Meet our Members: Kristie Akl & Meryl Chase

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership has a network of over 80 nonprofit leaders throughout the region. To explore our entire roster of members, visit the our members page. We invite you to learn more about our members with monthly profiles. This month, meet center members Krisite Akl & Meryl Chase.

The basics!

Kristie Akl, Board President, and Meryl Chase, Vice President of kidSTREAM Children’s Museum, together with 11 other outstanding Board Members, are volunteering to establish a quality, state of the art Children’s Museum for Ventura County, to be located in Camarillo.

Tell us about your organization’s mission:

As a nonprofit, Children’s Museum, KidSTREAM's mission is to provide an engaging environment where children can explore, play, and discover. The word “STREAM” is an acronym for Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Math. Our exhibit space will highlight these key areas while educating children and families about the cultural, geographic, economic and historic wealth that is native to Ventura County. 

Presently working under the auspices of an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) with the City of Camarillo, our target is to renovate the former Camarillo Library, located at 3100 Ponderosa Drive.  The building is on a community-centered campus, surrounded by parks, schools, and the Camarillo Boys and Girls Club. This is an ideal setting for a children’s museum, with about 12,000 square feet for indoor exhibits and 19,000 square feet for space outdoors.  In keeping with expectations and contractual deadlines, we are finalizing concept designs with our exhibit designers and architects at The Portico Group, developing an operational feasibility evaluation and plan with ConsultEcon, and preparing to launch a fundraising feasibility study.

Tell us about youreselves:

Kristie Akl: As a former Science teacher at Ventura’s Foothill Technology High School, I have enjoyed revealing the fun side of science as a tool to enable young people to learn that the mysteries behind STEM learning are truly exciting. Now, as a mom of young children, I look forward to sharing that same delight with all of the children of Ventura County as they experience the skills of playing and learning together with their family and friends.

Meryl Chase: An MBA and a background in film production/marketing and small business ownership have led me recently, as the mom of an 8 year old, into the deeply rewarding arena of nonprofit volunteerism.  It is an honor to work with our dedicated board members, and I am awe-inspired by the community leaders and legendary nonprofit individuals who have been so generous as we move forward with this exciting project. 

Why did you feel it was important to become a member?

Our volunteer board members are invested with their individual talents, time and fundraising efforts, as we all consider kidSTREAM to be a legacy project. We believed that the Center for Nonprofit Leadership would be a catalyst for our team by educating on not only general aspects of the nonprofit arena, but also specific skills essential to success.  This proved to be the case. One of the pivotal workshops that Kristie and Meryl attended was Andy Robinson's, "Build a Better Board," which inspired and enabled us to "make the leap" from the grassroots "kitchen table" organization to the "board table" nonprofit. With that outline, we were able to determine our next critical steps to go forward. This workshop, as well as many others, expedited our organizational timeline.

What would you tell others who are thinking of becoming members?

We have gleaned critical wisdom from the Center for Nonprofit Leadership, with each workshop providing an opportunity to learn from other nonprofit professionals.  Further, the networking opportunities are tremendous; one serendipitous introduction was to Devon Coleman. Devon had relocated from Alabama, and with her vast background in development and fundraising, she has become an outstanding and valued board member.

The Center for Nonprofit Leadership is much more than a place for education -- it is a community and a support network. Joining CLU's Center for Nonprofit Leadership was one of the best decisions we've made as kidSTREAM has grown from an idea to a full-fledged nonprofit organization. We are excited to continue to collaborate with the Center for Nonprofit Leadership, as we develop into an actual, destination-worthy Children's Museum.