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The Year That Crept By
I still can’t believe that 2008 is over and that a new year has begun. I spent this New Year’s Eve making brunch for myself and the puppy. We even shared some bubbly. I thought about goiing out, but I don’t like driving on New Years – too many drunk drivers on the road.
I have had a lot of time to reflect recently and realized what an interesting year 2008 really was. While live was bumpy at times (quite a bit), the year ended on a definite high note.
I left a position that was making me increasingly unhappy. I successfully completed my Master’s degree. I transitioned from a corporate position to the non-profit sector, quite seamlessly I might add. Thanks to some earthly and divine intervention, I secured my dream position with a nonprofit whose mission I would support even if I weren’t working there.
My dad re-joined the U.S. Army and began a (very long) two year deployment. My sister moved in with my parents. I got to spend a lot of time with my baby niece.
I located my birth father, along with a surprisingly large birth-family. Things didn’t turn out as I had initially hoped, but perhaps it will just take a bit of time.
As 2008 ended in a high note, 2009 is getting off to a terrific start. I have several new ventures on the horizon (post forthcoming). I have a fantastic position with incredible potential for growth, both personally and professionally.
I also want to make more personal time. I can’t recall the last time I paused to meditate. It used to be a part of my daily routine. I also intend to spend more time with friends and family. After spending 20 days with my family (between Thanksgiving and Christmas), I remembered why I love being around my family. They are all really amazing people. Although we get on each others’ nerves at times, we are still solid – a team!
I am apprehensive to make actual resolutions every year, so this is as close as it gets for me.
May you have a safe, healthy and prosperous 2009! Thank you for reading my blog in 2008 and I hope you continue to return in 2009!
Work and Play, Learning to Balance
I have teetered a bit with blogging since the Thanksgiving holiday. I was so focused on spending time with the family, that I got out of the swing of things. I started a new position shortly after I got back to Philadelphia. And now, I am really in the thick of things at work.
Thank you to everyone who commented on my resume and cover letters, provided unwavering encouragement and let me vent when my patience was running thin.
I truly love this new position. I love the mission, the people, and my work. I never thought that I would be in a position to say that (and mean it). For the first time in my life, I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be.
It is going to take some time to figure out how to balance this position and my personal ventures, such as my blog. I am also launching two independent ventures in the coming months.
….so, stay tuned to see how the balancing act unfolds.
Dangwa Initiative, Serving Orphans in Zimbabwe
I attended the October 2009 installment of Craigslist Bootcamp in New York City. After the conference I planned to head home. I had no intention of staying for the post-conference events, but a woman caught my eye. She was walking towards me, beaming and grinning from ear to ear. We ended up talking extensively about her organization, the Dangwa Initiative, which serves AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe, many of who are also rape victims. Her passionate and commitment is intoxicating.
Zimbabwe, one of Africa’s poorest countries, is in a precarious condition. The government recently announced a cholera outbreak. South African President, Kgalema Motlanthe sent a team to Zimbabwe to asses the extent of the outbreak, but international health workers in the region indicate that it has already spread to neighboring Zambia and Botswana.
In light of this current situation, I encourage everyone to donate to Dangwa. The organization received an grant enabling them to send a large container of relief supplies to Zimbabwe. Your donation will allow them to maximize the impact of this award. I have included an a letter from the Executive Director below.
To make an online donation, please CLICK!
Thank you!
It is with extreme excitement that I report to you that Dangwa Initiative has been awarded a grant to ship a 20ft container of goods to Zimbabwe. A 20ft container is large enough to take 36,000 lbs of goods.
So far most of you know that I have been collecting books, clothes, computers and other school supplies. 36K bs is a lot of stuff, my desire is to fill the container to the maximum so I am asking each and everyone of you to donate, in addition to above mentioned items, clothes, raincoats, shoes, socks and underwear for children of all ages; women and men. We are also in desperate need of pens, pencils, writing books and most importantly feminine products. Some of the girls in the rural areas miss on average one week of school every month as they cannot afford sanitary towels for their monthly cycle. Others have resorted to reusable rugs but without soap and clean water it becomes a health hazard.
As of last week the government of Zimbabwe declared a national emergency due to the outbreak of cholera. Cholera, waterborne disease, has killed close to 700 people and affected over 23K since August this year. These are official numbers, you and I both know that reality in ground zero is worse. In an effort to assist with this emergency, we are asking for donations to purchase water purification tablets to send with the container. For $5 we can buy 50 tablets. Each tablet purifies 1 liter, an average family of four needs about 10 liters a day therefore 50 tablets will provide clean water for 5 days/family of four. This is a temporary measure, therefore we welcome any suggestions and or resources for more permanent measures. We will also welcome donations of first aid kits including aspirin; Pepto Bismol; gloves; band-aids; alcohol; vitamins; first aid antibiotic ointments, wipes; gels; sprays; etc. Vaseline, lotions and other toiletries are also welcome.
I would like to send the container out before Christmas so they can arrive in time for the beginning of the new school year (January ‘09) in Zimbabwe.
Last but not least, I will need assistance with sorting and packing all the donated materials starting Thursday this week (5PM-9PM week days) and Saturday (9AM-9PM); Sunday (2PM-9PM). Please call and let me know your preferred shift and how many people you will bring.
Thank you for your support, encouragement and love.
Putting a plan into motion….
Now that comps are behind me and I have my Master’s degree, it is time to re-energize the job search. I have applied to a whole host of positions since August, yet have only received one interview So, I am tapping into my network here.
What I am looking for – a position in fundraising and development. While I love crafting and implementing programs, I am most passionate about helping organizations obtain the funds necessary to effectively implement programs that allow them to maximize impact within their particular target communities. Too often, lack of funding limits the extent to which organizations can fulfill their mission.
Please take a look at my resume. Ideally I would like to remain in Philadelphia (to minimize my commute), however, I am open to positions between New York City and Wilmington, Delaware. I would appreciate any referrals or recommendations.
Also, I am stepping up my networking and professional development strategies. I am making a commitment to attend three networking and two professional development events a month. I am also applying to two long(er) term professional development fellowship programs.
In the meantime, I am also looking to expand my consulting practice.
I have a more detailed professional development strategy, but I want to put the fundamentals of it out there so that I am accountable to more than just myself.
Best wishes to anyone else who is on the job hunt. Speak up and let me know if there are any job postings I should send your way.
Young Voices of Philadelphia: Lessons from a Young Non Profit Leader
Young Voices of Philadelphia is a new segment that I am unveiling today. This is a forum in which young non profit movers and shakers in the Philadelphia area will share a little about themselves, about their organizations and initiatives, and how they view their role in changing Philadelphia for the better.
Alexis and I met at Temple University, in a Poli Sci course if memory serves me well. What initially struck me was her extremely fresh and progressive ideas about how she saw the world and plans on being part of a solution. While we have since trickled in and out of each other’s lives, we have remained connected through our commitment to the Philadelphia community. Check Alexis out on Facebook.
All the things I wish someone had told me before
by Alexis JeffcoatI procrastinated about this blog post all weekend. Of course, I had plenty of time to do it and I even knew what I wanted to talk about. Yet, time just seemed to slip away (at this point it should be clear why I can’t maintain a blog of my own…). I am a procrastinator by nature but I’ve also been a bit distracted lately.
You see, I am back on the job prowl.
Yes, this young, non-profit professional is diving into a job search (of course just as we are embroiled in an economic downturn) and that has given me pause to reflect. What exactly have I learned and what would be worth passing on to other people? I’ve working in non-profit since I graduated college and I feel as if I am just now wrapping my head around some very important lessons. So, for all of you new graduates out there, here are some of things I wish someone would have told me.
1. Don’t let people put you into positions you’re not ready for. This happens all the time in the non-profit world. The awesome thing about this industry is that you can get in on an entry-level job and really get your hands dirty. You won’t be stuck as the “copy b*&*h” or “coffee runner”, you’ll actually get to do some substantial, meaningful work. The problem is that most non-profits are under-staffed and underfunded. They do wonderful work but they don’t have the infrastructure to support it. As a result, they often end up giving one person the job of two or three different people. It can be tempting to see this as an opportunity to gain some major kudos and beef up your resume. It’s not. Trust me. I was completely in love with non-profit positions that seemed like a great challenge (you know the ones I’m talking about, the responsibilities list is 45 items long, they want you to fundraise a portion of your salary, etc. etc.). You will spend so much time reacting and managing crisis that you won’t be able to develop any actual skills. You want to find somewhere that strikes a balance. You don’t want your first job to be managing a program or directing fundraising activities right out of college. That trial by fire crap is overrated. Find a position that gives you some responsibility and autonomy but also an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the profession. That way, you’re gaining valuable experience but you’re not attempting to hold up the whole world by yourself.
2. People are going to say you’re not a real professional. Those people are full of crap. There is this persisting image of non-profits as places where you do yoga in the lobby, everyone wears Birkenstocks and no one eats meat. While there are definitely places where this happens, don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have a real job. The truth is people who work at most non-profits put in the kind of hours only lawyers and doctors see and they do it for a lot less pay. You have to be extremely resilient, creative, resourceful and organized to thrive in this field. Those same people who help make sure animals have good homes and do other ” cute” things also fundraise millions of dollars, manage budgets and multiple projects, do marketing and pr and convince people to give up their time for free. That is no easy task and it is definitely professional.
3. You can’t save the world. This was the hardest lesson. You are going to get up every day and do amazing work and help people and it still won’t be enough. You won’t eradicate poverty. You won’t eliminate hunger. And sometimes, the people you are trying to help will resent you for it. You can’t save the world and that is a good thing because if all it took was one person working for the right non-profit or raising enough money and we still have poverty in 2008 then the world is bigger mess than we thought. I’m not saying you’re not doing awesome things. I’m not saying you won’t help some people. I’m saying you won’t save the world so don’t put pressure on yourself to do so.
4. If you’re burnt out, get out. Take a vacation, find a new job, take a leave of absence and then restructure your job. If you are burnt out, the party is over. The unfortunate thing about the industry is that many non-profits are not equipped to prevent or treat burnout. Whether it’s because you have too much work and not enough support or because you just can’t help everyone who walks through the door, once burnout hits it can be an earth shattering experience. Believe me. I’ve had it so bad that there were days I literally could not get out of bed to face the world. It’s okay. It happens more than it should and one day, non-profits will be better equipped to deal with it. But I’m telling you now (because I like you), if you’re burnt out you have to run like you are on fire. If you don’t make a substantial change, you will end up leaving anyway. So make sure that the second you are burnt out, you sit down and talk to your boss. Don’t feel guilty (my God, are we non-profit people good at that!), just talk. And then make sure you have the power to make adjustments to whatever is causing your burnout. If you don’t, its time to leave. Not because you are a bad person but because you’re all you have.
I guess that’s all I can think of for now. Its 11pm and I hope that I managed to give you some things to think about. For all of you out there who have been in it for awhile, what magic things have you learned?
NGen Claiming Space at Independent Sector
I attended Craigslist BootCamp NYC in early October. It was an exciting coming together of the young movers and shakers in the Public Good community. While the feel of the Independent Sector conference is extremely different than that of Craigslist Bootcamp, I am excited to see that NGens are claiming their space among established Non Profit Leaders. We are contributing our ideas, talent, passion and initiative as we bring a fresh look, feel and perspective to the Non Profit community. Also, we are not shy about doing so.
I am honored to be among an impressive blogger presence at this year’s Independent Sector Conference:
Trista Harris — New Voices of Philanthropy
Tera Wozinak — Social Citizen
Rosetta Thurman — Perspectives from the Pipleline
Katya Andresen — Robin Hood MarketingIt was also a privilege to meet Heather Carpenter at NonProfit Leadership 601. I also met a prospective new blogger, Monica. She is a prominent member of Philadelphia’s rising non profit leaders and the Director of Development and Publicity at the Green School in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, a school for autistic children. We will be setting up her blog within the next couple of weeks. She has a lot to say!!
I am so thrilled that the Chronicles of Philanthropy picked up our presence and gave a shout out to our efforts.
After the closing of this year’s IS Plenary, many NGens gathered for a post-conference brainstorming session. While we initially broke discussed our reaction to the conference in smaller groups, we came together in the end to discuss several topics important to both NGens and the IS conference as a whole:
Value
- many felt that the orange “NGen” tags were value on several fronts. They provided visibility of emerging leaders to both other NGens and to more established members of the IS community.
- The larger presence of NGens at the conference allowed us to share our concerns and issues of the future of the IS and the non profit world as well as a way in which we can contribute to its growth
Why Did you Come
- to meet and network with other NGens and more established members of the IS and Non Profit community
- several suggestions were shared about how to better facilitate interactions between NGens and established IS members 1) mentoring and coaching opportunities 2) speed networking between NGens and established members 3) collaboration on plenary planning committees 4) IS board membership program
- NGen investment in the sector through mission based development
Where Do We Go
- while many appreciated the seperate NGen track of workshops this morning, others thought that it separated us from the rest of the conference
- many advocated for more NGen participation in the planning of the IS conference, as presenters and speakers, and on the Board of Directors. Several individuals argued that if IS was truly committed to including NGen’s into IS, it would provide a way for NGen’s to actively participate in the planning and execution of furture conferences and initiatives
- several individuals expressed the need for a greater presence of new media at the conference, particularly more Net Cafe stations and better access to power sources for those who have their own equipment. Also, the incorporation of sessions on the usefulness of new media to non profits and foundations should be established.
- fostering of more scholarship opportunities for NGens who cant afford to attend on their own accord (encouragement to send thank you letters to all contributors to 2008 scholarship fund)
- establish opportunities for NGens to interact in the local level, particularly through engaging local organizations such as PYNL (Philadelphia Young NonProfit Leaders) and YNPN (Young Non Profit Network)
- creation of a listserv to share ideas
- establishment of regional breakout sessions at next year’s IS conference
- more NGen participation as moderators and speakers
- NGen panel discussion or presentation at Plenary Meetings at next year’s conference
Independent Sector – Closing Plenary Luncheon – “A New Look at Race and Gender in Americ”
Round-table Discussion: Beyond Election 2008: A New Look at Race and Gender in America
Moderator: Kalvin Taketa, IS Board Member and President/CEO, Hawai’i Community Foundation
Panelists:
Randall L. Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Harvard University
Sterling Speirn, President, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Luz Vega-Marquis, Secretary, Independent Sector and President/CEO Marguerite Casey Foundation
Maria Wilson, President/Founder, The White House ProjektWhile I had limited power, I was able to jot down some thoughts that jumped out at me:
Speirn: “While the glass ceiling was smashed, there are millions trapped in the basement.”
Kennedy: Why is there a “who’d have thunk it” idea that Obama could be elected, that people could have pulled the lever to vote for him.
We need soon however to be thinking about what next” and I hope that we are not so entranced by what happened last week, that we fumble an opportunity to push the agenda for social justice.
Wilson: Two conversations got invoked in this election:
1) race
2) gender
3) class – Obama class upwards and Clinton class downwardsThe changing of the conversation is a major milestone in this country.
“You can’t be what you can’t see.” – What happened all over America, is that there are children from all races and gender that they can be president of the United States.
I know that I cannot celebrate very long, but it is great!
Vega: “The real America showed up at the poles.” In response to the idea that Palin spoke for the “real America.”
The real America finally got included. The fact that she is proud that Latinos voted the right way in this election.
Taketa: Obama as a transcended of all aspects of our population. Is Obama unique?
Kennedy: Obama is an extraordinary politician. Yet, Obama had a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nominee on gender. Gender and racial lines are moving. They are still there but they are moving. Obama still had to overcome his race. There are a variety of politicians of a variety of racial politicians and women politicians. Obama is the person of the hour but he is the tip of the iceberg. In a way this is the most hopeful thing of the election. There is more coming.
Speirn: If the issues are not central nothing will change. Education system is bankrupting our nation. Health status and economic status which is linked to education. The social determinants of education far outweigh all other issues.
Vega: Expectations of Obama are high. He also talked to us about us and what responsibility we take as members of this society to take active part in our future. We need to be responsible for the kinds of things we want to see. We need to begin shaping agendas in our communities. We expect miracles, but we need to hope in what we really can change. It is the collection of our efforts to build a better society.
Wilson: Obama did something transcendent – The major ways AA leaders have made progress is through challenge. Some questioned that AA could not make progress without bargaining. Obama assumed good will which is the third way – not challenge or bargaining. No negative stories about the campaign staff – mission of being respectful and doing good.
Wilson: about Clinton’s campaign – when it comes to gender, gender will always trump gender. But if you only have one person who is different, you look at what they have different. Gender is central. It meant that Clinton had to walk all fine lines about being tough enough and maintain appeal. At end of campaign she felt she had nothing to lose, and she was more authentic.
Wilson: We learned about the continuing way gender continues to be reported in the media. There was an enormous amount of sexism in this election.
The movement – Civic engagement of young people, women and African Americans:
Kennedy: the horizons have been widened traumatically. The sense of possibility – young women, people of color – frankly regardless that everyone’s horizons were opened and that has something to do with extraordinary moment we are in. Even people who did not vote for Obama, even his rivals, many of them have been changed and moved to opening their horizons.
Wilson: inspiring but what do we do next? If they are not engaged – if it is just about their votes – we will lose them again. Obama has a plan, but we all need a plan too for the energy.
(ran out of battery)
This conversation derailed within the first five minutes of comments. The panelists began discussion the ways in which the 2008 Election redefined discussions of Race and Gender in America, particularly the ways in which these new discussions influence the non profit sector and the ways in which the non profit sector can contribute to these discussions. A great topic, particularly since a “what now?” theme ran through the entire conference. However, the conversation quickly jumped to the failures of the Clinton campaign, policy reform and eventually the prison system. Once again, a fruitful discussion on race and gender derailed! Is it that we don’t know how to have a meaningful discussion on race or that it’s just to complicated and uncomfortable?
LiveBlog – Independent Sector, Advancing Your Career – Tuesday, November 11, 2008
This Session has been a spit fire Q&A session rather than a presentation based session. The session was hosted by CommnonCareers.
Bridgestar.org – information about Non Prof Executive development.
What if you find yourself in a position different than what you were hired from?
Create your own opportunities. Be strategic in managing your duties and be clear about your job expectations. Be open and honest in dialogue with employer. If position will never embody what you are looking for, you need to start thinking strategically of looking beyond to a new position.
Bait and Switch is often used to trap young capable employees.
If you have identified where you want to go and the skills, how do you develop skills in a practical way in a job that does not need those skills?
Join board of small non profit without much staff so that you can pitch in on day to day operations. How do you find board opportunities? Check board websites such as Board Source. There are link programs in many cities across the country.
Conferences are great ways to build skills. Engaging in your non profit associations and other business associations who have programs for skill building.
Look at network to see how consulting can a resource for consulting to build practice. Look into Tap Root Foundation as they help siphon people into non profit from business sector.
Reach out to your network and people who are doing what you want to do for informational interviews and mentoring programs.
If you love the mission of your organization yet the culture of your department is not aligned with the way you are comfortable with doing work. How do you function with the disconnect between the culture of the org and your personal culture?
Look for other departments that fit your personal culture. Try to incorporate tools that help clarify people’s position and roles. Think about managing up through open dialogue.
How important or essential is a graduate degree?
Grad degrees are essential. It is more important about where you went and the culture of the institution. Some organizations are threatened by MBA degrees but that is an “old” non profit culture. For Exe Directors an MBA is high on the list for a “must have”.
What do you do if you happen to be in one content area but want to transfer to another content area? Changing mission focus.
Volunteer in the area that you want to transition to. Create your own volunteer initiative within your existing organization or your community.
Job Transition Components:
1) geography
2) type of org
3) type of role
Easy to change one. Hard to change two, Difficult to change all.
Informational interviews are essential for transitions. Who knows who and how you can network.
Facebook and InkedIn is the new wave of of job transtion.
LiveBlog – Independent Sector, Leading Today’s Social Movements – Monday, November 10, 2008
Panelist:
Richard Burns, Executive Director, NYC GLBT Community Center – mental health and social services, cultural programs, public policy and social activities. Founder of NY State health and human servicesnetwork
Alan Khazei, Founder and CEO, Be the Change, Inc. – dedicated to strengthening democracy. Driving force of Service Nation. CoFounder of CityYear.
James Koshiba, Director, Kanu Hawaii – community organizer, culture and environmentalism. Prior Principal Consultant Three Point Consulting.
Moderator:
Ann Mosle, Vice President of Programs, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
—–
Ann: Engagement is the name of the game! New strategies and new approaches! It is important to highlight today and tomorrow, the importance of civic engagement. Firm committment to racial equity.
What is civic engagement 3.0??
Richard: Where it came from and how it evolved….early gay movement in the 1950s with an org call the Madison Society and Daughters of Alidus. Movement divided along gender – parallel but came together when needed. Exploded in 1969 – Stonewall riots. These riots have taken on symbolic role of beginning of gay rights movement globally. What happened in 1969 to radicalize the movement? The foundation that was layed by the black civil rights movement, the anti war movement and the feminist movement – ideology, media coverage and the methods influential. Glash of sexual liberation and feminism became fierce ideology in the late 60s and early 70s. Movement a series of local movements around the country. It was national only in name. Local movements in local contexts against local oppression. In 1979 – convention of first national march on washington gave the movement a national perspective.
Transition point from local to national when militant black lesnians met white gay democrats from San Diego to hammer out a charter.
AIDS happened and transformed gay liberation movement into a national movement! It became imperative to come out of the closet. Their friends and lovers were dying. They were dying. This created a large influx of people and money into the movement.
1987 – ACT Up founded. Were able to play the media and create attention. The birth of front page news of gay and AIDS activism. Movement became more mainstream and became less radical. It became assimilation.
How does our movement needs to change? Gay movement has changed on its issues while reproductive rights and anti death penalty movements were working in isolation without much synergy. We must create natural allies because our movement rest on similar legal grounds.
Causes in Common – 135 national and local LGBT and repro rights groups get together for conferences. Gay Center in Palm Beach Florida does escorting to abortion clinics. Coalitions are necessary for building social capital.
Role of money in grass roots activism!
Allen: Talking about overall context of social movements in the 21st century!! We elected the first president in US history who got elected because of a grass roots social movement. Unprecedented tech resources at our disposal. Power of Web 2.0. in terms of empowering citizens. It is a free tool. Author Schlesinger famous about cycles of history – country moves in cycles of public purpose to private interests – conservative action, entrenchment, corruption and the cycle began again! Prop 13 in Cali began this recent cycle and Reagan ran on “are you better off?” End of Reagan era was Katrina!!
End came just this fall with the economic collapse! THE REAGAN ERA IS OVER!
What do we do next? We have the opportunity for new social change! Crisis for the Chinese is a time of opportunity amidst danger! Need for transformational change and creativity to deal with crisis and the US is ready due to the level of the crisis. The transformation MUST come from citizen movements.
Social movements in history have supported visionary political leadership. Citizen soldiers made visionaries of the founders possible….suffragists made Wilson accept 19th Amendment. Civil rights leaders and students spearheaded the civil rights movement.
Transformational change requires us all and a stronger social movement.
Turning Point – Save Americorps budget was wiped out overnight. Perfect Storm due to partisan politics. Launch of grass roots campaign (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) on citizen’s movement bringing the movements to DC for round the clock testimony. Received 1/2 budget back from that year.
Be the Change, Inc. – Service Nation and CityYear…coalition of 125 organizations of 100 million people to engage in service throughout the country.
Lessons:
- have to build coalitions to focus on what you can agree on versus differences. Legislative leaders are attracted to coalitions. Bring in national allies who care about issues but aren’t directly involved. AARP, Amer Jewish Community, UNCF, Red Cross etc. Once you have an agenda to share with allies and friends.
- Grass Tops and Grass Roots combination. Platform for leaders from the top and bottom to engage in platformm. National day of action in conjunction with national conference to put talk into action.
- Take advantage of technology.
- stay active until you succeed. Persistance wins out.
The moment we have now is a moment for a new progressive era or a new progressive movement. This will only happen if we build coalitions to work together based on common ground for an agenda for our country. The movement wont just depend on our new president but will be sustainable!
James: Wonderful Presentation!
Aloha (share my space) – airline stuarts come together and touch each other’s foreheads and take a breath to share each other’s space. WOW HOW BEAUTIFUL!!!
Kanu Hawaii (literally to plant)
Island thinking – island perspective is valuabel for local and global communities
- compassion because we cannot run away from each other. we must get along. rich diversity on Hawaii.
- sustainability is at the root of the movement from the environmental movement. Respect of natural resources and that resources are limited – land, water, etc. Being a stuart is the ethic of island life
- resilience economically and the danger of reliance on distant lands for sustainability of life.
These principles are important globally! “The world is becoming more island like day by day.”
Site tools:
- first thing people are asked to do is to declare a personal commitment to change
-articulating a measurable result
- articulating impact
- translate impacts into qualtifiable data, the idea that data will inspire
- the importance of declaring a commitment publicly
- focus on energy, waste and savings
- important of partnerships
Lessons:
- diff between movement and a cause.
- movements are defined by ends and means–ETHIC
- movements tap into themes that are spiritual and universal
- technology can complement organizing and relationships but is not a substitute
- making personal change social can make social change person
Question and Answers
Lessons’s Learned
Clearly at a place of opportunity to work across issues and look at our history and freedom to think about “what if”!
Richard: we can’t do it alone. The early days of our movement were separatist days. When we came together we saw each other as diff from straight people in diff world. Saw the struggle for lgbt rights one we would fight alone. IN the last decade – realized that is insane! We have to envision lgbt movement as part of a larger progressive movement for social change as a full justice and equality movement for everyone!
Changes evident in NYC with the lgbt alignment with labor and unions. The teamsters are signed on to marriage equality and full trans equality. Alignment with corporate foundations- Employee Afinity Groups focused on broader training on diversity. Fortune 500/1000 groups ahead with the idea of a diverse workplace is productive.
Allen: Set visionary and measurable goals. Set attainable goals. Build a coalition and take the time to get agreement on the agenda. Focus on what can be agreed upon. Stick with it and look at the long term. Maintain core principles and be flexible with the tactics.
James: Importance of managing the brand of movement. Investment in field work and field organizing. Building relationships between members and members & the organization. Face to face time. Campaign activities. Feel collective power. Importance of one or a few iconic leaders in the movement.
Trebian – Knight Foundation
James’ presentation fundamental and very insightful and fresh – 1) importance spirituality 2) collective passion 3) identify identity and movement 4) differentiating movement and cause
Do you see this took going beyond environmental movement? Should an organization become a movement?
A movement is bigger than ONE organization. The movement is bigger than one person or organization. Coalition building is essential.
The movement is bigger than environmental. They are already there and are working on spinning it off for other causes and movements while maintaining his movement.
Ben – Case Foundation
Question for Allen. Where is the Stonewall movement in the Service movement? Are we too nice and not radical enough?
“You attract more bees with honey than vinegar.” The moment is here and now. Obama and Binden to Service Nation event over summer. The summer is ready for a new calling. The moment is influenced by top down and bottom up.
Even if we have a President and First Lady committed to service, the challenge will be up to us. The responsibility is ours to spearhead the movement.
Being open to natural allies even if they weren’t initially a part of the cause.
Affiliation with Charlie Rangel (Draft to Service) When it comes to civilian service it is a constitutional issue. It is impossible to implement it. It would require giving up the quality of service.
Kathleen – Californian Endowment
What’s the role of foundations in all of this movement building type activity? Is it funding or funding-minded or is there activist role in connecting groups and mini movements together?
Richard – oh the reproductive side foundations have been great in introducing donors and other allies for repro and lgbt rights. Ford has been great on the micro level. Foundations critical since there was little federal support for service groups. Foundations have the power to ceize the moment. Foundations have to be willing to get behind advocacy if we dont want it to be about top down decision making. Foundations can ensure broader citizen participation on a wide array of issues. There is massive leverage.
James – word of caution is that depending on who the message come from can be disempowering i.e. message coming from CEO of a company versus a non powerful employee. Funders need to become accustomed to funding movement building efforts that have unconventional outcomes. Empowering cannot be quantified on some level but the results can often be profound. It is difficult to raise money for that. We need opportunities to get together with other movement builders.
Anne – different period of engagement for philanthropy. We moved beyond move the money out and its done. How do we engage? Challenging for foundations is a changing point of view. New way of thinking about engagement and point of view. Working with grantees in partnership and listening and engaging in the new power dynamics. i.e. creating learning community focused on diff issues and demographics in civic engagement.
GT Grown – Community Org out of Chicago
This moment is important to address the institutional racism and disparities in our communities. It is important to set the message that things are still not OK! Focus on Purpose and Direction! Respect for identity in social change. Working together in an atmosphere for justice and cooperation!
Non Profit Congress and Non Profit Work Force Coalition
Creating new leadership but the challenge we have our own issues and missions individually how do we balance the collective within the sector.
Allen: “Social Entrepreneurs Trap” – the pressure of taking care of your organization. Bring practitioners to the table to share knowledge and resources. Pooling resources is the key.
James: every meeting ask every participate to make some kind of commitment and plot the trajectory of those commitment to see where peoples energies are.
Bill – The League
The movement to what purpose? What is the end-game? If everything comes together that we are working towards, how do you measure that?
James – diff for every movement. you want communities to be energy and food secure and embracing diversity.
Richard – lgbt movement full equality and justice. place where the world is safe for lgbt people. but the lgbt movement as part of a larger civil rights movement other larger humanity goals come into play.
Allen – ethic of service become a common expectation from Kgarden to senior living to address pressing problems in society – environment, education, justice, etc. Service reflect the “democracy of the people”
Opposition to movements – strategies for building movements and overcoming effectiveness of oppressive politics.
President who ran on platform of service. Have you approached the new administration? If not, why? What do you do with the millions of volunteers who have been mobilized and what do you do with them? How do you keep momentum of mobilization challenges?
How you best grow movements from small to big? Purposefully or organically or both?
Did any important movement of the history of mankind get any benefit in foundation support?
How have you tapped into social sevices agencies for communtiy building?
Richard – Overcoming opposition and growing is important in lbgt movement. The movement grows with increased opposition. The death of Matthew Shepard resulted in largest gay demonstrations nationally. Supreme Court Boy Scout could discriminate resulted in massive influx of volutneers and money. Prop 8 resulted in small amount of donations across the country creating a national database of donors. We need to overcome opposition from militant right and we have seeded spirituality to the religious right. We need to engage religious allies in order for our movement to grow.
James: Thinking with the new administration into movements on the local levels. Engaging the mobilized volunteers to go into service. The danger is that the movement dies and Obama becomes president and stops acting like an organizer. The energy is in danger of dying.
Allen: This is a moment where everyone needs to weigh in. Harness the opportunity. Don’t wait for the Obama Administration to call for an engagement. Another movement that is necessary is the commitment to ending poverty in the United States. Poverty is being created in this economic crisis and we have an opportunity to affect change!
Check out Rosetta Thurman at Perspectives From The Pipeline who is also at the IS conference!
LiveBlog – Independent Sector, NonProfit Warrior Renewal – Monday, November 10, 2008
Speaker: Stewart D. Friedman, practice professor of management and director, Wharton Work/Life Integration Project, Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Panelists:
Kathleen E. Christensen, Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director, Asian American Justice Center
Rand Wentworth, president, Land Trust Alliance, LLC
Moderator: John Gompert, chief executive officer, Experience Corps; president Civic Ventures
—–
Comments from Dr. Friedman:
“Total Leadership” way you can integrate all aspects of ourselves to be high functioning human being – leadership from the position of the whole person in order to move from a position of balance to a position of integration.
How do we think about these various aspects of our lives and how do we see them as either enriching or depleting?
Work
Home
Community
Private Self – mind body spiritRate these aspects from 1-10 (1 being totally rotten to 10 totally awesome). Rate how other people would rate your meeting expectations in these categories.
What small steps can you take to better align your work with the rest of your life? How can you improve your overall aspect of your life?
We are breaking out into pairs to discuss these four aspects of our life, where we are and where we want to be, as well as what we can do to move in the direction.
Sidenote: over half of the people in attendance at this presentation are not on Facebook. What does this say about the demographics of this conference?
Observations from exercise:
- put a lot of time to work than to family or ourselves
- work and community are interconnected and there is little division (particularly in the nonprofit world)
- the interpretation of the categories and how they are important vary
- didn’t find any solutions but felt good to talk about the issues
Improvement performance is about being a better leader and the steps necess:
- being real
- telling critical story about what events shaped the person that you are
- telling a critical story of what you think will make you a better person in the world
- being hole, acting with integrity with the whole you
- what are your expectations of yourself in your various rolls and how does that reflection of yourself match up to how other people reflect your expectation
We often have higher expectations of ourselves and we perceive that others have higher expectations of us than is reflected in reality.E
Evaluation of these domains results in people refocusing time and attention so that alignment is more as you like or want it (actions and values shift away from work to other parts of life).
Aligning our actions with our values results in an increase in satisfaction throughout all aspects of our life. (common sense, no? even though we tend to overfocus on work to the point where work becomes the center of our life)
Panel Discussion:
Kathleen: Middle class privileged in the sense that they enjoyed their work. They also loved their families and the refuge. Yet there was not enough time to do everything. Until recently this was seen as a private problem needing a private solution. What was overlooked was the changing dynamics of the workforce – a lot of women and a lot of older people, as well as NGen populations.
Workplace structure not changing with the changing demographics of the workforce. People wanted flexibility not only with the hours that they worked, but where they worked and how they worked.
Effective implementation of flexible workforce practices: Increase retention. Enhance recruitment. Reduced absenteeism. Increased productivity.
Is flexibility an excuse to work all the time? How can we make flexibility a good convenient team for managing our complicated time, but actually also to get some balance in our life?
Kathleen: not a fan of balance since she is not sure if we can ever achieve it. Flexibility a dual edged sword. Flexibility should not be seen as just a change in schedule. It should be seen as a reexamination of work practices – creating boundaries between family and work. Creating a new work culture i.e. no email or travel on weekends. Time is not infinitely expanding and that boundaries need to be placed on time.
Rand Wentworth: Life as a constant practice in resurrection? Rising above the life burnout. How to we renew or restore ourselves? How do we make small choices throughout our lives to make healthier and better choices? How do we balance this in a suffering world?
Confession: early years I worked out 9-10 at night. Dinner was Doritos or pepperidge farm cookies. I get up early. I would get 5-6 hours of sleep. You can do this at 20 or something but not 50s. I wake up early and reserve the first 2 hours of my day for personal and family. The first thing I do in the morning is 20 min of yoga and contemplative practices. I then do something fun and exuberant – bike or swim to clear my head and give me energy. As long as I am at home, I have breakfast with my kids. I am rarely home for dinner, btu I always have breakfast with my kids. The three nights a week I am home we always sit down for dinner.
Remember to renew throughout the day and remember to breathe. Reschedule your life with YOU in mind.
The practice of rushing: If I am doing more faster I must be more efficient in practicing my mission.
Learn how to use technology not let the technology use you. Learning how to turn it off. He ever does email at home.
“No Screen Time” – During the weekend, creating a time where all screens are turned off. Honoring the personal sabbath!
Sundays in the Wentworth household – visiting with friends, sharing meals, reading, going for walks, and spending time with each other., Nervous system is profoundly relaxed.
Talk Daily
Talk Weekly
Annual basis – honorable birthright as servant leaders to do some kind of retreat for yourself. Yoga or nature retreat. Some time when you deeply relax and reflect on how your life is going and how you want your life.
The culture of his organization: All administrative staff are eligible for 3 month sabbatical after 7 years of work. Adopted practicing no scheduled meetings on Fridays and no sending of emails to subordinates on weekends.
Karen: “Hi I am Karen and I am a workaholic.”
Working for clients whose lives are more desperate than ours. Nevertheless, you are only as good as the energy that you can bring to your job.
As we look as diversity – thank god there are a lot of minorities being leaders – we need to make sure that we do not take on the responsibility of representing our communities to the point of burnout.
The power of no!
Disciplined about number of boards you choose to be on and the amount of projects you choose to engage in. Creating an ebb and flow and accept that imperfection is perfect.
Importance of coaching – even though we know the things we need to do, to create balance sometimes we don’t know how to achieve balance.
- Need to write down boundaries.
- Need to vocalize goals to be accountable
Sabbaticals allowed us to strengthen the cohesiveness of the organization. Allows for a strong foundation for the organization and group relationships. Better delegation and group effectiveness.
Question and Answer
Suggestions for Millennials, young leaders who are trying to prove themselves to their organization and maintain balance
Opportunity to teach elders to live right and alter the culture of our organizations. Allowing space for people who are productive in their work space yet allow us to have a personal life.
Agreement with staff about production schedules that are reasonable and checking in to evaluate realistic parameters.
Importance of policing our performance expectations of ourselves and other people – the differential between our perception and reality.
Kathleen: The current environment there will be more fear and anxiety and more sense insecurity and power will be shifting to feeling less empowered. Anything that we say will be set in that context. Within the next 1-2 yrs people will be feeling the sand shift underneath their feed.
Ending questions and comments:
How do you reconcile pressures of the job and the desire to have a life?
Flextime – option of a three day weekend every other week.
No meetings on Mondays or Fridays
Do people really change? Do you see a true transformative sense in your life?
When you are trying to make the changes how do you deal with pressure from people around you to revert to old behaviors and attitudes?
Kathleen – Issues about employers to motivate to adopt 80/20 work weeks. People have a hard time to imagine beyond “what is”. Encouraging organizations to put boundaries around projects and time in order to create more manageability.
Rand – yes, there is hope. Addiction of overworking isn’t true to who we really are. Any addiction requires new habits of being that claim each day. Each day needs to be started anew. Structured approach of setting goals is necessary for change.
Karen -not knowing if she was truly able to change, but had staff around her who were committed to helping her change. Also, accepting the idea that change is gradual. Having expectations of overnight change is unrealistic. You tend to make more mistakes when burned out. Change requires commitment.
Stew – Be a better leader and have a richer life. Putting on a lens that puts your life together that is mutually enriching and is valuable to key people in your life. Take small steps – YES WE CAN! Create sustainable change not just for you but for the people around you. What do the people around you really need and what can you do to achieve balance for the two.
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