PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Vision:
Our core aim is to invest in organizations’ long-term success. We provide a range of coordinated resources that enable McKay grantees to better serve their communities by building effective organizations that can gain power, influence policy, and create change.

Mission:
Within a holistic framework, we provide integrated, client-focused organization development services that promote constructive change and sustainability. We leverage our knowledge and experience through consultation, training, coaching, assessment, and evaluation so that McKay grantees are able to increase power and democracy in marginalized communities.

Value Statements:
The organizational capacity building team is committed to the success of the grantees by
    Co-creating sustained capacity. We support increasing the longevity and salience of the information and skills we co-create with client organizations in ways that extend to include the capacity of the whole organization.
    Understanding the relationships between the parts and the whole within organizations, and transferring this knowledge to the client. In identifying practical, tangible responses we will start where the client is.
    Practicing honesty in our working relationships, clarity of expectations, and balance between process and outcomes.
    Keeping consultant skills and knowledge current.
Operating Assumptions:
We believe that
    Change is constant. These changes-- whether positive or negative-- force systems and relationships in organizations to shift. Any capacity building approach must accommodate this fact to be effective and relevant over the long term.
    Organizations that adopt a continuous process of reflection, testing their hypotheses, documenting the learning of their experiences, and making strategic adjustments are better able to move through the changes that arise. The ability to manage this continuous process is dependent on the staff and board’s capacity to speak openly and directly about what helps and hinders the work in the organization.
    Though some capacity building interventions are fairly standard and common for most nonprofit organizations, these interventions need to be tailored to each client’s specific circumstances.
    At the core of our interaction with client systems, we strive for knowledge transfer: everyone learns, everyone teaches, and everyone adapts, grows, and changes.
If you are a core grantee and would like assistance, call any of us to discuss your needs and possible next steps. There is no application process. Capacity building resources are available as long as the grantee is fully engaged, and the work of the consultation is moving in a positive direction.







 

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