Serving nonprofit leaders, chief executives, and family business owners, Starboard Leadership Consulting provides board governance, leadership transition and strategic planning advice, as well as evaluation, project management and family asset planning services.
At Starboard we share a passion for helping organizations, institutions and businesses excel. We develop ongoing relationships, gain a thorough understanding of the needs of each client, and tailor our approach to meeting those needs to deliver effective, cost-efficient strategies for success. As an affiliate of Rudman Winchell Counselors at Law in Bangor, we are able to draw upon the expertise available within the law firm, in addition to our own experience and resources, to bring a depth of expertise to the many challenges faced by our clients.
Our mission
To improve our communities by strengthening their institutions, organizations, and family owned businesses.
Our values
- We do this work because we want to build the capacity of our clients and add value to our communities.
- Our clients can count on the fact that we are personally invested in the work we do, that we'll always work at the highest level of professionalism and skill, and that we will give every client our very best.
- We want to work with clients who fit with our mission and share our values, and we will take on those projects we find personally and professionally fulfilling.
- We want our clients to rely on us as trusted and strategic partners who are careful listeners and thoughtful advisors.
- We respect the unique qualities of individuals and organizations, and we have an appreciation for diversity and for what diverse organizations contribute to the community.
- In our work, we want to ensure that there are not "winners and losers". We want everyone we work with to feel like and be winners.
- We have chosen to do this work because we enjoy the challenge and because it brings value to our communities. We will always strive to capture that spirit in our relationships with others.
About our Managing Directors and Strategic Partners
C. Jeffery Wahlstrom
Jeff brings more than 25 years of hands-on nonprofit leadership experience to his position as President and Managing Director of Starboard Leadership Consulting, including 12 years of fundraising and related work for Kimball Union Academy and Trinity College and 11 years as president of the United Way of Eastern Maine. Since joining with Rudman Winchell in 2005 to form Starboard Leadership Consulting, Jeff has consulted with dozens of organizations and their leaders on strategic, leadership, and management issues.
He has successfully facilitated nonprofit mergers, counseled organizations through executive searches and leadership transitions, led strategic planning processes, and supported the development and implementation of a wide range of efforts, from community assessments to board governance projects. Jeff has also developed an online board self-assessment for nonprofit boards of directors that is available through the Maine Association of Nonprofits, and he is a frequent presenter and workshop leader on a lengthy list of topics.
As a volunteer, Jeff has gained substantial experience as a member of a variety of state and local boards, including the Bangor School Committee and the Unity College Board of Trustees. He has served as President of the United Ways of Maine, chaired both the Maine Philanthropy Center Board of Directors and the Bangor area's Communities for Children initiative, and he is currently the Chair of the Maine Health Access Foundation Board of Trustees. His active community service has resulted in Jeff being honored by Bangor Rotary with their Paul Harris Fellow's award and by the Bangor YMCA for his work on behalf of youth.
A 1980 Graduate of Bates College, with an M.A.L.S. degree from Dartmouth College, Jeff and his family live in Bangor, Maine.
George F. Eaton, II
Twenty-five years of experience as a business and corporate lawyer representing family owned businesses and nonprofit organizations, together with his hands-on volunteer work as a board member and chairperson of several nonprofit organizations, make George uniquely qualified to serve the needs of Starboard Leadership Consulting's clients. A 1981 graduate of Bowdoin College, magna cum laude, and a 1984 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law, George is a member of the Rudman Winchell law firm, a member of the firm's management committee, and is the coordinator of the firm's corporate practice group.
Over the years, George has served on a long list of diverse state and local boards, including the Bangor Public Library, the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Bangor YMCA, the Bangor Superintending School Committee, and the Challenger Learning Center of Maine. Often his board service has included chairing the board of directors, which he has done for the Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor Water District, The Hilltop School, Affiliated Healthcare Systems, Rosscare, and the Warren Center for Communication and Learning. George currently is a member of the board of directors of Bangor Savings Bank and is a member of the Board of Trustees of its mutual holding company corporate parent. He is a past chair of the Eastern Maine Medical Center Board of Trustees and is current chair of Eastern Maine Medical Center's parent Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems. He is a Board advisor to a number of family-owned businesses and private charitable family foundations. In these positions, George has been intimately involved with the planning and execution of several successful strategic planning programs and governance modernization initiatives and has served as board chair during a number of critical CEO/executive director transitions.
Although George continues to devote the majority of his time to his law practice at Rudman Winchell, in recent years he has spent an increasing amount of time facilitating strategic planning work and advising family owned businesses and nonprofit organizations on best governance practices, family business transition and succession, board performance issues, and crisis mitigation/avoidance strategies. George also works with families in developing and implementing succession plans for special assets including seasonal homes.
He is a frequent speaker and workshop leader on best governance practices. He is a member of the Family Firm Institute and Attorneys for Family Held Enterprises and has been listed for several years in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA as a leading lawyer under the specialties of corporate law and mergers and acquisitions.
Kathryn A. Hunt
Kathy brings more than 20 years of experience working with organizations and businesses to her position as Principal and Senior Consultant at Starboard Leadership Consulting. She has successfully led strategic planning processes, facilitated team and leadership development programs (including the Bangor Region Leadership Institute for the past decade), and designed evaluations for foundations and programs. She is in high demand as a facilitator and workshop presenter on a wide range of topics, including board member recruitment, succession planning, organizational assessment, and evaluation. She also designed the Nonprofit Organization Viability Self Assessment and day-and-a-half Viability Session, which are two of the three components of the Maine Nonprofit Viability Program, currently being marketed through the Maine Nonprofit Sector Viability Collaboration (NSVC).
Prior to joining Starboard Leadership Consulting in 2008, Kathy worked for 13 years at the University of Maine's Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, where she directed numerous projects related to community and organizational development, consulted to organizations throughout the state on strategic planning, organizational change and leadership, and economic development issues, and served as Editor of the highly regarded, Maine Policy Review. Prior to working at the University of Maine, Kathy worked for Project Adventure, Inc., where she provided direct services to at-risk youth and led training programs nationwide in team development for schools, community groups and corporations.
As a volunteer, Kathy has served in many different capacities over the years. In her role as Board Chair of Partnerships for Healthy Communities, she helped to found Bangor's Maine Discovery Museum in 1997-8. Currently, she serves on the Maine Humanities Council Board of Trustees and as Chair of the Good Will-Hinckley Board of Directors.
Kathy holds graduate degrees from the University of Maine in Counselor Education and Resource Economics and lives in Bangor with her family.
