Larry Vellani, Elon’s director of corporate and foundation relations, served as a national panelist at the National Smart Start Conference on May 8, 2009, at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, N.C. Vellani shared his experiences in building more effective non-profit local governing boards.
More than 500 early childhood educators, neuroscientists and policy makers from 35 states and 4 nations gathered in Greensboro for the 14th annual 4-day conference.
Vellani chairs the board of directors of the Alamance Partnership for Children, Inc., a constituent member of North Carolina’s network of Smart Start programs. Smart Start is North Carolina’s nationally recognized and award-winning early childhood initiative designed to ensure that young children enter school healthy and ready to succeed.
The Alamance Partnership for Children, Inc. was one of a handful of North Carolina Smart Start agencies chosen to participate in a special year-long technical assistance collaboration among the State of North Carolina and BoardSource, inc. to strengthen the quality of non-profit board performance in the early childhood arena.
Vellani joined the Alamance Partnership Board in 2003 and has served as board chair for the past two years. “Serving on this board has opened my eyes to the importance of early brain development, particularly from birth to the age of five,” Vellani said. “With that knowledge comes an awareness of the need for social and political engagement by all sectors of society, but most importantly by the local business community. A child’s brain is our most important natural resource—we ignore it at our economic peril.”