Executive Suite: Silvana LaFerlita Gullo

For most of her working life Silvana LaFerlita Gullo has been drawn to the nonprofit world because of its sense of "a mission."

"The mission of the business is to help people," said LaFerlita Gullo, 55, executive director of The Life Enrichment Center at Oyster Bay, which offers services to people over 50. "You're doing something important."

She has headed the center since February 2013 and has worked for nonprofits since 1982, including serving as director of development at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County and as executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island in New Hyde Park, which provides temporary housing for families with critically ill children at local hospitals.

The Life Enrichment Center offers free and fee-based services including lunch, fitness programs and transportation. To attract more baby boomers, it features evening programs such as jam sessions, wine tastings and singles and couples nights. Last year it had 715 members.

Government grants account for 26 percent of the group's funding, LaFerlita Gullo said; the remainder comes from fundraising.

How has the nonprofit world changed, particularly with the challenging job market?

When the economy goes down and people are not working, the nonprofits have to kick more into high gear. If people don't have money, then how do you raise money? In 2001 we launched a $5 million capital campaign [at Ronald McDonald House]. In September everything fell apart [because of the Sept. 11 attacks]. Nobody wanted to come to work. We all agreed that the way we were going to get through it was to just keep our eye on the focus. We did grant writing. I did that for the first time in my life. I personally had to learn how to fundraise.

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What are some of the challenges you face running a nonprofit?

Fundraising is No. 1. That is the most difficult part of the job because you have to constantly sell your product, and at the same time you can't staff your nonprofit the way you would if it were a for-profit because someone is going to tell you that is not OK.

How do you come up with new ideas for programs?

Our social work coordinator participates in networking groups of other senior service providers. So we hear what other people are doing. The county does things for seniors, and we attend those, and they introduce us to new programs.

What challenges do you face in trying to appeal to baby boomers, the youngest of which turned 50 this year?

The baby boomers don't like to come to a "senior center." There's just a stigma to . . . [the] idea. This center has been attempting to appeal to the baby boomers for many years. In 2011 they changed the name from Doubleday Babcock Senior Center to The Life Enrichment Center. At the time, the major initiative was to reach out to the baby boomers. So we have fitness programs in the evening, lectures in the evening. The idea was to build relationships with the younger people so that when they retired they would know what's here.

CORPORATE SNAPSHOT

NAME: Silvana LaFerlita Gullo, executive director of The Life Enrichment Center at Oyster Bay

WHAT IT DOES: Provides services to people over age 50

STAFF: 8 full time, 14 part time

ANNUAL BUDGET: $900,000