising to the top across all sectors--public, private, and government. The findings were eye-opening to me--in particular, the fact that having help from above was critical. Whether it's a supportive boss who'll see your value and put you on a path to promotion, or a more senior mentor who can help connect you to their professional network, research shows that help is often what makes the difference between bouncing off the glass ceiling or breaking through it. Knowing that has made me more conscious of how I build and maintain my own relationships with mentors, as well as what I can do as a mentor to emerging professionals in my field--especially women!