"Over the past 30 years, every one of my positions has only increased my passion for what I do and confirmed my conviction that amazing things are possible for children and families facing overwhelming odds if they are provided the opportunities they need to create better futures."
- Marsha Porter, Executive Director, Crisis Nursery
Fellow Biography
Marsha Porter’s career in social work spans three decades in the Valley. After working for 18 years in various positions at the Arizona Department of Economic Security program, Ms. Porter joined Crisis Nursery as executive director in 1994. Since that time, Crisis Nursery has expanded its services to offer programs to children living at home with their parents and will be initiating a new program to recruit, train and supervise family foster homes in 2007.
Ms. Porter holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Bachelor of Arts degree in social welfare and sociology from the University of Nebraska. She serves on several children’s welfare committees including the Arizona Healthy Families Steering Committee, the Greater Phoenix Child Abuse Prevention Council and the Arizona Children’s Justice Task Force.
Field Notes
Ms. Porter has not completed her fellowship. The following is a short summary of her sabbatical.
Through her fellowship, Ms. Porter plans to enhance her management skills through two courses at Harvard Business School: Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations and Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. She also will conduct four site visits to cities around the country that are revamping their child welfare systems and will use these experiences to develop strategies for Crisis Nursery’s future in Arizona’s child welfare system.
Additionally, Crisis Nursery staff will participate in customized training to help them adapt to, manage and accomplish the changes and program expansions that will be implemented over the next two years.
Contact Information
Marsha Porter
Executive Director
Crisis Nursery
mporter@crisisnurseryphx.org
www.crisisnurseryphx.org