| Research & Publications |
Preparing Los Angeles Youth for Work
The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce's initiative, HIRE LA's Youth, prepares 16-24 year olds to find and retain entry-level employment by offering a multi-step Work Readiness Certification (WRC). The WRC process includes training in résumé development, customer service skills, workplace etiquette and application procedures. At the end of the process, youth meet with employer volunteers for a mock job interview. BTW conducted a survey of 1,970 program participants and created a visual summary to describe the impact that a WRC certificate has on youth's employment status, job retention and wages.
Online Communities as a Tool for the Nonprofit Field: A Snapshot of the Community Clinic Voice
Social networking sites have rapidly grown into large, sophisticated networks that can span the globe. A new brief by BTW provides a snapshot of one nonprofit online community: the Community Clinic Voice. The Community Clinics Initiative (CCI) supports the Voice to aid health care safety net professionals in building stronger, healthier communities. The brief explores the Voice model, including its structure, evolution, members and benefits. It also summarizes CCI's approach to online community management and considerations for those who are interested or involved in developing or maintaining online communities as a tool to support the work of the nonprofit sector.
Strengthening the Leadership Pipeline
In 2008, The Blue Shield of California Foundation partnered with the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco to address leadership needs in the community clinics field. They launched the Clinic Leadership Institute (CLI), an 18-month leadership program designed to prepare next generation leaders to move into executive leadership positions. Over the past two years, BTW has evaluated CLI and recently completed a new brief describing the program as well as key findings from the inaugural cohort. The brief also provides considerations for individuals and organizations that support next generation leaders.
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BTW News
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 In November 2010, BTW's Principal Ellen Irie along with other experts from the fields of leadership development and service, will participate in a week-long "study tour" in Israel convened by Masa Israel Journey. Masa Israel Journey is a joint project of the Government of Israel and the Jewish Agency for Israel and serves as an umbrella organization for over 160 long-term Israel service experiences (e.g., gap year programs, study abroad experiences, internship and volunteer opportunities). During the study tour, Ellen and other participants will meet with service program staff and participants, talk with Israeli policymakers, and exchange challenges and best practices for developing leaders through service programs.
BTW's Director of Evaluation and Organizational Learning Kim Ammann Howard held a session at the California Primary Care Association's Annual Conference in October 2010. Along with Marissa Tirona of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and Brenda Shipp of Lifelong Medical Clinic, Kim presented highlights from recent research on the next generation of community clinic leaders, an especially important topic as the state implements health care reform. Click here to view the presentation from the conference session.
 This week BTW Managing Director Lande Ajose and Kristi Kimball, Education Program Officer at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, presented highlights from the recently published monograph "Measuring the Immeasurable: Lessons for Building Grantee Capacity to Evaluate Hard-to-Assess Efforts" at the Grantmakers for Education's annual conference. Session participants heard from a funder, an evaluator and a grantee about the new tool and how this approach to evaluation capacity building enables organizations to reflect on and improve their work.
Kim Ammann Howard's work on evaluating leadership supports was recently highlighted by the Leadership Learning Community. Read more about Kim's work on leadership development evaluation.
BTW welcomes Gagandeep Kaur, Associate and Ellen Gattozzi, Research Project Assistant to our team. Gagandeep recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Affairs with a Masters in Public Policy. Ellen recently moved to Berkeley from Amherst, Massachusetts where she worked at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy program.
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Events Calendar
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The National Equity Project Launch Event
What: Deliver on the Promise: Leading for Equity in Schools and Communities
Where: The California Ballroom, 1736 Franklin Street, Oakland
When: October 29, 2010 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Who: RSVP to attend this event.
Notes: BTW is a proud sponsor of The National Equity Project's launch event in celebration of their new name and expanded scope. The event, which will explore the relationship between community and school change, includes a panel discussion and networking opportunities with a range of Bay Area leaders including Tony Smith, Superintendent of Oakland Unified School District; Sandra Fewer, San Francisco School Board Member; Victor Diaz, founder of REALM Charter School; Cesar Lagleva, Marin Community Organizer; and Michelle Espino, Leadership High School Teacher. Angela Glover Blackwell, President and CEO of PolicyLink will be the Keynote Speaker and Moderator.
American Evaluation Association 2010 Annual Conference
What: American Evaluation Association Annual Conference
Where: San Antonio, Texas
When: November 8-13, 2010
Who: Registration is now open for members and non-members.
Note: Similar to the presentation at the Grantmakers for Education Conference (mentioned above), BTW Managing Director Lande Ajose and Kristi Kimball, Education Program Officer at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, will hold a demonstration session on how to use the Evaluation Capacity Diagnostic Tool to help evaluators understand how to work with organizations to assess their readiness to take on many types of evaluation activities. In a second panel session, Lande and Kristi will present highlights from "Measuring the Immeasurable: Lessons for Building Grantee Capacity to Evaluate Hard-to-Assess Efforts." John Affeldt of Public Advocates will speak about how his organization has used the tool to improve their ability to track outcomes and adjust programs.
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