The mission of our blog is to promote the
value of nonprofit organizations and nonprofit leaders, and to
strengthen the sense of nonprofit community in our region. We envision
that Roundtable staff will regularly post their thoughts, but we
envision this blog as a forum for nonprofit leaders to speak out!
Share your ideas, thoughts, frustrations, and visions with other
nonprofit leaders in our region.
- Chuck Bean
Knowledge is Power: Just Don't Hurt Yourself
Written by Eric Giles, on March 24, 2008
I have spent the last decade of my life in a variety of professional environments: from retail to academic to small business to nonprofit to the field of visual arts . There has been one consistent challenge despite the different settings, the need to manage an ever increasing influx of information and knowledge. Perhaps the place we experience this phenomenon most readily is with our daily email Inbox. There are now more “how-to” books and articles to help us all improve our daily practices- inspire better, tell stories better, manage better, balance our lives better. The connected world we live in has opened the spigot on knowledge, and we are all in danger of having the bathtub overflow. We no longer have the ability to read all the email, ingest all of the new books, or peruse every article. What we want as organizations is a bath full of warm water- relevant information and tools, employees with the right type of knowledge to do their jobs effectively. To accomplish that, we need to be selective about the knowledge we intake.
In “Managing Knowledge Means Managing Oneself” Peter Drucker reinterates that knowledge management is an act of management. Being able to manage knowledge means understanding your role
Written by Cecilia Griffin Golden, Ph.D., President and CEO, Volunteers of America Chesapeake, on March 17, 2008
Too often we forget that people that we talk and write about are real people, with real lives and real voices.
Last fall, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a conference that was sponsored by the Department of Mental Health. And while I should not have been, I was surprised by the audience. In my estimation, over half of the invited guests in attendance were people who suffer from mental illness.
Presenter, Dr. Joan Gillece, focused on the correlation between trauma and mental health issues. Her competence and compassionate delivery were very impressive, but I was blown away by her ability to engage with those who posed questions and shared their stories.
Knowing the general concept of the report, I naturally started my reading expecting a large dose of South Asian pride-and-power, which I received in full. As I read, I was amazed by what these organizations could accomplish with so little. Running mainly – or solely – on volunteers, and most with budgets of less than $500,000, these organizations
Written by Susie Kay (Hoop Dreams), on March 06, 2008
Recently, the Washington City Paper featured a cover article accompanied by an online audio/slideshow on H.D. Woodson Senior High School where I taught for 13 years and where Hoop Dreams has had an office. The headline of the story is ‘The End of an Error’ and it features the school’s physical and all around demise. It’s a very sad but powerful read - I encourage you, my nonprofit peers and partners, to read it.
The article’s three main voices are Coach Bruce Bradford (a WONDERFUL former long time teacher, swimming coach and dear friend); Mrs Aona Jefferson (the former principal, my former boss and long time supporter of Hoop Dreams) and Latara Meyers (my former colleague). These three individuals represent the MANY wonderful and devoted teachers who were deeply committed to young people at Woodson.
We've Seen the Research, Now Let's Take Some Action
Written by Rosetta Thurman, on March 05, 2008
The nonprofit sector has been given both a gift and a curse. We have a talented, passionate pool of next generation leaders who are currently working in our organizations. And bully for us that many of these same committed employees are also motivated to stay in the sector and aspire to be nonprofit executive directors in the future. However, according to Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out a new national survey of nearly 6,000 next generation leaders, there are significant barriers: challenging work-life balance, low salaries, lack of mentoring and leadership development, and overwhelming fundraising responsibilities that may prevent many emerging nonprofit leaders from becoming executive directors in the future.
The survey is the largest national survey to date of emerging nonprofit leaders and was produced by the Meyer Foundation in partnership with CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Idealist.org. But while this particular report is hot off the presses (as of March 6), the issues it raised are nothing new to a sector that has been experiencing challenges in leadership succession and transition for a number of years. Key findings of Ready to Lead include:
In other words, if you had one “extra” day for your nonprofit mission, what would you do? I nominate some priorities for our “extra” day this year:
Nominee #1: “Sharpen the saw” – the seventh habit in Stephen Covey’s best-selling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is about professional development. Covey tells of encountering an exhausted lumberjack in the woods who is asked, “Why don’t you take a break for a few minutes to sharpen that saw, I’m sure it would go a lot faster.” The man responds, “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” he says emphatically, “I’m too busy sawing!” Does that sound like too many nonprofit leaders we know? “I’m too busy raising funds (or managing people, or dealing with my board) to take care of my own professional development.”
Nominee #2: “Call the Mayor/Chairman/County Board” – many nonprofit service providers are neck-deep solving problems and caring for the people of our region. Often, it’s hard to get our heads above water to focus on the deficiencies in the larger systems which are causing these problems. Use your Leap Day to call every elected official in your jurisdiction with just one piece of advice to fix larger systematic problems, or your perspective on situation at the front-lines. We’re not going to have big breakthroughs without working on the big systems.
Nominee #3: “Find a New Partner” – who couldn’t use a new friend, ally, or colleague? We all could. While we all know that the care and feeding of a collaboration can be time-consuming, we also know that the rewards are great. On this Leap Day, check out “Habit 4” of Covey’s entitled “Think Win/Win” and then get some more tools from one of my favorite books, Getting to Yes. Then, reach out to that person you’ve been meaning to call for months and ask, “Do you see ways for our organizations to work more closely together?”
As for me, if I had one extra day, I’d spend it renewing my own bond with Roundtable Members. This Friday, my Leap Day will be spent calling 100 of our Members simply to ask, “How is it going? How can we strengthen our sector together in 2008?”
I have spent the last decade of my life in a variety of professional environments: from retail to academic to small business to nonprofit to the field of visual arts . There has been one consistent challenge despite the different settings, the need to manage an ever increasing influx of information and knowledge. Perhaps the place we experience this phenomenon most readily is with our daily email Inbox. There are now more “how-to” books and articles to help us all improve our daily practices- inspire better, tell stories better, manage better, balance our lives better. The connected world we live in has opened the spigot on knowledge, and we are all in danger of having the bathtub overflow. We no longer have the ability to read all the email, ingest all of the new books, or peruse every article. What we want as organizations is a bath full of warm water- relevant information and tools, employees with the right type of knowledge to do their jobs effectively. To accomplish that, we need to be selective about the knowledge we intake. 
After practically half a year, I finally got around to reading 