(I'm having some fun with Kevin from the LA Poverty Dept. during a strategic planning retreat I facilitated with their leadership)

Since launching my own consulting practice in 2005, I have served 70 organizations. Through my work I interact with passionate leaders working on a variety of issues throughout Southern California. Here's a list of all of the great organizations I have worked with (and here's a link to another blog post I wrote mapping my clients in Southern California). Click the "Read more" link below to see Ron's list of clients.

I recently created a facebook page for my consulting practice and invite you to check it out. I uploaded a bunch of photos from various rereats I facilitated and like how they are all in one place. In the future, I will share best practices I learn of, reflect on my own practice, ask questions and celebrate the work of the fantastic organizations I get to work with. I like the ease of which information and conversation can be shared on the site (much better than this website!). If you like what you see, I encourage you to press the "like" button. Feel free to also post questions on my wall or share your work with me. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

I'm facilitating the third public workshop for the Park to Playa Trail Feasibility Study on November 2nd and I invite you to join us. I'm thrilled to be a part of this project that has explored the possibility of creating one trail with so many fantastic scenic vistas connecting the various parks in Baldwin Hills and eventually out to the sea via Ballona Creek. Here's the link to the full meeting flyer. Thanks to Alta Planning and Design who brought me on to facilitate these meetings along with the MRCA and Baldwin Hills Conservancy who are both key partners in this process. 

I recently facilitated my 14^th Winning Campaigns training for the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking in my hometown of Los Angeles. This fast-paced, interactive training focused on developing a strategy to win a local campaign. I’m thrilled with how the movement for livable streets has grown in Southern California and that so many dynamic leaders have emerged to work on these issues. I’m especially excited that the LA County Bicycle Coalition has taken a leadership role in supporting local affiliates. Check out this great blog post the LACBC wrote on the training. If you’re interested in attending a future Winning Campaigns training, meet me in South Carolina for the next one coming up soon (November 4-6). If you can’t make that one, the Alliance recently released the training dates and locations for 2012.

I recently co-facilitated a retreat for THE Impact Project with Michele Prichard of the Liberty Hill Foundation. “The Trade, Health & Environment Impact Project is a community-academic partnership focused on reducing the impacts of international trade on health and community life.” Over the course of a day, we prioritized the core areas for this innovative partnership to focus on as it moves forward. We succeeded in part because of our co-facilitation. Prior to the retreat, we worked collaboratively to develop an agenda that would help the group reach its goals. During the retreat, we led different portions that helped break up the day. When one of us led, the other took notes. We also split the group up and facilitated simultaneously, allowing the group to accomplish more in less time. For me, I really enjoyed working with Michele and look forward to future co-facilitation opportunities. 

 

I recently led a 1 1/2 hour training on teamwork for staff from Boys and Girls Clubs throughout Southern California. After facilitating a dialog about best practices, challenges and potential solutions for building strong teams, we practiced some team building of our own (with balloons!). We had a lot of fun with the "Boys and Girls Club Soul Train" (pictured above) where the 20+ participants had to work as team to stay together and keep the balloons from dropping to the ground. Afterwards, we had a great discussion about team building and how to take best practices back to their own work environments. Thanks to the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership for asking me to lead this workshop. If there any organizations out there that would like their own customized team work trainings (with or without balloons), please contact me. Thanks. 

At the last CicLAvia, I ran into my friends Will Wright and Sara Daleidan on Spring St., between 4th and 5th St. (pictured above). For five minutes we got off our bikes and all marveled how much we enjoyed CicLAvia. As we chatted, I realized how wonderful it felt to chat with friends in the middle of the street as people whizzed by us on bicycle. We noticed the beautiful architecture, commented on all the smiles we saw and appreciated the peaceful yet highly energizing atmosphere on the streets of Los Angeles. 

When my friend Sara (who I have had the joy of participating with as part of the LA Urban Rangers) asked me if I wanted to collaborate with her to lead some walking tours at the upcoming CicLAvia on October 9^th, I said absolutely!

After brainstorming with Sara, I’m going to lead walking tours on the very same section of Spring Street, between 1^st and 7^th Street. Look for a group people on a temporarily expanded "sidewalk" in the street on this section of CicLAvia exploring the urban landscape. At each block, we’ll focus on a different aspect of what makes a street livable, experience the environment using our different senses and engage in some fun activities. If you’re riding by and see us, I encourage you to take a break from cycling and join us for a block or so to experience CicLAvia on two feet. In addition to me, there will be many other awesome walks like this at the upcoming CicLAvia. Enjoy!

I recently facilitated a dialog between public health officials, city planners and public works engineers about the soon to be released Model Design Manual for Living Streets. After a short overview by Ryan Snyder, who coordinated the whole project of creating the manual, I led a conversation that gaged from participants what parts of the manual they found most useful and how they might implement portions of it. It led to interesting conversations about how to change the culture of public agencies to transition from designing streets primarily for the car to roads that accomidate all users including people on bike, walking, transit, etc. The beautiful thing about this manual is that cities can cut and paste portions from this manual and incorporate it to help shape streets in their own cities. I’m optimistic that this manual will be a great resource to cities around the country and help them make the transition to livable streets. To learn more, check out the Living Streets Manual website, a LAStreetsblog article and/or attend the public launch for the manual at the MTA Board Room on October 6^th at 6:30pm.

 
I recently had the privilege to facilitate and participate in Liberty Hill's Wally Marks Leadership Institute for Change's Convening. The photo above is my view surrounded by inspiring, grassroots leaders working on social change throughout Los Angeles. A leader from each organization shared the story of how they became an organizer. They also shared how their organiation grew over the last seven months as a result of the three-day training they attended, coaching they received throughout the process and peer convenings. Pictured giving his presentation is Zach Hoover, Executive Director of LA Voice, the organization I coached for the last seven months. Zach celebrated the organization's first ever house party hosted by a board member that brought in 15 new donors to the organization and raised nearly $5,000. I'm thrilled to have played a role in making this year's Leadership Institute a success. I appreciate Liberty Hill's investment in its own grantees by developing a dyanmic learning environment that also builds a stronger movement for social change here in Los Angeles.  

What could you imagine along the LA River? This is the question I asked at least 50 people at the recent "Let's Talk River" fundraiser for the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation, a fantastic new organization charged with promoting responsible development, redevelopment, and revitalization of properties along the LA River corridor in accordance with the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. Some shared their responses with me and I drew them while others happily took a marker and began drawing their own ideas. After an hour, we collected an inspiring set of ideas on a 25 foot long piece of paper, including a campsite, concert bowl, river rapids, farmers market, volunteer clean-ups, public access, bike sharing, a vertical farm on the old city jail, boat house, wine bar and so much more! This poster generated lots of conversation, ideas and networking. It also served as a great space to listen to people's good ideas. I really enjoyed this opportunity to serve as a visual facilitator and would encourage organizations to use this method to engage their constituencies in their work. To learn more about the LA River Revitalization Coporation, share your ideas for the River and/or volunteer, check out LARRC's website.

Here's a detail from the drawing (stitching together three different photos):

 

As a facilitator, I think about how I present information that groups generate when I work with them. More and more, I'm working to use alternatives to simple brainstorm lists. While using a list is a good way to generate ideas, 10 pages of lists posted to the walls can feel overwhelming. In the photo above, I use a simple grid on the left hand side illustrating different opportunities for a start-up organization I'm consulting for. The middle two pages use a mandala model, which illutstrate more complex ideas and their relationships to another. On the far right side, I created a more complex decision-making grid for the group to evaluate and rank various projects based on critieria they established. Above the decision-making matrix, I generated the categories based on a brainstorm group members wrote on post-it notes. On all of these pages, I'm also scribing various shapes and colors that convey/highlight various ideas generated. Using these various visual tools, the organization's leadership made a big decision related to its priorities in a very short amount of time. 

Earlier this year, when Glen Dake of GDML, a landscape architecture firm, asked me if I wanted to research community gardens in LA County, I said “definitely!” I first met Glen nearly a decade ago when he worked for Councilmember Garcetti. Since then, I worked more closely with Glen because he served on the LA Neighborhood Land Trust Board along with the Steering Committee of the Green LA Coalition, two consulting clients of mine.

The goal of this report is to present detailed information about community gardens in Los Angeles County and their provisions for 0 to 5 year-old children. In addition, this report aims to understand challenges community gardens face and explore opportunities to make community gardens more accessible for children ages 0 to 5.

For this project, we developed a phone survey and I called 80 community gardens. I reached 38 gardens and their responses form the core of the report’s findings. In addition to gathering facts for this report, I also heard numerous stories about children ages 0 to 5 in community gardens. This process gave me an even greater appreciation for the value community gardens bring to communities.

For anyone interested in community gardens, here is a link to the Los Angeles Community Garden Council, an organization working to connect people with community gardens in their community. 

I recently facilitated a very productive retreat with the Hollywood Community Studio, a fantastic organization working to engage communities in issues related to urban planning. One question that came up for the group, which comes up for many organizations, is what should the geographic scope of the organization be? Just Hollywood? North East LA where they recently secured a grant? Other communities?

Rather than talk about where they focus their work in the abstract, I drew a map of Los Angeles County on a large piece of brown paper.  I oriented the group to the map (with its mountains, waves and buildings for various communities).  I then gave each participant in the group a different colored marker and asked them to circle on the map where they thought the organization should work. For five minutes, they circled places on the map and when they finished, we reviewed the results together.

Based on the visuals we saw on the map, I could tell the group already reached consensus. Within five minutes of discussion, the group prioritized its geographic focus and we moved on to the next topic. Without the map, I’m guessing this conversation would have taken at least an hour if we just talked about it. But with the visuals of the map, we could quickly see the areas that multiple people shaded.

After the retreat, they asked if they could keep the map and post it in their office. I said absolutely! So if you want to see this map in person, check out the Hollywood Community Studio. Enjoy!

I’m happy to celebrate my sixth year as a Consultant. The milestone for me with six years is that it is the longest job I have ever had, longer than the five years I served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition from 1998 to 2003. One common theme emerges for me during my tenure both at the LA County Bicycle Coalition and with my consulting practice: leadership development.  

While at the LA County Bicycle Coalition, I prioritized leadership development with my staff, board and volunteers. I recruited volunteers, trained them, gave them the space to lead, supported them and thanked them for their work. Eight years after I left the organization, I’m thrilled that the LACBC has grown with a dedicated staff, board and volunteer base (check out their new website to learn more and consider becoming a member and/or donor like me).

Since I launched my consulting practice in 2005, I’m proud to report I have served 52 organizations like the LACBC. I have facilitated their retreats, led trainings on a variety of topics and coached numerous leaders. I help groups and leaders figure out where they want to go and how they want to get there. I support them to develop plans to make their dreams reality. I love it working with a diversity of leaders working on a variety of related issues.

Organizations I have consulted for have created parks, community gardens, bicycle lanes, community film centers, restored watersheds, community bike repair spaces, clean ports, leadership development programs, protections for birds, sustainable communities, community on Skid Row, museum education programs, alternative transit, civic engagement, cooperative economies, land trusts, Bikestations, affordable housing, social movements, progressive schools, social services and more! All of this collectively has helped build a more livable, sustainable Los Angeles and Southern California.

To all of my existing clients, thank you for bringing me on and for all of your work. To all of my associates, friends and family, thanks for all of your support. To celebrate my sixth year of consulting, please join me at my next happy hour on June 14th. 

 
I recently facilitated a one-day planning retreat with the leadership of Clifford Beers Housing, a group working to develop supportive housing in Southern California. One of the outcomes of the retreat was reaching consensus on the organization’s long-term goals. We accomplished this goal by using gallery walks, one of the suggestions from my 10 Alternatives to Large Group Discussion blog post.

Gallery Walks help a group work on developing specific language on several different topics simultaneously. It's a great method to use when you need a group to decide multiple goals simultaneously. It engages more people in refining goals than a larger group conversation would and it also gives more introverted participants in a meeting the opportunity to shape a group decisions. 

Here’s how we did it.

After prioritizing a list of four general goal areas, I asked participants to pick one of the four goal areas to develop further. Based on people’s preferences, I split the large group into smaller groups of two to three. I asked each group to further discuss and refine each of the goals so that they were clear, measurable and specific. I gave each of the groups 15 minutes to develop a draft goals statement. Each group had a sheet of poster paper taped to a wall that they could write their notes on using markers I gave them.

After 15 minutes, I asked each of the groups to walk clockwise and review the draft goal developed by the group to their right. For five minutes, folks for Group A reviewed the draft goals of Group B and wrote suggestions up on the poster paper for members of group B to later review (Group B reviewed Group C, Group C reviewed Group D). After five minutes, I asked groups to move clockwise again and take another five minutes to review the next group. So this time, members from group A reviewed comments from Group C. Five minutes later, we did one more rotation allowing members of Group A to review the draft goals developed by Group D.

After 15 minutes of these gallery walks, each of the groups returned to their own draft goals and reviewed the comments from all of the other members of the group. I gave the small groups another 15 minutes to further refine their goals.

After this, we came back together as a large group and because of the gallery walks, the detailed goals were 90% complete.  As a large group, we made some minor variations and achieved consensus on the specific language for each of the goals! 

I recently blogged about the 50+ clients I have served since I launched my consulting practice in 2005. In that post, I listed all of these organizations.

A list is one way to show information; a map is another. 

Since I’m a big fan of maps and was curious to visualize the geographic impact of my consulting work and network of relationships I have cultivated, I created the map above showing the clients I have served in Southern California. Note that most are a short bike ride away from where I live in Echo Park, clustered around Downtown Los Angeles (see detailed section of map below).  The other two clusters are in Long Beach and the Westside. 

I’m pleased to serve so many organizations and with each project, I gain a new perspective of the region I work in, live in and love: Southern California.  

I recently facilitated a planning meeting with the Museum Educators of Southern California (MESC) Board of Directors. Over the course of 2 ½ hours, we prioritized three primary goals and objectives for the organization to focus on over the next two to five years that will strengthen the organization. The photo above is the group using post-it notes to generate and categorize possible ideas for goals to focus on. 

Since we had a large meeting room space, I did something I have never done before. Rather than have each person go around the table to introduce themselves and the museum they’re affiliated with, I asked them all to stand up and move to the center of the room. We figured out which way north was and I asked them to create a map of the region representing where they came from. Folks talked with each other and quickly figured out where they worked in relationship to each other. I can still visualize where folks where stood – from east to west it was Coachella Valley, City of Industry, Pasadena, LA and Santa Monica.  To the north we had Santa Barbara and to the south Orange County.  It immediately gave me a sense for who was in the room and it also served as a fun introduction activity.  It also gave us a sense for how folks came to get to the Skirball Cultural Center where we met. Finally, it helped me understand the geographical diversity of this organization. I would recommend this activity which could be modified to also show where people live, where people were born, etc.

Two other notes related to this meeting.  First, I biked to the meeting with my easel, poster paper and markers all the way from Echo Park along Mulholland Highway, the longest I think I have ever ridden to facilitate a meeting. Second, I want to thank Steven Bowers, one of my Associates, for joining me at the meeting and typing up the notes during the meeting and for snapping some photos, including the one above. 

I recently presented a three-hour “Fundraising Fundamentals” and a 1 1/2 Board Development training at the new Flintridge Center location in Pasadena. The training took place inside of their main library which includes numerous books on building stronger nonprofit organizations and computer terminals to access several funder databases.

During the training, I pointed out the section in the library that pertained to fundraising and participants checked it out during one of the breaks. One book in particular that I noticed and liked was called “Friendraising” by Hildy Gottlieb, which contains very practical strategies for Board members to share their passion for their organizations with people.  For any board member wanting to learn more about fundraising, I recommend they read this book. It book lists a variety of practical and easy ways to make friends for your organization, ranging from having a meal with a friend to hosting a house-party to simple networking at events.  I like the premise of the book that that more friends an organization can have, the better.  Ideally, friends become donors to your organization but even if they stay as non-donors, they are still of value to your organization. The more people that know and appreciate your organization’s work, the better. This book helps reframe “fundraising” to “friendraising”.  So often board members avoid “fundraising” because they equate it to the potentially uncomfortable task of asking for money.  “Friendraising” is more about sharing your passion for your organization, and being thoughtful about how you do it.  When a board member finds out how easy and fun it is to engage “friendraising”, I’m guessing they won’t want to stop.

I also asked Victor from the Library to summarize the various databases they have on their computer terminals, which included the FC search (that contains info on foundations) to Wealth Engine, which gives more info on individual donors. After the training, two participants wound up spending at least a half-hour going through these resources. 

This is all to say that presenting in a library setting enhanced the learning experience.  I look forward to leading two more trainings at Flintridge later this Year (Fundraising Fundamentals 9/14, Board Fundraising 10/13).

 
I'm excited to facilitate the upcoming second workshop for the Park to Playa Trail Feasibility Study on May 3rd.  For anyone interested in helping shape an urban trail in the Baldwin Hills area, I invite you to attend this meeting. For more info, check out the Baldwin Hills Conservancy website. I'm working with Alta Planning and Design on this project and impressed with all of their work putting together this study. Here's a link to a blog post I wrote on the first public workshop I facilitated.

(The following post appears on the Southern California Leadership Network's newly launched Issues forum)
This Sunday April 10^th, the City of Los Angeles will host its second CicLAvia. Last October, 100,000 people participated the first CicLAvia, giving all of them an experience that just may inspire a more sustainable approach to land use, transportation and housing in Southern California.

CicLAvia transforms our streets usually full of traffic into thriving, public places where people participate in active, healthy physical and social activities. It creatively uses resources we already have (streets) and gives a whole new meaning to how we use them. It also presents a vision of what a more bicycle-friendly Los Angeles could look like.

When we think of land use, transportation and housing, it’s important to recognize the role that bicycling can play in helping Southern California transition into a more sustainable, multi-modal transportation systems. The environmental, social, economic and health benefits of bicycling are numerous. The challenge is incorporating bicycling into Southern California’s larger transportation system.

In 1998, a small group of us launched the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. Since then, the movement to create a more bicycle-friendly county has grown tremendously. Here’s a sampling of some of the leadership that’s developed over the last 13 years:

--Advocacy organizations such as the LA County Bicycle Coalition have campaigned for Sharrows, Bike Boulevards, worked to implement a new Bike Plan and ensure the broader 30/10 plan allocates Measure R funds funding for bicycling projects. 

--Community bike repair spaces such as Bike Kitchen, Bike Oven, Bicrowave have provided a space for people to repair their own bikes and build community. 

--An explosion of social rides with five to ten to choose from daily listed on the Midnight Ridazz site have given people the opportunity to experience the city in a dramatically different way.

--Educational organizations such as CICLE have supported rides designed to build people’s confidence to bike on city streets.

--Events like the LA Street Summit, Art Cycle, the Bike Film Festival and CicLAvia have helped build a broader movement for bicycling  

--Blogs like LA Streetsblog have served as a resource for people to stay connected to bicycling related issues.

--There are plenty of other people and organizations also working for a more bike friendly LA and I'm grateful for their efforts.

Together, this movement has dramatically increased the number of people bicycling in Los Angeles. That said, the majority of trips in Los Angeles continue to be made by car. I’m hopeful that people connected to the Southern California Leadership Network consider how they might be able to support this growing movement towards a more bicycle-friendly Los Angeles. That could start by participating in one of the upcoming CicLAvia on April 10^th, July 10th or October 9^th. Thanks and enjoy your ride. 

This year, I'm pleased to serve as the lead trainer and coach for the Liberty Hill Foundation's Wally Marks Leadership Institute Board Development Track. From March 24th to 26th, I led a three day Board Development training focusing on how to engage a Board of Directors in the fundraising process. 

Staff and Board from four organizations attended this training, along with three other coaches in addition to me. We covered six important steps to move a board towards fundraising and also reviewed five fundraising policies in detail. What made the training truly engaging besides the multiple exercises and role-playing I led, was the amount of time each group spent with their coaches to take the best practices they learned and apply them to their own organization.

Through this process, each organization developed three to five specific goals they want to work on that will lead to processes that ultimately strengthen their Boards and organization. Each coach will meet regularly over the next six months to support these organizations as they move forward. 

One reason why I loved leading this training so much is because it combined the three things I love doing for nonprofits into one event: training, facilitation and coaching.  As a trainer, I presented on best practices.  As a facilitator, I led several different discussions where mutual learning took place. As a coach, I listened closely to the leadership of one of the organizations and supported them as they developed a strategy for moving forward.

I’m most impressed with Liberty Hill’s Commitment to its grantees through this comprehensive leadership development program and encourage any social-change oriented organization in Los Angeles to check them out. 

More and more, I’m leading customized trainings for the leadership of nonprofit organizations. Recently, I led an interactive training for an innovative transnational human rights organization – Centro Derechos de los Migrante as part of a board retreat they hosted in Los Angeles.

Having quickly grown from an idea with seed funding from the Echoing Green Foundation into a thriving organization with offices both in the United States and Mexico, they’re dedicated to improving the working conditions of migrant workers in the United States. 

Yet given the scope of the issues they work on, this organization could quadruple in size and still have plenty of work to do which is why they brought me in to lead this three hour training designed to help them and their board develop the skills and tools needed to ensure organizational sustainability.

As always, my trainings give participants the opportunity to practice and then space to reflect together as a group (pictured above). Board members and staff had the opportunity put theory into action, then learn from each other and learn some best practices. This group had one of the key ingredients for leadership – passion for their organization and its mission. By sharing their passion, they will continue to build a base of supporters – an essential ingredient for continued growth. 

Working together with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (a leading environmental justice organization in Southern California), I’m thrilled to take my trainings to a new level, directly to the leadership of their organization during their actual meetings. 

It’s an exciting new format for me where at the start of four Steering Committee meetings over the next several months, I will present a 15-minute training that reviews best practices in facilitation. In each presentation, I go over specific tools a facilitator brings to help support productive meetings, such as facilitating a brainstorm or evaluating a meeting. I then ask for some folks to volunteer to practice what they learned during the meeting. 

I attended my first Steering Committee last week and gave my 15 minute presentation. After that, I observed their meeting and took notes. One member of the group facilitated a brainstorming process that yielded a bunch of great ideas. Two other members facilitated a process at the end of the meeting to evaluate what went well during the meeting and what could be improved (pictured above).  I asked each of the folks who facilitated to share how it went for them and also asked the group to give feedback. I then gave some feedback. Altogether, we all experienced a dynamic, hands-on learning experience where participants immediately put theory into action.  

I recently led a customized training for the Board of Directors of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation California Chapter. I covered issues related to fundraising along with general Board member responsibilities. 

After the training, I received the following feedback from one of the participants in the meeting:

“We just wanted to again thank you for such a wonderful, informative and inspiring presentation last night.  You did such an amazing job and reached all of our expectations.”

I really enjoy presenting trainings like this directly for Board of Directors. If your Board needs a training, check out the list of trainings I provide and please contact me if I can be of service to you. 

I recently facilitated a strategic planning retreat for LAPD (that’s the L.A. Poverty Department in case you were wondering). For the last 25 years, LAPD has engaged community members in Skid Row to create performances that address issues within the community.

Since I started this project late last year, I facilitated a board meeting to begin the planning and interviewed 10 external stakeholders from the community, arts leaders and supporting foundations. Most recently, I planned and facilitated a day-long retreat with the organization’s leadership in Yucca Valley, near Joshua Tree. 

With an inspiring landscape all around us, the organization’s leadership made progress developing its vision, values, five-year core strategies and goals. We spent some of the time discussing items as a group such as prioritizing core strategies and other times in smaller groups to draft out initial goals (pictured above). We had some lively discussions and used a variety of methods to prioritize and make important decisions. I look forward to working with LAPD’s leadership to finalize and ultimately approve a new plan for moving forward.

Throughout the process, I have enjoyed learning more about the issues surrounding the community and how the creation of art plays a critical role in building community and raising awareness. I attended LAPD’s recent State of Incarceration performance and would highly recommend you check out their work.

I recently facilitated a successful Board retreat for the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition.  In just five short hours, the group clarified its vision, strategies and goals. 

As a facilitator, I designed a fun, fast paced, engaging process for the group to develop its vision statement from scratch.  The exercise took two hours and resulted in group consensus around the key elements of a vision along with near-final language.  Here’s how I facilitated the process:

After quickly defining a vision for the group and giving some examples, I asked all of them to write down a few sentences that captured each of their own visions for the organization for five minutes. Based on this, I asked them to write five key words or phrases that captured each of their main points.  To continue the brainstorm, I asked for three volunteers to give a one-minute presentation (as a news reporter reporting on the community 25 years from now).  After each short presentation (which generated a lot of good laughter), I encouraged the other participants to write a word or phrase that came to them.

Next, I asked them all to stand up and post their eight post-it notes on the wall and for five minutes, connect post-its that related to each other in silence. I enjoyed watching them connect their ideas together. For the next five minutes, I encouraged them to continue connecting post-its while also talking with someone next to them.  I then asked the group if any categories emerged and seven key areas arose that the group agreed on (which took about another five minutes).

Based on the categories they develeped, I asked for two volunteers for each group and split the group into seven small groups. Each group’s task was to further digest the information from the category they volunteered for and write one vision-like sentence describing that category. I suggested the one extra person not in a group (the Executive Director) move between groups during this time. The groups met for about 15 minutes.  I ask one-member to write the sentence on the board and the other member to read it for the rest of the group.

We then reflected and commented on these sentences as a group.  Knowing that having a group of 15 to refine the language of a vision statement could take forever and also be a frustrating process to go through, I asked if anyone would be interested in refining the language further and propose some specific language and options at the next board meeting. Four people volunteered. I then asked the group if anyone had any major concerns with the concepts and language developed so far -   none were raised. I read through the draft vision statement and asked people to raise their hand if they supported the general concept and language so far, with the understanding that the group of four volunteers will refine the language by the next board meeting for a final vote.  We reached full consensus!

While the majority of my work keeps me bicycling around the City of Los Angeles, I spent a considerable amount of time last year in Long Beach working on four different projects (still biking in Long Beach with the assistance of the Blue line). 

Working with the City of Long Beach and Alta Planning and Design, I facilitated six focus groups last year as part of their PLACE grant (an innovative program launched by the LA County Department of Health).  I’m pleased to report the City of Long Beach continues to make inspiring strides towards reaching its goal of becoming the “most bicycle friendly city in America”.  I recently received a summary of Long Beach’s progress to date from Charlie Gandy, the City’s Bicycle Coordinator, and encourage you to check it out (here's the link).

In addition, I facilitated planning processes for two Long Beach groups. The first, City Fabrick, works to transform Long Beach into a sustainable city. The second was a group of local leaders working to bring a TED conference to Long Beach and really showcase all of the innovative work going on down there.  Finally, I recently led another training at the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership, a fantastic local resource for nonprofit organizations.  

All in all, I kept very busy in Long Beach facilitating more than 15 meetings and two trainings! I’m impressed with the local leadership down there and wish them the best as they move forward. I hope to deepen my own understanding of Southern California by working with local leaders from other cities in the region (especially ones that have a light rail or Metrolink connection). 

Board members play a critical role in fundraising for the nonprofit organizations they govern.  Yet, more often than not, nonprofits struggle to meaningfully and effectively engage Board of Directors in the fundraising process.

On January 26^th I led a 3 ½ hour training focusing on Building Fundraising Boards.  Hosted by the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership for staff and board members of organizations supported by the John Gogian Foundation, this highly interactive workshop gave participants the opportunity to discuss, role play, observe and reflect on issues surrounding Board fundraising. 

We covered topics such as inspiring a Board member’s passion, reframing what fundraising means, what tools and skills are needed, ways in which to engage members and the leadership/support needed to ensure long term success.  We also talked about steps to enlist new board members over time. For more tips, check out an old blog post of mine that shares 10 quick tips for engaging your Board in fundraising. 

After the training, I received very positive feedback from a number of attendees who both enjoyed the  and learned a lot.  One asked if I lead customized trainings directly for Board of Directors.  I have led customized trainings for Boards and/or staff members of organizations.  Here’s a link to the trainings I provide, which I’m happy to customize for any organization.  Please contact me if you would like to discuss further.

In 2010, I served as a coach to six grantees of the Liberty Hill Foundation as part of their Wally Marks Leadership Institute.  On January 26, 2011, Liberty Hill hosted an event to celebrate the first year of this successful program.  When they asked me before the event if I wanted to introduce one of the leaders I worked with, I responded with an emphatic “absolutely”. 

I introduced Dawn Sanders, President of Black Women for Wellness, one of the organizations I coached for the Board Development track.  I briefly shared how I was impressed with her passion, commitment and leadership.  Dawn then shared how the coaching helped their organization take some important next steps in enlisting new board members. 

I found so many people in the room inspiring and enjoyed connecting with leaders from other organizations I coached as well.  I’m thrilled that Liberty Hill actively supports the leadership development of the organizations it funds.  I’m also excited to continue serving Liberty Hill grantees this year not only as a coach, but as the lead trainer for an intensive, three-day Board Development training.  

On Tuesday, January 25^th, I facilitated a public workshop for the Park to Playa Trail Feasibility Study.  Over 50 people from the community came and spent the majority of the meeting in one of four similar break out sessions providing numerous suggestions and input on maps of the project area. 

After introducing the various project partners from a variety of public agencies and the planning team from Alta Planning and Design, I led the introductions in a participatory way that set the tone for the rest of the meeting. 

Rather than go around the room and have people say their name and where they lived sitting down, which I knew would take awhile given such a large group, I instead asked folks to stand up if the answer was yes to a series of questions I then asked the group:  Who here loves the parks within Baldwin Hills (everyone stood up!). Who here enjoys the Park at least once a year (still everyone stood up).  Once a Quarter (some people stared sitting down). Once a month? Once a week?  We all watched with curiosity and excitement to see who would be standing the longest and everyone clapped when only a handful of folks were still standing after we asked who used the parks on a daily basis. Lots of smiles. 

I then asked who lived within a mile of the park and who lived more than a mile away (nearly an even split, which was helpful to know).  We then asked some questions to get a sense of how people liked to spend time at the park (running, walking, bicycling, etc.). As we finished the exercise, I let participants know there would be plenty of small time in small groups for them to introduce themselves to each other during the break out sessions. 

In less than five minutes, we learned a great deal about who was in attendance and as one participant joked, we gave everyone a work out as well!  I would recommend this process to anyone needing to introduce a large number of people to each other in a short amount of time. 

We wound up having a tremendously engaging meeting that generating site-specific suggestions for Alta Planning and Design to now synthesize into the Trail Feasibility Planning Process.  We’ll have two more public workshops over the next several months and if you’re interested in this project, I encourage you to attend (you might wind up standing up several times as we introduce everyone to each other).  More info on the project can be found on the Baldwin Hills Conservancy webpage. 

I’m pleased to partner again with Alta Planning and Design to facilitate several upcoming meetings as part of their Park to Playa Planning Process with the MRCA and County of Los Angeles.  Above is the flyer for the first public workshop I’m facilitating.  I invite you to attend this meeting and/or fill out the online survey.  More info about Baldwin Hills and the various parks/trails within it can be found at the Baldwin Hills State Conservancy homepage.  
 

Last week, I facilitated another board retreat for the Beverly Vermont Community Land Trust that led to them deciding specific goals for their exciting work over the next year. 

The photo above is from a portion of the retreat we had where after breaking up into three smaller groups to brainstorm answers to three different questions, each group reported back to the larger group.  Since retreats can involve a lot of sitting, I suggested we move to a different part of the room and hear the reports standing up. 

This gave everyone a chance to stretch a little and see things from a different perspective. I would recommend an activity like this at least once during a day long retreat. 

In 2010, I celebrated my fifth year of consulting and kept very busy throughout the year. I’m pleased to report I consulted for 20 organizations, facilitated 35 meetings and led 26 trainings attended by 400 people. My role as a consultant helped strengthen the following organizations, which in turn all played a key role towards transforming Los Angeles into a sustainable city (links to these organizations can be found on my facilitation and fundraising pages):

FACILITATION
Alliance for Biking and Walking:  Facilitated a group dialog with over 100 participants at the Alliance’s retreat for this national alliance of bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations.

Alta Planning and Design:  Facilitated six focus groups related to bicycling for the City of Long Beach, one public meeting for the Culver City Bicycle Master Plan and another meeting for the Park to Playa Trail Feasibility Study in Baldwin Hills (if you're interested in connecting the trails within Baldwin Hills, click here to fill out a short survey).

Bikeable Communities:  Facilitated six planning meetings to launch a new sustainable city initiative in Long Beach.

City of Seal Beach:  Facilitated eight, three-hour long community meetings to resolve the issue of a polluting gas station.

Echo Park Time Bank:  Facilitated a one-day board retreat to develop annual goals for this local organization promoting an alternative economy.

LA Poverty Department (LAPD):  Began facilitating a strategic planning process for this 25-year old arts organization working to build community in Skid Row.

Liberty Hill Foundation:  Provided coaching on board development to six social change organizations supported by Liberty Hill and also facilitated a meeting with all of the coaches (organizations included:  CLUE LA, LA Voice, Black Women for Wellness, CHIRLA, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and the Jordan/Rustin Coalition)

Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing Developers (SCANPH):  Facilitated a board meeting and process to enhance fundraising for this association of affordable housing developers in LA.

Southern California Leadership Network:  Planned and facilitated three one-day seminars for a leadership development program I would highly recommend.

TEDxSoCal:  Facilitated five planning meetings to host a local TED conference in Long Beach.

FUNDRAISING
Housing LA:  I reviewed past grant proposals for this coalition advocating for progressive housing policies in LA.

John Burton Foundation:  I served as a reviewer for a round of grants they funded.

LA Voice:  I worked with their staff and board to create and implement a fund development plan for this congregation-based social change organization.

SOAR Charter School:  I worked to implement the fund development plan I wrote with them and successfully secured two state grants for over $450,000.

THAIS, INC:  I reviewed past grant proposals and worked with staff to develop new proposals for this organization providing needed health services to the Thai community in LA.

TRAININGS
Led trainings on facilitation, fundraising and/or board development for the Alliance for Biking and Walking (4 trainings), Flintridge Center (3), LA Eco-Village (4), Center for Nonprofit Management (8), Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership (2).  Also led trainings/discussions at the LA Streets Summit, Rail LA Pecha Kucha, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, THAIS., Inc and for the Venice Community Housing Corporation.

TRAVEL
For either work or play (I often get the two mixed up), I had the opportunity to travel to the following places in 2010:  Mexico City, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tijuana, Catalina, Denver/Rockies, Burlington, VT, New York City, Columbus, OH, Asheville, NC, Big Sur, Ojai, San Francisco, Chattanooga, TN, the following UC Natural Reserve Sites: Kenneth Norris UNRS in Cambria, CA, Dawson north of San Diego and Oil Point north of Santa Barbara

HAPPY HOURS
Six times over the course of the year I hosted happy hours that brought together a fantastic group of people.  Expect more in 2011!

GROWING MY PRACTICE
Early in 2010, I brought on Bob McKechnie on as an intern.  He quickly proved himself capable of assisting me with fundraising and I promoted him to my Associate.  I continue to value his work.

GIVING BACK
I gave over $1,000 to various organizations and also provided pro-bono support to three organizations.  I also continued my service with the LA Urban Rangers.

For all of the incredible leaders I got to work with this year, I want to thank you for all of your hard work to transform Los Angeles into a sustainable city. I look forward to growing my consulting practice in 2011 and serving even more organizations. If you would like to discuss how I might be of service to your organization, whether it be as a facilitator, coach or trainer, please give me a call at (323) 793-0591 or email me.

Earlier in the year, I blogged about my role as a coach for the Wally Marks Leadership Institute at the Liberty Hill Foundation. As a coach, I'm providing support for their Board Development Track. In addition to the three Liberty Hill grantees I've coached for the last several months (CHIRLA, CLUE and LA Voice), I'm now enjoying working with three more organizations:  Black Women for Wellness, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice and the Jordan/Rustin Coalition. I have really enjoyed working with so many leaders committed to social justice here in Los Angeles. Working one-on-one or in groups of two or three, all of the groups I'm working with have made real strides towards reaching the goals they developed.  For anyone interested in learning more about this Leadership Institute, check out the Liberty Hill website. 

(view from the top of the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook)

I’m thrilled to currently work on the development of two trail systems, one in Baldwin Hills and another in Downtown Los Angeles.

In Baldwin Hills, I’m facilitating agency stakeholder meetings along with the general public outreach meetings for the development of a Park to Playa Trail.  There will be a first public meeting soliciting feedback earlier next year.  I’m working with Alta Planning and Design on this and together we are working closely with the MRCA, Baldwin Hills Conservancy and several other stakeholders.  If anyone hasn’t been to the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, I highly recommend this short trail with a spectacular view, especially at Sunset.

On a more creative note, outside of consulting, I continue to be an active part of the Los Angeles Urban Rangers.  With the support from the Orange County Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles,  we’re developing a trail system in Downtown Los Angeles (yes, Downtown LA!).  These trails will explore different themes and hopefully deepen people’s understanding and appreciation of the downtown ecosystem. 

Developing trails are more complicated than you think.  Questions like who will use this trail, how will they access it and what will its route be all involve plenty of thought and planning.  I’m learning a lot through this process, which has given me a greater appreciation for all of the other trails I enjoy hiking in Griffith Park, Elysian Park, the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains. 

If you have any suggestions for how to develop these trails, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks!

(Representatives from the MRCA share their work to green the Pacoima Wash with Leadership LA Fellows)

Over the last year, I planned and facilitated three issue days for the Southern California Leadership Network.  For the Leadership Southern California program, this included a day exploring Land Use, Transportation and Housing along the Eastside Gold Line Extension.  For the Leadership Los Angeles Program, this included a day focusing on health care and most recently, last month we spent and entire day exploring one neighborhood in Los Angeles: Pacoima. Here’s a link to some photos from our day in Pacoima from the SCLN newsletter. 

I really enjoy working with SCLN and would highly recommend the program to anyone considering building their understanding of regional and local issues, enhance their leadership skills and strengthen their network with other civic-minded individuals. 

In the process of working with SCLN, I deepened my own understanding of the complexities and beauties of Los Angeles.  I also met an impressive group of SCLN fellows and community leaders.  This Wednesday, I look forward to attending SCLN’s annual Visionaries luncheon and invite you to attend if you’re interested. 

(Planting a the "Susie Forest" at the Alliance Retreat)

I recently spent four days in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking Leadership Retreat, attended by over 100 leaders from state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. 

Having attended this retreat annually from 1998 to 2003 as Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, I really enjoyed reconnecting with some old friends and meeting a whole new generation of dynamic leaders from both the United States and Canada. 

During the retreat, I led an Advanced Fundraising session, facilitated a 1 ½ hour conversation with the entire group discussing engaging communities of color and provided one-on-one coaching to 15 leaders to discuss issues within their organizations in more detail.

I’m so impressed with how the bicycle and pedestrian movement continues to expand and am thrilled I could contribute to this through my work as a consultant. 

To close the retreat, we planted a tree in honor of Susie Stephens.  Susie helped launch the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking as its first Director.  She also played an enormous role in my life as a mentor and friend during my time at the LACBC. I still think of Susie all the time and this tree planting memorial meant a great deal to me.  I’m happy her spirit lives on!

(I'm checking out my grandparents photo album of their trip to Thailand with Danny of THAIS, Inc. at their monthly Senior Luncheon)

Earlier this year I started consulting for THAIS, Inc., an organization connecting the Thai community in Los Angeles to needed health and social services.  Soon after starting work with them, I visited Thailand and when I returned, the folks at THAIS, Inc. asked if I would make a presentation to their monthly senior luncheon.  I said absolutely and also invited my own grandparents and my Associate Bob to join the presentation (all of whom had also traveled to Thailand).

I showed about 40 photos I took in Thailand and shared with them aspects of Thailand I would love to see more in Los Angeles (street food and street closures among other things).  I also reflected on how I felt like I now better understand my own city of Los Angeles and its sizable Thai community. 

I’m very grateful that through my own work, I have the opportunity to interact with different leaders and a wide variety of communities.  

I’m planning another Leadership Los Angeles Seminar for the Southern California Leadership Network.  The theme of this upcoming seminar is “Neighborhood Development” and we’ll spend the entire day in Pacoima. 

I recently met with Nury Martinez from Pacoima Beautiful and was impressed with all of their environmental justice work in the  community. 

If you have any suggestions for speakers, please let me know.  We’re looking for local leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors to share more about their work in the community.  If you have any suggestions for places to visit in Pacoima, please email me your thoughts as well. Thanks.

(I don't have any photos of Matt but I do have a photo of some of the
recommendations Alta presented at a recent meeting in Culver City)

I’m continually impressed watching the movement for a bicycle-friendly Los Angeles grow and prosper in Los Angeles.  Many people make up this movement and I’m writing to recognize one person who has worked hard over the last 10 years in the public sector, nonprofit sector and private sector: Matt Benjamin. 

After graduating from UCLA Planning School, Matt worked for the Metro in their Bikeway department and helped get numerous projects connecting bicycling with transit off the ground.  Just after I left directing the LA County Bicycle Coalition, Matt joined the organization as its Planning Director and led a major planning effort engaging low-income, immigrant bicyclists in the bicycle planning process.  Most recently, he led the LA office of Alta Planning and Design, working for clients such as the City of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Culver City. 

While I’m sad that Matt will be leaving Los Angeles, I’m happy for him and very appreciative of all of the hard work he’s put in to help make Los Angeles a better city to bike in.  Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Matt.  Most recently, I teamed up with Alta Consulting and facilitated six focus group meetings for the City of Long Beach and one large public meeting for the Culver City Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan.   

I wish Matt the best as he continues his work outside of Southern California. I also look forward to a new generation of leaders working hard to continue transforming LA into a great place to bicycle, or as the LACBC puts it in their vision statement, "a great place for everyday, year-round cycling; a Los Angeles with healthier, more vibrant communities, where the air is cleaner, streets are safer and quieter; a Los Angeles where people can live, work and thrive."

The other day, I rode over my first set of Sharrows on the 4th St. Bicycle Boulevard in Los Angeles.  I congratulate the LA County Bicycle Coalition and countless others who worked to make these bicycle improvements in Los Angeles reality.  For more information about this, check out the LACBC blog. 

If I remember correctly, staff and volunteers developed the blueprint for this campaign a few years back during a "Winning Campaigns" Training I led for the Alliance for Biking and Walking.  Over the years, I have led 10 of these trainings in various cities across the country and am scheduled to lead three more this year in Columbus (Aug 6-8) , Burlington (Oct 22-24) and Asheville (Nov. 5-7).   I invite you to learn more about these trainings on the Alliance for Biking and Walking's webpage, and also invite you to join me. 

LSC Fellows look on as James Rojas, Co-Founder of the Latino Urban Forum
shows the model he created to showcase the future public transportation system
in Los Angeles as proposed by the Mayor's 30/10 plan. 

The Friday before I left for Mexico City, I facilitated a day-long seminar focussing on Land Use, Transportation and Housing for the Southern California Leadership Network's Leadership Southern California Class.  Here's a description of the day from SCLN's recent newsletter.  

Below that is more information about the Leadership Southern California Class, which is currently accepting applications (due at the end of the week).  A few years back, I participated in the program and would highly recommend it to build both your understanding of regional issues as well as network you with other civic-oriented leaders. 

Leadership Southern California 2010 analyzes the challenges and opportunities of Transit-Oriented Development One of the most difficult challenges facing Southern California today relates to land use, housing and transportation. As the region's population continues to grow, vehicle traffic, road infrastructure and uncertainty over the price of oil have become issues of concern. A shift towards transit-oriented development (TOD) and efficient use of land has led to new initiatives and projects, some of which were examined last week by the Leadership Southern California 2010 Fellows. "The federal funding strategy our region initiated has empowered local communities to raise transportation funds on their own," said Denny Zane, Move LA, on the significance of the 30/10 transportation initiative. "This has been seen by the federal government and other local governments as a template for projects nationwide." The Chamber is currently working with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office, Metro and Move LA on next steps for 30/10.  For more information visit www.leadershipnetwork.org or follow SCLN on Twitter@SCLN.  View photo gallery.   

Last Week to Apply for Leadership Southern California Class of 2011
With several exciting additions to the LSC curriculum, the 2011 class promises to be the most relevant, engaging program to date. The 2011 class will include a regional seminar in Ventura County, where participants will explore the people, places and trends affecting business and technology, coastal communities and agriculture; as well as a two-day seminar on natural resources management, with the new addition of energy. The new, two-day orientation session will feature activities focusing on the Internal Dynamics of Leadership, in partnership with the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. This new component focuses on executive education practices dedicated to managing one's self in the midst of dynamic, changing, challenging and sometimes stressful situations.  Please share this information with a colleague who may be interested. View more information and apply now.

For those of you not on my email list, here's a link to the recent monthly email update I just sent out.  In it, I share some lessons from Mexico City, tips for starting a nonprofit and updates on my consulting work. Enjoy!  If you would like to receive future monthly news updates sent directly to your inbox, please contact me and let me know. 
Thanks, 
Ron

The Liberty Hill Foundation continues to fund progressive, social-change oriented organizations working to transform Los Angeles into an equitable, livable city.  This year, Liberty Hill established the Wally Marks Institute for Leadership.  When Liberty Hill called me to ask if I could provide personalized coaching for some of their grantees participating in their Leadership Institute, I immediately said yes.

Since then, I have enjoyed working with three of their most dynamic organizations – CHIRLA, CLUE and LA Voice.  My role as a coach is to work with the leadership of these organizations to enhance their capacity around board development issues.  For each organization, we developed a series of goals and are now meeting on a regular basis between now and December to make their goals reality.

As always, I enjoy learning about the issues these organizations work on, ranging from human rights, economic justice and health care.  

A small group of LLA Members meeting with the
Executive Director of Clinica Romero

Last Friday, I planned and facilitated a thought-provoking seminar for the Southern California Leadership Network's Leadership Los Angeles class.  Below is a description of the day SCLN wrote for their newsletter.  This week, I'm working on putting together another seminar for SCLN's Leadership Southern California Class focussing on Land Use, Transportation and Housing.  

Having participated in the Leadership Southern California Program, I would recommend the program to anyone interested in engaging more with regional issues and building a stronger professional network.  Right now, Leadership Southern California is recruiting applicants...check out their website for more info.

Leadership L.A. 2010 evaluates the impact of national healthcare reform on Los Angeles
The Leadership L.A. Class of 2010 continued its nine-month program with a session on Friday, June 11 focusing on health care in Los Angeles. The Fellows met at LAC+USC Medical Center with Dr. Hector Flores, Director, Family Care Specialists Medical Group to discuss the impact national reform has had on Los Angeles' local health care providers and practitioners.  As part of the day, Fellows also met with Jennifer Ybarra, Program Manager, The California Endowment, and toured the Legacy LA facilities and Ramona Gardens neighborhood.  Ybarra stated "it's not enough to have health insurance. A healthy community shapes an individual's quality of life. Lou Calanche, Executive Director, Legacy LA, highlighted key issues that still inhibit quality of life in Ramona Gardens, such as air quality and access to quality food. Excursions moderated by Pete Delgado, President & CEO, LAC + USC Healthcare Network, among others, gave the Fellows the opportunity to analyze three different systems used to provide medical services in LA: public hospitals, private hospitals, and community clinics. Read more@SCLN. View photo gallery.

(David from Alta Planning and Design receiving
input at one of the break out stations)

Approximately 75 people participated in the bicycle and pedestrian planning process in Culver City on June 12th for a three-hour community workshop.  The workshop started with a presentation of the plan, presented by David Pulsipher from Alta Consulting.  The Public Advisory Committee, made up of community members, then gave their input on the plan.  One of the committee members, Ron Durgin, made the case for inserting a stronger vision into the plan.  He showed the inspiring, short Streetfilms video, Long Beach Shifts Cycling in to High Gear, which earned the audience’s applause.

For the next hour and a half, meeting participants shared their comments and suggestions for the plan, first by making general comments in front of the large group, and then by breaking up into four smaller groups to give input on proposed maps, programs, recommendations and a prioritized list of bicycle and pedestrian improvement projects. The meeting closed with David reviewing next steps, which incorporates the public’s input, the plan going in front of the City’s planning committee and eventually going before the city council.

It’s not too late to provide feedback on this plan – the deadline is June 18^th.  

I appreciate all the work that so many people have put into this process.  I also enjoyed facilitating this workshop and wish the community the best as they move forward.  

I'm looking forward to facilitate a community workshop in Culver City this Saturday.  Here's more information about the meeting from the Culver City website:

Community Workshop this Saturday - June 12th.  Please come to the final community workshop to discuss Culver City's first Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan.  The workshop will be held in Veteran's Memorial Auditorium from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. See you on Saturday!

The Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan is available for review on the Documents page. Please review it and come to the June 12 workshop to provide feedback.

Comments on the Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan are due by Friday, June 18.  You can submit your comments here.

A little bit about the project...

The Culver City Bicycle and Pedestrian Initiative aims to help residents and visitors overcome these barriers. The initiative will compile updates in policy, program and infrastructure into the City’s first comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. This plan will guide the improvements for cycling and walking citywide.

Additionally, the impending 2010 arrival of the Exposition Light Rail Transit line and the bikeway alongside it, on the edge of the city, provides an excellent opportunity to enhance the adjacent area, promoting safe and comfortable non-motorized access to the station. The initiative features a physical project element that will focus on providing bicyclists and pedestrians with these connections—the Expo to Downtown Bicycle and Pedestrian Connector.

We hope you participate in this process to make Culver City a place that offers active, sustainable and safe lifestyles, where people bike and walk for transportation and recreation.

Five years ago this month, I launched my own consulting practice.   Since then, I’m pleased to report I have consulted for over 40 nonprofit organizations primarily in the areas of facilitation and fundraising. 

I love my work.  I get to work with dynamic leaders working on a variety of issues throughout Southern California.   With each project, I learn about my client’s work to create parks and open space, develop affordable housing, transform streets into bicycle-friendly places, create sustainable communities and so much more.  I also learn more about how to make meetings even more effective and how to engage staff and board members around successful fundraising strategies. 

To celebrate, I plan to hold another happy hour on Tuesday, June 22nd, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Silverlake Wine.  As always, my happy hours are places where I invite all of my clients and friends to share a drink and discuss the issues of the day.   I invite you to join us.

We’ll see what the next five years bring.  I hope to serve even more organizations that are working to transform Southern California into a sustainable region.  Thanks for all of your interest and support.

I'm excited to attend a fundraiser for the Liberty Hill Foundation, and invite you to join me.  Below is more information about their signature fundraising event.  I'm pleased to continue serving the Liberty Hill Foundation as a Consultant.  Having led many fundraising trainings for their grantees over the last few years, I'm currently serving as a coach for four of their grantees to build their capacity around board development issues.  Both Liberty Hill and their grantees they fund continue to inspire me with their work for social change in Los Angeles. 

Now that health care reform has passed, what does it mean for Los Angeles? What local leaders are implementing innovations in health care in Los Angeles?  If you have thoughts on these questions, please let me know. 

I’m excited to again work with the Southern California Leadership Network and help them plan and facilitate their upcoming issue day on Health Care for their Leadership Los Angeles Program.

Last week, I met with a group of current Leadership fellows and alumni, and we brainstormed possible themes, speakers and site visits for this upcoming issue day in June.  Based on their input and working with staff from SCLN, I’ll be working to design this one-day learning experience.  Through the process, I look forward to building my own understanding of health care and also meeting many talented leaders throughout the process. 

I do the majority of my consulting in Southern California but occasionally work for clients in other places.  Over the last several months, I have worked closely with the leadership of SOAR Charter school in Denver to help launch a new school. 

Before Gianna Cassetta started work to create SOAR Charter School, I worked closely with her and her husband Marc Waxman in Harlem, New York, at Future Leaders Institute Charter School. 

When Gianna called me to ask if I could help them with their new school, I joined the team immediately.  Gianna is an exceptional leader who has recruited a strong Board of Directors to launch a rigorous, progressive school in one of Denver’s lower-income communities.  It’s a model that I would love see replicated in Los Angeles.

Working closely with Gianna and her board, I created a fund development plan which I am now working to implement.  I wrote one grant that’s secured the school $375,000 in support and am also working to help build a base of individual donors to the school.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out the school’s first enewsletter sent out today. 

 Here's a link to my March Newsletter with tips + updates

I’m excited to attend tonight’s Green LA Fundraiser and encourage you to attend if you support building a strong environmental movement to win campaigns that transform Los Angeles into a sustainable City.

This movement is made up of a lot of smart, talented and committed people – many of whom I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with as a Consultant.   Over the last six months, I have worked extensively with the leadership of the Green LA Coalition and can tell you they have what it takes to affect positive change in Los Angeles.

Here’s more information about the event:

I hope to see you there. 

I'm excited to report one of my past clients, the Bike Kitchen, just launched a fundraising campaign. I'm really impressed with all of their work and just mailed in a check for $100 to help them reach their fundraising goal.  If you ride your bike in Los Angeles, I encourage you to also donate to their campaign so they can continue providing valuable services to the community. For more info and to donate, check out their blog at: http://bicicocina.blogspot.com/. 

Speaking of donations, I'm leading two fundraising workshops later this week.  One on hosting fundraising events this Thursday and another on researching and cultivating a donor base on friday. For more info, check out my calendar. 

Thanks Bike Kitchen!

I’m keeping busy this week with facilitation and am excited to have the opportunity to work with so many groups.  Here’s a quick glimpse of my schedule:

Tuesday:
-Facilitating a subcommittee of Green LA Coalition

-Facilitating a community meeting for the City of Seal Beach

Thursday:
-Leading a seminar at the Center for Nonprofit Management on planning successful fundraising events

-Facilitating a discussion with the Board of Directors of LA Voice

Friday
-Leading a seminar at the Flintridge Foundation on Researching and Cultivating Donors

-Facilitating a discussion with the Board of the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Hosing Developers

I’m thrilled to work with so many leaders of so many organizations working for positive change in Los Angeles. 

I’m excited to be working with the leadership at LA Voice to create a fund development plan.  LA Voice is an interfaith organization engaging congregation members on a number of social change related issues in Los Angeles, including affordable housing, homelessness and health care.  For an inspiring video about the organization’s work, click here.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many organizations to create a fund development plan, including having recently developed a plan for SOAR Charter School.  A fund development plan helps chart a future fundraising course for a nonprofit organization and contains the following: 

• An assessment of the organization’s current fundraising generated from a fundraising audit and leadership survey
• A review of the organizations fundraising materials, including past grant proposals, cover letters and appeal letters
• Development of an overall goal targeting specific strategies to achieve that goal
• A timeline/workplan to implement plan
• A list of possible funding sources
• A staffing plan
• An appendix with additional resources. 

If you or your organization would like more information about how I may be able to assist you with the creation of a fund development plan, please contact me.

I recently completed a consulting project that took several months for the Green LA Coalition.  Green LA works to build a strong movement to win campaigns that can transform Los Angeles into a sustainable city.

For this project, I collaborated closely with another consultant, Beth Steckler.  For this project, we interviewed over 30 people within the Coalition’s leadership and outside the organization, along with surveying the entire membership with an online survey.  Based on this work, we developed an assessment report and later facilitated a day-long strategic visions retreat for the Coalition’s Steering Committee.  From all of the information we gathered through these efforts, we presented a final report with recommendations for how the Coalition could strengthen itself as it moves forward so that it could have the greatest possible impact in making Los Angeles a more sustainable city. 

I’m pleased to report the Steering Committee approved the majority of our recommendations and has asked Beth and I to continue consulting for them to help them implement our recommendations. 

I also look forward to attending Green LA’s upcoming awards fundraiser on March 15^th, from 6pm to 9pm, and invite you to attend.

I’m very pleased to be working with the leadership at the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH).   SCANPH creates affordable housing opportunities for low-income people by expanding the knowledge, capacity and influence of the nonprofit development sector.  Over the years, SCANPH has championed affordable housing in Southern California and helped build a strong network of local affordable housing developers that have generated housing that’s affordable.   SCANPH also has some excited plans to green development in the future, which I’m especially excited to see happen. 

I’m working with the organization’s leadership to build their fundraising capacity so that they’re able to bring in the needed resources to do their good work.  I’m excited to attend their upcoming Board meeting in March to work with the entire Board of Directors on engaging in the fundraising process.  For some tips on how to build a fundraising Board of Directors, check out my recent blog post.

Good listening skills are essential to anyone who wants to successfully facilitate a meeting.  It’s also my number one tip on my “Top 10 Tips for Facilitators”.

As a facilitator, you need to listen closely to what everyone has to say.  Since you are there to serve the entire group, you must actively listen so you can better understand where everyone is coming from so you can help them accomplish whatever they want to accomplish as a group.  Part of the trust you build with the group you facilitate depends on them believing you hear them.  Not only that, your active listening will help ensure other people within the group listen to each other, and actually hear what they have to say.  When folks within a group listen to each other, they are more likely to understand each other and that helps make it a little easier for the group to come to sustainable agreements.

Here are three quick and easy ways to listen:

1. Mirroring:  When someone says something (that isn’t too long), you repeat the words back verbatim to the person who said it.  This is a tactic I often use when I’m facilitating a br Save ainstorming session with a group.
2. Summarizing:  People often take a minute or two to make their point to the larger group.  If I’m facilitating a discussion, I’ll often quickly summarize what someone says to make sure I heard it right.  The point also gets reiterated to the group.   If my summary is slightly off, the person will correct me and then I’ll summarize it again.
3. Clarifying:  Sometimes someone will make a point that isn’t all that clear, or very general.  Before calling on the next person, I will often ask a clarifying question to better understand where they are coming from.  This helps them hear that their point is made and it helps other people in the group.

I recently used all three of these techniques for a community meeting I facilitated for the City of Seal Beach.  I encourage you to give them a try as you facilitate future meetings and see how it goes. 

Here's a link to my most recent email newsletter I sent out.  Enjoy!