Take
Charge of Your Programs: Developing Sound Programs from Birth to
Maturity
Program managers face numerous challenges as they
lead their programs. When new opportunities arise, or programs
evolve in response to changing circumstances, there isn’t
a well-recognized process for developing programs. This three-part
workshop series presents an approach to program development, evaluation
and refinement that is applicable to all different types of nonprofits.
The series presents a methodology for program development that
uses the inherent strengths of nonprofits – relationship
building, experience, and sound instincts about local needs.
Attend a workshop individually or register
for all three in the series and save!
By attending this series, nonprofit leaders will
learn:
• Resources for helping to develop, evaluate and manage
strong programs
• A method for designing programs that uses existing strengths
and resources
• A method for evaluating programs whether internally or
in partnership with an external consultant
• A method for managing programs that is focused on results-based
leadership
• Tools and handbooks to support the work
After attending this workshop, nonprofit managers
will have a set of resources they can put to use immediately in
their programs, and have at their fingertips as new opportunities
and circumstances arise.
Resources:
• Handouts
• Workbook in 3 sections
• Professional learning community – every participant
will be given access to a group focused on effective program management
Intended audience: These workshops are targeted
to nonprofit leaders, program managers, development officers,
and/or board members serving on program committees
Details for all workshops:
Workshops may be attended individually or as a series.
Workshop 1: Program Design and
Development, Thursday, September 23
Workshop 2: Evaluating Program Successes, Wednesday,
October 13
Workshop 3: Completing the Circle: Using Evaluation
Results to Strengthen Programs, Wednesday, November 3
Time for all: 9 a.m. – noon
Location for all: Neighborhood House/Wellstone Center
Room 212
179 Robie Street
East, St. Paul, 55107
Directions
and Map
Fees: $149 for members for all 3 events / $199 for nonmembers
for all 3 events OR
$65 for members per individual session / $85 for nonmembers per
individual session
Space is limited to 50 people per workshop.
REGISTER
NOW!
Workshop 1: Program
Design and Development, Thursday, September 23
When nonprofits design programs or enhance existing programs,
they draw on their experiences and knowledge. However, few know
the components of strong program design, including steps to take
to ensure the design is well-founded and evidence-based, and/or
that the program design truly meets the needs of the community.
In this workshop, participants will learn a method for designing
programs that ensures the programs are financially sound, have
strong results and address community needs. Participants will
leave the workshop with a toolkit for designing programs, resources
to draw on when designing programs, and a program development
framework. During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity
to explore their own programs and services from the program design
framework.
During this workshop, we will answer:
- What are the elements of strong program design?
- What steps and tools can you take when designing and developing
programs to support future success?
- What factors should you consider when designing or developing
programs?
- How do you engage staff, leaders and even participants when
developing programs?
- How do you address sustainability when designing a program?
- How can the concepts associated with continuous quality improvement
benefit your program design and development?
- At what stages is it appropriate to take on various program
design and development activities?
Workshop Presenters: Leah
Goldstein Moses, president and CEO, The Improve Group and
Amy Kondziolka, program manager, Children,
Youth & Families Program, Cornerstone Advocacy Services
Workshop 2: Evaluating Program Successes,
Wednesday, October 13
When faced with a need for program evaluation, nonprofits face
three primary challenges: finding the time and resources for evaluation,
selecting an evaluation approach that is both appropriate and
valid, and ensuring that evaluation findings are relevant to the
needs of the organization and all of its stakeholders. In this
workshop, participants will learn how to find resources for evaluation,
how to select the best evaluation methods for their needs, what
the typical evaluation cycle contains, and how to implement an
evaluation. Participants will leave the workshop with an evaluation
toolkit for their program. During the workshop each participant
will have the opportunity to develop evaluation plans specific
to their programs and services.
During this workshop, we will answer:
- What are the benefits of evaluation?
- How can you integrate evaluation into your program design?
- What are appropriate roles for leaders, staff, volunteers and
participants in evaluation?
- How can you manage evaluation responsibilities easily?
- What are some simple steps you can take when designing your
evaluation?
- What evaluation methods are appropriate for different evaluation
questions?
Workshop Presenters: Leah
Goldstein Moses, president and CEO, The Improve Group and
Mary Sue Hansen, director, Suburban Ramsey
Family Collaborative
Workshop 3: Completing
the Circle: Using Evaluation Results to Strengthen Programs, Wednesday,
November 3
You may have evaluation data from your administrative records,
from surveys your staff have administered, from an external evaluation,
or from another organization with similar programs. However, your
programs are constrained by funder requirements, expectations
held by your participants or partners, or other factors. In this
workshop, participants will learn how to make use of evaluation
data to improve and develop programs within a real-world context.
Participants will leave the workshop with a toolkit for using
evaluation findings in their work. During the workshop, each participant
will have the opportunity to develop a program-improvement model
for their programs that includes evaluation findings and addresses
contextual constraints.
During this workshop, we will answer:
- How can evaluation results be used to improve programs?
- What are some steps you can take to use evaluation results?
- Who can be involved in using evaluation results, and how?
- What can you do with positive results? What can you do with
negative results?
- What are the primary concerns of different stakeholders?
Workshop Presenters: Leah
Goldstein Moses, president and CEO, The Improve Group and
Mary Hartmann, executive director, New
Foundations
To
register:
This
series is full.
About the
Presenters:
Leah
Goldstein Moses, president and CEO, The Improve Group
is an expert in evaluation and strategic planning and management.
She began her professional career as program manager of a grant-funded
program. She has worked extensively with nonprofit and public
agencies to use data to help programs and people reach their full
potential. In over a decade of work with nonprofit organizations,
Leah has developed a number of tools that are applicable across
fields and disciplines. Over the years, she has specialized in
finding creative ways to answer questions. For example, when a
neighborhood organization wanted to find new ways to engage their
community, Leah suggested a “convenience sampling”
approach – pick a few nice afternoons when people would
be out running errands and at the park, and approach every fifth
person with three short questions about community involvement.
Since 2000, Leah has worked on over 100 evaluations, strategic
plans and original research projects. She has worked with small
school districts in rural Minnesota, large urban organizations
like the Minneapolis Urban League, and a number of nonprofit and
public agencies. Leah is frequently consulted as a trainer on
program management and evaluation.
Amy
Kondziolka is the program manager of the Children, Youth,
and Families (CYF) Program at Cornerstone Advocacy Services in
Bloomington, Minnesota. She has over 20 years of professional
experience in delivering a continuum of services for children
and youth (ages birth – 18) and their families as they heal
from the effects of domestic violence. Current CYF programming
includes: individual counseling and therapy for parents and youth,
support and psycho-educational groups, school-based prevention
and intervention, mentorship, enrichment activities, and pre-school.
Cornerstone was born when its three founders served on a domestic
violence task force and decided to take action. From its roots
as an advocacy organization, Cornerstone began taking on and solving
the full cycle of family violence – from prevention in public
schools, to emergency response and shelter for families, to advocacy
and legal action in the courts.
Amy has extensive experience developing policies and procedures,
outcome-based objectives, and program curriculum. She also participates
in development duties for the CYF Program which includes grant
writing and budgeting. Amy graduated from Gustavus Adophus College
with bachelor of arts degrees in criminal justice and sociology/anthropology.
She earned her master’s degree in counseling psychology
from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Mary Sue Hansen is the director
of The Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative (SRFC). She has over
23 years of professional experience in delivering human services
and managing collaborative systems of care. Over the past 12 years
at SRFC she has supported and sustained a comprehensive continuum
of integrated and coordinated services for children and youth
(ages birth – 21) and their families in the areas of Health,
Learning, Safety and Security. She has managed school-linked mental
health and community social work services for four districts and
57 schools and enhanced the system of care through collective
grant writing, leveraging 10 million dollars in added resources
for Suburban Ramsey County and an additional five million countywide
since 1998.
The Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative (SRFC) is made up of
over 250 caring professionals and community members in the Suburban
Ramsey Area. These members include parents and youth who have
experienced services, community members, health and human service
providers, city and county government and educators.
Mary Sue graduated
from The College of St. Catherine with a bachelor of social work
degree and was a case manager and collaborative team facilitator
for over 10 Years. She earned her master’s degree in management
administration from Metropolitan State University.
Mary Hartmann is the co-founder
and executive director of New Foundations, Inc., a sixteen year
old organization providing housing and comprehensive services
for homeless families with children struggling with poverty, addiction
and mental illness. For over thirty years, Mary has created and
nurtured partnerships among government, business, philanthropic
and community organizations to address community needs. She is
a graduate of the University of St. Catherine.
Mary served for ten years as the executive director of Wayside
House, Inc., where she developed the state’s first permanent
supportive housing program for homeless families; was executive
director for the St. Paul YWCA, Hennepin County Affirmative Action
Programs, and the Minneapolis Head Start Program.
Mary serves on the doard Congregation Shir Tikvah. She is a member
of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless; the Ramsey County
Continuum of Care Committee; member of the Legislative Commission
to End Long Term Homelessness; founding member of National Building
Better Communities Alliance; member of the Family Supportive Housing
Provider Group; Family Supportive Housing Network; Ramsey County
Systems Change Team; Metro Services Funding Work Group; State
Ending Long Tem Homelessness Services Funding Work Group; Jewish
Community Action, and National Coalition for the Homeless. She
is a national and local speaker and workshop facilitator on issues
of homelessness among families and children - including speaking
at the President’s Roundtable, Washington D.C.; Congressional
Subcommittee on Finance, National Supportive Housing Conferences,
Faith Communities, and Colleges and Universities.
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of Page
Overcoming
Racism: Recognizing and Challenging the Legacies That Oppress
Us
The
Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative (FREC), a collective
of organizations committed to overcoming racism in Minnesota,
will be presenting the 2nd Annual Overcoming Racism Conference
in October 2010.
Conference
Mission: Advancing antiracist transformation of ourselves,
our institutions and our communities
Purposes:
* Address
colonization, historical trauma and decolonization—the colonizer
and colonized interactions, social arrangements, and mindsets
* Communicate how historical trauma* developed (who? why?)
* Understand how oppressive legacies are embedded (polices, institutions,
social systems) and perpetuated today (practices, belief systems,
behaviors) in the form of institutional and structural or systemic
racism as well as its individual manifestations.
* Understand what oppressive legacies looks like/how they manifest
themselves, how they get all of us stuck (oppressor/oppressed),
and how we get unstuck; what this understanding implies and demands
in action (So what?)
* Provide models, skills and tools for advancing antiracist transformation
that participants can apply in their daily lives, their work and
their institutional and community contexts.
Participants will:
* Understand
the challenges and benefits to having honest conversations about
systemic racism, ongoing colonization, white privilege and white
supremacy as manifested in and flowing from historical traumas
resulting from the violence of colonialism
* Gain practical skills and tools for countering racism, facilitating
difficult conversations about race and racism, and for challenging
institutional racism in their own life contexts.
* Explore the unique challenges, possibilities and practical application
of racial justice skills, tools and facilitation in their particular
settings
For more information on the conference, visit the conference website:
http://www.overcomingracism.org/index.html.
Please direct all questions not related to registration to FREC.
Details:
Friday, October
29, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday, October 30, 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Location: William Mitchell College of Law
875 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105
Directions
and Map
Fee: $120 for both days/$75 for a single day
Register:
1. Register
online. Online registration ends at noon the day before
the event. This event may have limited walk-in registration available.
Register
for BOTH days
Register
for Friday, October 29 ONLY
Register
for Saturday, October 30 ONLY
2. Register
by fax - download and complete the registration
form, include
credit card information, and fax the form to 651-642-1517.
3. Register
by mail - download and complete the registration
form, include payment and mail to: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits;
2314 University Ave. W, Suite 20; St. Paul, MN; 55114-1802.
Learn
about MCN's policies on refunds and substitutions.
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