"Working with Community Systems has been one of life’s more rewarding professional experiences. In addition to their collective expertise and creativity, they share a finely tuned sensitivity to what’s REALLY going on, matched only by the professional skill and commitment they bring to making it all much better." Nancy Jacobs
Director, The Research & Evaluation Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York |
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Advocacy
We use advocacy throughout our daily lives. Advocacy is about building relationships that allow us to be effectively heard. It is about understanding the interest of the person to whom you are advocacting and helping them to appreciate how your request meets their interest. Ready to become an effective advocate for the changes needed in your community? Community Systems senior consultants and associates have experience advocating for policy change at the agency, city, county and state levels. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of building winning coalitions, passing city ordinances, developing persuasive direct communication, and educating decision-makers, among others. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Community Mobilization and Coalition Development
Many funders are requesting that the community agencies and groups they fund work more closely together to connect their services for a greater impact. But what is reasonable for your community to achieve together? Where can you begin? Are there specific sectors that must be involved? Are you ready to fine tune your community effort? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience working as directors of small community organizations, leading state-wide initiatives and providing technical support to those who do. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of agency capacity, community readiness, realignment of funds, and cross-sector collaboration, among others, that effect the ability to create a healthy community. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Communication Planning
We communicate from the moment we wake up to the moment we rest. To communicate effectively, we must listen more and share our thoughts in a manner and method that our audience can hear it as intended and react to it as desired. This takes thoughtful planning. Are you ready to be heard effectively? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience developing statewide initiatives to strengthen stakeholders' support though an issues campaign, served as media spokespersons, developed communication tools, as well as coordinated local media campaigns. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of developing strategic communication plans, applying media advocacy strategies, and framing issues for targeted response. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Cultural Intuitiveness: Norms and Practices
Words have different meanings in different contexts, within different groups of individuals. What is appropriate to say and how to say it depends not only on who is listening but who is speaking as well. We need to learn the skills necessary to navigate our multicultural world. A first step may be to develop a common mission and vision owned by all. What should be your first step? Are you ready to share your world? Are you ready to change your environment? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience building community readiness to address controversial issues such as tobacco, HIV/AIDS, historic preservation, cultural competency, and young adult drug and alcohol use. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of discrimination, self-interest, perceptions, public policy, regulations, and media advocacy, among others, that effect the ability to create a healthy community. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Data Driven Community Assessments
Many times we find ourselves so overwhelmed by the problems that we seek to address, there seems to be no time to think strategically but only to act from day to day. Without the time to understand strategically what is contributing to these problems, we will soon find that our frantic actions are having limited impact. Have you arrived at that realization? Are you ready to make long term reductions in your community's problems? Are you ready to put time aside to collect and use data to direct how you progress and the decisions you make? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience developing community profiles in both rural and urban environments, developing logic models, as well as state profiles. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and tools, missing data, and data presentation for a variety of audiences, among others. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Data Interpretation and Utilization
Many times we use data to direct how we progress and the decisions we make only when we trust the data and in some cases only when the data confirms our previous conclusions. Knowing what we can and can not say with the data we have is an important first step to understand how to use data. What tools can we use so that we, and others, may set our perceptions aside and learn from the data? Are you ready to put your data to work for your community? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience developing state and community evaluation plans, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, as well as, developing materials to communicate data to decision-makers. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of developing evaluation protocol, data collection strategies, and enhancing data interpretation literacy, among others. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Evaluation Partnership
Communities, agencies and staff are asked by their funders and other key stakeholders "what have you done for me lately?". But how do you prove that your effort helped to accomplish specific targets and outcomes? Evaluators sometimes seem to speak a foreign language and many times produce reports that seem to say very little related to your questions and concerns. Are you ready to be an effective partner in your evaluations? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience developing and implementing evaluation design, reporting evaluation results, and working closely with clients to develop evaluations that matter. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and tools, missing data, data presentation for a variety of audiences, and designing process and outcome evaluations, among others. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Leadership Development
Effective leadership requires good stewardship of community resources. Stewards recognize that working towards a healthy community is in everyone's best interests. Leaders become stewards through experiences where the implementation of strategic visioning creates positive change, communication methods highlight their efforts, and rewards outweigh the potential resistance when making risky decisions. So how do you help your leaders become stewards? Are you ready to be a leader and steward? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience working as change agents for legislative policy around controversial issues, initiated and carried out new policy and regulations on behalf of governors' offices ,and community and state agencies. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully connected parallel initiatives, served as lightening rods for initial resistance to change, and educated decision makers and constituents about policy change, among others. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Logic Model Development
Everything we do should strategically connect one effort with another. A problem is driven by one or more causes, and these causes should be the targets of the effort. When we clarify these connections, our efforts not only become more effective but can also be more readily evaluated. Whether we view the logic model as a circle or a direct line, we work most effectively and efficiently when we know what causes we need to effect and who is affected by these causes. Are you ready to test the strength of your assumptions? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience developing strategic and evaluation plans using logic model design, and developing data driven logic models, and diagnosing and implementing logic models. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of process and outcome measures that make the logic model design relevant as well as quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, among others. Are you ready to invest in you?
Associated Workshops
Policy Research and Analysis
Why do we do things the way we do in our town? Why can't we do things differently? Policies reflect the accepted norms in our communities. All laws and regulations derive from policy either explicitly or implicitly. The key is to assess whether the policy foundation in your community is relevant for the norms you are seeking to establish. But where to begin? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience analyzing local and state polices and their impact, crafting state regulations, assisting with the development of state and local laws, building readiness of elected officials for policy change and have held elected office. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of crafting policies that effect the community environment, sustaining community initiatives that support effective policy, assessing community norms, and media advocacy, among others, which enhance the ability to create a healthy community. Are you ready to invest in you?
Workshops
Strategic Planning
Most funders want a plan that ensures that their investments will produce results. But do they want a strategic plan, an action plan, or an implementation plan? The type of plan needed depends on the scope of effort, the level of resources to be invested and the extent of change targeted. Long term efforts require comprehensive strategic plans which are steeped in real need and implemented with fidelity. Annual milestones are accomplished through implementation plans and the efforts of those who carry out the plan are set forth in action plans. Are you ready to develop the plan you need to accomplish your targeted outcomes? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience in creating a variety of plans at the agency, community and state levels, creating business plans, and daily priority lists. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of plan fatigue, matching the scope of the plan and the planning process with the targeted change outcomes, among others, which affect the ability to create a healthy community. Are you ready to invest in you?
Workshops
Sustainability Assessment and Planning
Three primary sectors are essential to sustained success regardless of whether the issue is related to business, education or social services. These three sectors are the agencies and organizations that are pivotal to that issue, the system or organizational structure that connects these entities and the community they serve and report to about their efforts and from whom they need on-going support. Sustainability planning involves assessing and addressing the needs of all three sectors so that the results of the collective action continue beyond a particular leader or funder. Has sustainability planning been reduced to finding more funds as the grant is about to expire? You are not alone. Ready to develop a comprehensive, real sustainability plan? Community Systems' senior consultants and associates have experience in empowering agencies to fulfill their vision and mission, connecting disparate community efforts, assessing the match between community readiness and strategies implemented, and building on-going community support. In these roles, as well as in providing technical support to others, they have successfully addressed issues of turf, resource management and application, aligning strategies with needs, developing strategies to build community concern, investment and ownership of the effort, among others, which affect the ability to create a healthy community. Are you ready to invest in you?
Workshops
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