Nonprofit leaders build capacity, connectivity, and wellbeing through resilience program

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Alyse Horn

Above: During an Essential Worker Celebration in May 2022, Dress for Success Pittsburgh provided their mobile services to employees within the Butler Health System.

When Tanya Vokes was invited to participate in New Sun Rising’s Nonprofit Resilience Program, the first thing she thought was “I don’t have time for this.”

Vokes, the CEO of Dress for Success Pittsburgh, said a lot of nonprofit leaders, like herself, are pulled in so many different directions and taking on a three month program was a big commitment, but she convinced herself to do it.

“Once I did get involved, I was really happy with the results of the program,” Vokes said. “Right away it was a super supportive environment. Jamie is amazing, and the other nonprofit leaders who were in the cohort were really authentic and brought their true selves to the sessions.”

The Nonprofit Resilience Program (NRP), with the fourth cohort wrapping up in March, is led by New Sun Rising (NSR) Director of Programs Jamie Johnson. (This is the third cohort sponsored by Staunton Farm Foundation.) Recognizing the health of an organization and the mental health of a nonprofit leader are intrinsically intertwined, the NRP begins with one-on-one self-care coaching and an Emotional Intelligence Assessment with development sessions created based on the results.

This opportunity for self awareness and acceptance, and to work through things in a formal way, was a particularly important piece of the program for Vokes.

“We tend to think we’re doing an alright job, but maybe we aren’t necessarily fully thinking through those [cause and effect] pieces, so having the opportunity to do that with like minded individuals, who have the same challenges as it relates to making time for ourselves as leaders, was really valuable to me.”

Anthony Harper, co-founder and lead instructor at Beta Builders, said the second phase of the program around strengthening connectivity through peer relationships was the highlight for him. He said he’s only been in the nonprofit space for a couple years, and “it was nice to get collective insight from people who have been doing it for awhile.”

Based on the initial goals and phases identified by The Partnership Network, a partner and advisor on this program, the sharing of collective experiences based on empathy and honesty helps participants better manage adversity in the future. For Harper, this ran parallel with his experience.

“Being able to reach out to people who are having the same experiences… and they can share with me different ways they’ve coped with situations and how they were able to move forward, it’s really been a support system for me,” Harper said.

This program came at a transitional time for June Hicks, development manager at Greater Valley Community Services. She said it wasn’t what she was expecting, given the state of the current virtual training world, but the NRP breakout rooms, open feedback, and bonding was “refreshing” and she “looked forward to each session.”

“The information I received made me align my future goals for the next chapter in my life,” Hicks said.

Click here to learn more about the NRP and here to learn about the third Northside cohort.

Nonprofit Resilience Program a welcomed respite for Northside leaders

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Alyse Horn

For the organizational leaders who participated in the third cohort of New Sun Rising’s Nonprofit Resilience Program, many said the experience was unparalleled compared to other programs they’d been involved in.

Not only was it tailored to the Northside community, but this cohort was created for leaders identifying as Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

*Cecelia Ware, a Northside leader and member of the Nonprofit Resilience Program’s third cohort.*

“I had not been a part of something like this before,” said Rick Mason. “It was a great opportunity to just connect with other African American leaders, and for there to not be any judgement when talking through and discussing honest feelings. That was the biggest value of the program.”

Mason said he believes the instant connection and understanding amongst the seven individuals in the cohort allowed the group to “dig deep pretty quickly.”

Similar to previous iterations, the One Northside Nonprofit Resilience Program began with an Emotional Intelligence Assessment that helped program facilitators create Development Sessions based upon the needs of the leaders in the program.

“It allowed us to see where we needed to care more for ourselves and we felt comfortable having that discussion, like, ‘Yes, I definitely feel like I’m not caring for myself in these ways and that is affecting my professional activities and interactions,’” said Angela Williams, president of Charles Street Area Council.

Williams said self-care was at the forefront of the program throughout the remainder of the sessions and one-on-one consultations with coaches, which each participant received outside of the classes.

Ashlee Carter, development director at Northside Christian Health Center and member of the Nonprofit Resilience Program’s third cohort.

Ashlee Carter, development director at Northside Christian Health Center, said she was impressed by the professional diversity of the coaches who were selected to support the participants, and how they allowed individuals to learn “different techniques of how to be a better leader in [their] community.”

This Northside edition of the Nonprofit Resilience Program was made possible with funding from The Buhl Foundation, which also gave participants a stipend to use on additional executive coaching after the cohort concluded. Carter said she is grateful for the opportunity to sign on for additional services that are tailored to her and her growth as a Northside leader.

Eric Acosta, project manager at Urban Strategies Inc., said he was one of the younger participants and he felt fortunate to be part of the program because he “had never been in a space like that before.”

“I’m really happy that I was part of this program and I hope it doesn’t become a one-off thing. I think there are a lot of people who could benefit from it in the Northside, but also Pittsburgh in general,” Acosta said.

Mason said he knows there is value in programs having a time limit, but there were some “really great conversations” that participants didn’t have a chance to finish or follow-up on, and he thinks spending more time together and continuing to forge those relationships “would have been beneficial.”

Carter felt similarly. She said she found a lot of the conversations “very thought provoking” and believed it would be valuable for the program to be scaled around “different communities in different areas.”

“This program isn’t all talk. This program provided a warm and welcoming environment where we felt comfortable, and it also provided real strategies and tools for how to overcome challenges that we were experiencing personally that would affect our professional roles,” Williams said.

Leaders find support to better themselves, their organizations through Nonprofit Resilience Program

Posted on August 20, 2021 by Alyse Horn

Above: A Mentor Partnership of SWPA webinar with young professionals sharing the name of someone who they have felt mentored by. The partnership provided mentors to Nonprofit Resilience Program participants.

Nonprofit leaders are at a high risk of burnout and mental health impacts, a serious concern which was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.

Even before the pandemic began, the need to create a program that helped community development organizations strengthen the wellbeing of their leaders was imminent, said Jamie Johnson, Director of Programs at New Sun Rising.

*Photo courtesy of Assemble, who participated in NRP and agreed to be mentioned in this blog.*

Through conversations between New Sun Rising, Neighborhood Allies, The Forbes Funds, and other members of The Partnership Network (TPN), the Nonprofit Resilience Program (NRP) was established to support the leaders of community development organizations across the region. The program was made possible by the generous support of the Staunton Farm Foundation and the Jack Buncher Foundation.

“Exhaustion, lack of access to growth and learning opportunities, and little to no support for mental health needs was not uncommon,” said Stephanie Chernay, Chief Operating Officer at Neighborhood Allies. “This trend is especially apparent among women and minority leaders of nonprofits.”

Now with its third cohort completed, the Nonprofit Resilience Program has four goals: develop healthy leaders, create trust and connectivity, build organizational capacity, and strengthen the talent pipeline.

Jamie Johnson, Director of Programs at New Sun Rising, said each cohort has built upon the one that came before it, but the second cohort (which took place in January 2021) tackled the particular challenge of navigating the impacts from the previous year, or the new normal.

“This cohort, just like the others, proves how important and valuable it is to support our nonprofit leaders,” Johnson said. “The development of a space where they can place their hearts and issues on the table to be accepted and not judged is at the core of this program. We hope the nonprofit community finds opportunities such as this worthy of investment.”

*Christine Kroger of Neighborhood North Museum of Play who participated in NRP and agreed to be mentioned in this blog.*

In late 2019, The Partnership Network (TPN), a group of intermediary funders and capacity building organizations mobilizing the community and economic development sectors to solve complex community challenges, met to discuss how they could better support community development organizations across the region. They found that the answer was, in part, by supporting their leaders.

The program contains three three phases that focus on: Healthy Leaders (individual self-care), Stronger Connectivity (relationship building), and Building Capacity (leader + organizational development).

“I felt the Nonprofit Resilience Program was one of the few professional development opportunities that I attended that focused on the individual and made an effort to see everyone as a person and not just a part of an organization,” said a Nonprofit Resilience Program participant.

Johnson said confidentiality of participants’ names and their organizations was intentional in creating the program so leaders would “feel comfortable enough to be transparent about where they are at.”

“It allowed participants to become vulnerable enough to share their concerns and weaknesses, and anything they may be dealing with, professionally or not, with each other,” Johnson said.

*Kelly Burgos Harper, Board President of Monaca Community Development Corporation, who participated in NRP and agreed to be mentioned in this blog.*

The first cohort in 2020 included 11 nonprofit leaders from both small and large organizations ranging from staff sizes of 1 to 100+. Out of the 11 participants, seven identified as Black and four as white. Seven participants also identified as heterosexual women, two as heterosexual men, one woman as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and one person as lesbian, gay, bisexual.

The second cohort included individuals who all identified as women; out of the eight participants, one identified as Asian, two as Black, four as white, and one as Caucasian and Puerto Rican. Eight participants identified as women in the second cohort, and one woman was pansexual. The third, funded by The Buhl Foundation, were all Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

“Supporting the mental health of our nonprofit leaders is a necessary step to creating a more efficient, impactful community development system,” said Chernay. “The Nonprofit Resilience Program creates a space where leaders can be honest about their challenges, build trust with their peers, and access individual and organizational capacity building assistance.”

Due to the success of the program, The Staunton Farm Foundation has committed to funding two more Nonprofit Resilience Program cohorts.

Nonprofit Resilience Program focuses on leaders wellbeing to create trust, connectivity and build capacity

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Alyse Horn

Pittsburgh, PA — Eleven nonprofit executives have been selected as the first cohort to participate in a three month resiliency program to address personal and organizational pressures that have been exacerbated by COVID-19.

The program began on September 1, 2020 and will conclude on November 23, 2020.

Hosted by New Sun Rising in partnership with Neighborhood Allies, The Partnership Network, The Forbes Funds, and made possible with support from The Staunton Farm Foundation, the Nonprofit Resilience Program creates a resource that assesses individual leaders and provides them tools for personal healthy mental habits. It also addresses the overall health of the organization and provides capacity building tactics and tools to better understand the symbiotic relationship between the two.

“Seeing the impact of COVID-19 and the ever present history of our country’s issues around racism, it is time to find a way for our nonprofit leaders to identify the tools and skills that fill them back up so they can continue to pour out,” said Jamie Johnson, Manager of Performance Improvement at New Sun Rising.

The Partnership Network, a group of intermediary funders and capacity building organizations mobilizing the community and economic development sectors to solve complex community challenges, have identified four goals for this program: Develop Healthy Leaders, Create Trust and Connectivity, Build Organizational Capacity, and Strengthen the Talent Pipeline. These goals have been broken down into phases and will be addressed over the program’s timeline.

Phase 1: Healthy Leaders: 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: Stronger Connectivity: 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: Building Capacity: 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

“As public servants and dedicated leaders, we can often be so driven by our passions that the personal health of a non-profit director is often secondary to the work. Over time, this can lead to burnout, exhaustion, and institutional knowledge loss in the system,” said Stephanie Chernay, Chief Operation Officer at Neighborhood Allies. “This program is designed to center the leader and their needs to accomplish both their personal and organizational goals.”

Program participants include: Andrea Matthews – Brashear Association; Jason Flowers – Omicelo Cares; McKees Rocks CDC; Emily Mitchell – Urban Redevelopment Authority; Joanna Deming – Perry Hilltop Citizens Council; Jordan Coughlen – Alpha House; Amber Epps – Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation; Ariam Ford – Grounded Strategies; Denele Hughson – Grow Pittsburgh; Jona Reyes – Neighbors Helping Neighbors North Braddock; Alyssa Lyons – Green Building Alliance.

Co-developer of this initiative, Terry Doloughty of Boss Consulting, will also be one of the technical assistance providers working with non-profit leaders to help them establish strong personal and organizational health habits.

Developing resilience is a transformational process that occurs over time through a multifaceted approach. By strengthening individual leaders and their relationships with peers, this initiative will ultimately improve organizational sustainability and help to achieve greater impact. This program recognizes the health of the organization and the mental health of nonprofit leaders are intrinsically intertwined.

—

CONTACTS:

Jamie Johnson, Manager of Performance Improvement, New Sun Rising
jamie@newsunrising.org

Stephanie Chernay, Chief Operating Officer, Neighborhood Allies
stephanie@neighborhoodallies.org

About New Sun Rising
New Sun Rising supports nonprofits and small businesses to build vibrant communities through culture, sustainability, and opportunity. NSR believes that all people and communities hold the knowledge and power to make positive change. We envision a future where regenerative community development practices create the conditions for true social, environmental, and economic justice.

About Neighborhood Allies
Neighborhood Allies’ mission is to support the people, organizations and partnerships committed to creating and maintaining healthy neighborhoods. They strive to support this mission by creating community partnerships, connecting distressed and transitioning communities with valued/vetted resources, and communicating and celebrating progress and success.

About The Partnership Network
The Partnership Network (TPN) is a group of intermediary funders and/or capacity building organizations working to mobilize the community and economic development sectors in the Pittsburgh region. TPN creates the conditions for change by collaborating to solve complex community challenges at the macro, meso, and micro levels of our communities. Collectively, TPN is focused on capacity building for the Community Development System to reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). TPN members are committed to being people-centered while implementing the following practices: Aligning Resources, Creating Transparency, and Articulating Shared Outcomes. Partner organizations include Allegheny Conference, The Forbes Funds, Grounded Strategies, Neighborhood Allies, NeighborWorks Western Pennsylvania, and New Sun Rising.

About The Forbes Funds
The Forbes Funds advances the well-being of our region by helping human service and community-based nonprofits build their management capacity and increase the impact of their mission work. They support these nonprofits both as individual organizations and as a unified coalition of leaders, funders, and advocates working collaboratively throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.