Blog
Category :: Leadership
While I’m hoping the country goes through a renaissance with Barack Obama as our next President, I’ve been thrilled to consult with a local organization working to transform and restore a one of our local watersheds: Ballona Creek Renaissance (BCR).
Working with BCR is especially meaningful to me because I’ve bicycled along Ballona Creek countless times. I can’t help imagine what a revitalized creek would look like – trees, native plans, birds, fish, people walking, bicycling, running along it, families playing alongside of it, and maybe even kayakers paddling down it and people swimming in it. That’s my vision. BCR has its own compelling vision and a strong history of working to create murals and pocket parks along the creek. They have also done a tremendous amount of work to educate both the local community and broader watershed about the creek.
I’m working with BCR to help them grow and develop their volunteer Board of Directors. I’m also working with them to help raise funds so that they have the resources necessary to do their important work. For both of these items, I’m working closely with their Board, facilitating brainstorming sessions to decide what their priorities are and helping them develop a strategy for them to move forward. It’s a process I’ve enjoyed leading. As I continue to ride up and down Ballona Creek, I look forward to witnessing the ongoing transformation of the creek into a healthy, vibrant eco-system that serves the larger community.
One of the things I appreciate about being a Consulant is having a flexible schedule. I'm excited to spend the four days before the national election in Nevada working to get out the vote for the Obama campaign. I encourage you to vote for Barack Obama. If you're planning on voting for Obama, then I encourage you to contribute to his campaign or volunteer some hours and make some phone calls to swing states. Or, if you'd like to join me and the campaign in Nevada, please let me know. The more we can all pitch in to help elect him president, the higher chances he has of winning the election. Thanks.
Last weekend, I had the honor of facilitating a planning retreat for the LA Urban Rangers. It went really well! One thing the Rangers did which is often overlooked in planning these retreats, is that they selected a site outside the City of Los Angeles. We met at the Sedgewick Reserve, which is part of the UC Natural Reserve System, and is about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara.
While we worked hard during the day to define mission and new projects, we all had the opportunity to unwind during a sunset hike. We also had time to chat by the campfire and enjoy the beautiful landscape that surrounded us. By balancing the busy workload with being in a faraway place, we managed to get a lot of work done.
For any organization planning a board or staff retreat, I recommend picking a site that feels far away from the day to day stresses of Los Angeles. While it means more work logistically, it usually leads to stronger results in accomplishing whatever your agenda is, as well as providing the space for participants to build stronger relationships with each other.
Someone once told me, “For a long time, I didn’t bike. The barriers seemed huge. Once I finally started riding, I realized the barriers were a lot smaller than I thought and the benefits were greater than I could ever have imagined.”
Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it will take for people to overcome the barriers preventing them from bicycling as a transportation alternative in Los Angeles. While bicycle ridership has increased recently due to rising gas prices, the reality remains that most people don’t bicycle on a regular basis in Los Angeles.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it will take for people to overcome the barriers preventing them from bicycling as a transportation alternative in Los Angeles. While bicycle ridership has increased recently due to rising gas prices, the reality remains that most people don’t bicycle on a regular basis in Los Angeles.
I regularly speak with people who like the concept of bicycling, but choose not to ride because they are concerned about their safety, uncertain about where to ride or just assume that bicycling is for other people, not them. I want to change this. My hunch is that some of these people would start bicycling given the proper support, education and encouragement. This is where BikeSage comes in, a new service I'm providing.
BikeSage provides one-on-one support for people who want to use their bicycle to get around town. Whether it’s helping people plan a route, put their bike on a bus or ride safely in traffic, BikeSage’s goal is to transform people’s fear and uncertainty around bicycling into confidence, joy and excitement. Sage has two meanings: a wise person and a native plant to Los Angeles. BikeSages share their bicycling wisdom with others. Like sage plants, BikeSages also know how to thrive in the local environment.
Are you or do you know someone who you think might be interested in spending time with a BikeSage? If so, please contact me and we can arrange a time to ride.
More info at www.bikesage.com.
More info at www.bikesage.com.
Some weeks are busier than others. Last Thursday, I led a workshop for the Center for Nonprofit Management attended by 20+ representatives from various local nonprofit organizations. Over the weekend, I facilitated a retreat for the all-volunteer Bike Kitchen. Today and tomorrow, I’ve helped organize the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Western Region Housing Summit. Given that my week and weekend have been so busy (with all three events being very positive), my blog this week is just a short update. Working with such diverse clients reminds me of one of the things I really like about consulting: the opportunity to work with different leaders from a wide-variety organizations that focusing a broad ranger of issues.
Earlier in the week, I facilitated a portion of a strategic planning process with the board and staff of Cultivating Sustainable Communities, an organization working on transforming Los Angeles into a sustainable City. Having already worked with the group to develop a new vision and mission, we then took some time to discuss and decide what the collective values of the organization were.
Everyone comes to an organization with their own set of values, which guide them in their actions and decision making. What’s important is for an organization’s leadership to decide on what their common values are. Why? Because these values will play a key role in guiding the organization as it moves forward. The values will help them decide how to prioritize their work, and help them with the process of making difficult decisions. It will also shape how they interact with whoever they come into contact with.
After a brainstorm, we listed about 30 different values. We then combined like values and boiled them down to six general categories. From this list, we decided the key value for each category and came up with six values. From this list, they whittled it down to five guiding values for Cultivating Sustainable Communities, which everyone was really excited about. I’m inspired by their choices and am really excited to see how these values shape the future work of the organization.
How do you start a nonprofit organization? And how do you raise money for a nonprofit?
I spent today and yesterday leading two different workshops on these topics for the annual Iota Phi Theta Summer Leadership Conference.
As always, my presentations were fast-paced, interactive and fun. Success in starting a nonprofit depends a great deal on leadership, and how that leadership prioritizes and implements its work. Successful fundraising depends on being aware of the fundraising process and constantly working to build relationships with people and institutions that would be interested in funding your work.
I really enjoy leading trainings like these. I ask a lot of questions and do my best to tap into the knowledge of people in attendance. Rather than just talk about these subjects, I usually throw in some interactive exercises where participants can practice and experience the different subjects we’re discussing. Action makes for good reflection. While I do present much of the information, it’s really just the beginning framework to start a conversation, which I then facilitate. Ultimately, I hope to foster a dynamic learning environment that engages people in the subject matter and gives them the tools to then make positive changes in their communities.
I’m leading several other trainings later this summer and fall that are open to the public and welcome you to attend.
Mission and Vision statements are critical pieces to any successful nonprofit organization. After all, everything else the nonprofit does flows from these two all important questions.
An organization’s leadership can spend countless hours brainstorming, refining and deciding its mission and vision. Earlier this evening, I worked with one of my clients, Cultivating Sustainable Communities, to craft a new vision statement.
After working with the organization’s leadership to brainstorm different aspects of what should be included in the vision, we narrowed it down to four major themes. Given that we had already been working together as a group for more than an hour, I suggested we break up the larger group and have each small group work on creating a sentence for one of the major themes identified.
This worked quite well! Within fifteen minutes, each group developed a proposed sentence which we combined on a sheet of paper for everyone to see. Together, we then refined the vision and explored one more theme to work on. At this point, I suggested we split the group into two, one to refine the sentences we had already posted and one to add a new sentence. Fifteen minutes later, we came back together as a group and after reviewing it, agreed unanimously in concept that folks were excited about this vision, and that the only work left was some final language refinements.
As a facilitator, I’m constantly looking for the best structure to assist with the decision making process. I believe that breaking up the larger group into smaller groups not only led to a decision made in less time, but that it also creating an even more engaging space for all board members to participate in the decision making process. Both the board and I are very pleased with the results.
I recently had the honor of facilitating a board/staff retreat for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. After a day and a half, the organization’s leadership not only decided its annual goals and objectives, but they also built stronger relationships with each other that will fuel their work as they work to improve the bicycling environment and quality of life in Los Angeles County.
Why have a facilitator? First, having an outside facilitator gives everyone else in the organization’s leadership the opportunity to participate in the decision making process. Second, a facilitator helps the group stay on track and make the key decisions it needs to make. Too often, a group can stray from it’s agreed upon agenda. While a group may have had a good discussion, if no key decisions were made, then the time could have been used more effectively. While my role is to help the group reach a decision, at no point am I ever telling the group what decision to make. That’s the group’s role. My role is to help get them to that point.
By the end of the Bike Coalition retreat, everyone was excited to move forward. They worked hard during the entire retreat and at the end of the day, came to consensus on how they should move forward. I wish them the best and also look forward to writing more about more detailed aspects of facilitation in future blogs.
Imagine streetcars returning to Los Angeles. Picture a modern, quiet streetcar going down Broadway in Downtown weaving together residences, business and cultural institutions while also facilitating a vibrant street life.
On May 22nd, over 250 people not only imagined what a streetcar in Downtown Los Angeles would look like, they also gained inspiration from places like Portland and Seattle that recently launched their own modern streetcar lines. They all assembled for the “Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century Workshop” held at the historic Orpheum Theater.
Earlier last century, Angelenos abandoned the streetcar. Now it seems, a critical mass is coming together to bring it back to life, and in the process, create more livable communities with welcoming pedestrian environments, mixed-income housing and locally owned businesses.
In attendance were the usual planners and policy makers, as well as local elected officials (such as Councilmembers José Huizar, who’s the streetcars biggest advocate, Jan Perry and Tom Labonge). A large contingency of Downtown LA stakeholders attended, including local business owners, residents, downtown BID’s, Neighborhood Council and those just curious about the concept.
I sensed an excitement in the air, especially as people lingered and networked outside the official panel discussion during lunch and in intermissions. The workshops were informative and covered multiple aspects of streetcars: what other cities have done, the feasibility of bringing the streetcar back to LA, design issues and local case studies.
Several morning panelists referred to streetcars as “development oriented transit” as opposed to the more common term of “transit oriented development”. Streetcars are as much about place making and they are about people moving.
As someone who helped spread the word about this conference, I’m pleased with both the attendance and excitement about the streetcar. While my sense is that the major stakeholders downtown agree on the concept, the challenge moving forward will be going from a good idea to implementation. One of the early morning panelists urged attendees not to get bogged down in planning and studies, but rather just build a simple, short first segment, which would build future momentum. Will the Downtown leadership come to consensus and make this reality? We’ll just have to wait and see.
For more info, check out www.reconnectingamerica.org.
For more info, check out www.reconnectingamerica.org.
Greetings,
Welcome to my new website! In addition to describing the services I provide, background on my experience and my past clients, I’m excited to launch a blog where I will share with you valuable lessons I’ve learned about nonprofit management over the last 11 years. Every week, my goal is to capture a bit of wisdom I’ve learned that will hopefully be a resource to you and your organization. Over time, I hope to build an online library that you can access anytime, on a series of different topics. If there are certain areas you would like for me to address, or questions you have, please email them to me. If you would like to discuss any of these areas in greater detail, please contact me. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Ron
Ready to launch a nonprofit organization? What’s the most important ingredient? Passion. When I launched a nonprofit at age 22, passion fueled my work. When challenges arose, my passion for the organization’s mission helped me navigate through the tough times. With it, I learned everything I needed to success at leading a nonprofit – strategic planning, fundraising, board development, budgeting and so much more. So ask yourself, how passionate are you about the mission of your nonprofit? If your answer is “I’m extremely passionate about the mission of my new nonprofit”, then you’ve got what it takes to make your dream reality.
Let Me Feed You..