Strengthening Nonprofit Leaders in Southwestern PA
The Nonprofit Resilience Program (NRP) supports the development of healthy, resilient leaders by implementing individualized self-care habits, stronger connectivity, and capacity-building tactics that increase talent retention and organizational growth.
Fortifying Personal Health and Organizational Stability
This 12-week, cohort-based program takes a multi-faceted approach to nurture healthy leaders, address their organization’s overall health, and provide tools to better enhance the symbiotic relationship between the two. The program includes three phases:
Phase 1: Individual Self-care
Acknowledge and support the needs of people as individuals. Research shows that higher emotional intelligence facilitates stress resilience. An online Emotional Intelligence Assessment will be administered and Development Sessions are created based on the results.
Phase 2: Build organizational capacity
People need to heal from past trauma in order to actualize their own potential and ability to support others. Collective experiences will be promoted based on empathy and honesty. Participants will develop trust and strengthen peer relationships in new ways to help them better manage adversity in the future.
Phase 3: Strengthen the talent pipeline
A leader’s health, mental and physical, and the health of their organization are interrelated. Gaining a greater understanding of operational strengths and weaknesses helps professional service contractors address and organization’s most urgent needs.
Our Why
In 2019, we recognized that nonprofit leadership retention and resilience were pronounced challenges in Pittsburgh due to high risk of burnout and mental health impacts, which were only further exacerbated by COVID-19. The Partnership Network began to envision what a Nonprofit Resiliency Pilot would look like and how it could support the development of healthy, resilient leaders, and strengthen the social sector’s ability to retain talent and grow organizational capacity for change.
The first cohort was implemented in September 2020. In the past four years, over 60 nonprofit leaders have committed to improving their mental and physical health in service to a more vibrant region.
The Nomination Process
Nonprofit leaders are nominated to participate by NRP alumni and members of The Partnership Network, who are advisors for the program.
The Alumni Network
Created to support ongoing investment in self-care implementation within organizations, the NRP Alumni Network is an after-care program that includes education, resources, and opportunities in topics identified by alumni. This initiative is led by alumni with support from New Sun Rising and The Partnership Network.
