Eleanor Cooney's blog

#CreatingSpace2013 Tweet Chat
Transcript & Resource Links:

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On Evaluation and Data…

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) Seattle Chapter’s new co-leader, Efrain Gutierrez, reflects on the recent EPIP national conference, highlighting four recommendations for philanthropy leaders around collaboration: Be humble, know who you are not, listen, learn and adapt. Further on the theme of listening, Stanford Social Innovation Review recently published a piece called Listening to Those Who Matter Most, the Beneficiaries, wherein beneficiary feedback initiatives are featured including CDA Collaborative Learning Project’s Listening project, GreatNonprofits and NeighborWorks America Success Measures. Case studies on the YouthTruth program and the Institute of Medicine’s report “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century” give concrete examples of beneficiaries’ experience being used as drivers of positive change.

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On Social Media & Measurement…

Akaya Winwood, President of Rockwood Leadership Institute writes on risk-taking by nonprofit leaders in a time of great change. The article includes a link to Getting Started With Data-Driven Decision Making: A Workbook. Beth Kanter blogs on a topic of special interest to the Leadership Learning Community at a time when we are planning for and promoting Creating Space 2013. In her article, Tips and Tools for Integrating Social Media Into Your Nonprofit Event Marketing Plan, Beth includes a wealth of tools for spreading awareness of nonprofit events, driving participant engagement during the event, and finally documenting and sharing the “after story” of the event. Danielle Brigida gives insight into the three primary types of data she collects in her work for the National Wildlife Federation including: data to determine the type of content that is shared, data to determine engaged social media users who serve as ambassadors for the cause, and data that reveals customer complaints or praise.

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On Leadership and Networks…

Curtis Ogden of IISC writes on network evaluation, offering a clear infographic on the framework for network building and links to key resources including “Network Evaluation: Cultivating Healthy Networks for Social Change”  by Eli Malinsky and Chad Lubelsky. Beth Tener demonstrates the value in visually representing networks for those involved in systems change. She asserts that it is critical for change agents to “see the system” they work within. Debra Askanase reflects on her recent “Redefining Community Leadership for an Online World” session where the traditional community leadership model is explored and compared to the emerging online community leadership model.

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On Nonprofit Leadership…

Nonprofit social media expert Beth Kanter is interviewed on her advice for developing nonprofits and her thoughts on the changing dynamics of philanthropy and use of social media in this month’s FastCompany Co.Exist article by Rachael Chong. Curtis Ogden of the IISC Blog references the emergence of social media and other social and economic factors on the changing demands of leadership in his article, New Calls to Leadership. The Monitor Institute also features an article on adaptive leadership this month, where the classic model of strategic planning is examined against the organizational demands of a rapidly changing world.

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On Social Change…

As part of the Management Assistance Group’s Network Leadership Innovation Lab, a new case study has been released that focuses on highly effective network leader, and social justice pioneer, Sarita Gupta of Jobs with Justice. The IISC Blog follows the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network’s annual conference, Rising Beyond the Challenge, where race and racism are explored as the backdrop for social change work. Cultural competence was a primary focus at the recent AEA national conference, causing us to revisit at the 2011 publication, the American Evaluation Association Statement on Cultural Competence in Evaluation.

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On Learning Communities and Networks...

A new case study from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations and RCLA is available, The Power of Learning: How Learning Communities Amplify the Work of Nonprofits and Grantmakers, which explores the learning community at the heart of the Community Clinics Initiative’s (CCI) Networking for Community Health program. Valdis Krebs offers a summary of core-periphery networks in The Network Thinkers blog. A link to the Building Smart Communities through Network Weaving white paper is included here.

On Evaluation...

Beth Kanter, author of Measuring the Networked Nonprofit: Using Data to Change the World, interviews Mario Marino who wrote the book, Leap of Reason:  Managing to Outcomes, on the question, “What is the Funder’s Role in Supporting Good Measurement?” in her recent blog post. Curtis Ogden summarizes thoughts from the second Vermont Farm to Plate Network Convening, where participants defined how the network has enabled new and positive accomplishments.

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LLC Member Spotlight: Odin Zackman

If there is a Mr. Creating Space it would have to be Odin Zackman.  Creating Space is the LLC national meeting (and keep an eye out because Creating Space will make a big comeback in 2013!)  Odin facilitated many of our Creating Space meetings because he walks the talk of what we hold dear: collaborative spirit, openness, humor, heart connection, belief in community and humor.  Those qualities make for a gifted and fun facilitator.   Odin brought his talents to LLC as one of our early and beloved board members helping to shepherd LLC into the field.   We also hired Odin to bring his collaborative spirit to facilitating a cross program alumni initiative to explore opportunities to build leadership connections among program graduates.  We love working with Odin and are grateful that he is part of our community..
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On Networks and Resilience...

In Curtis Ogden’s article Dimensions of Network Success, he revisits IISC’s framework for assessing the determinants and definitions of success and draws parallels with Plastrik and Taylor’s  matrix on Differing Characteristics of the Three Networks from their 2006 publication NET GAINS: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change. Valdis Krebs writes on Infrastructure Resilience in his article reflecting on lessons from the book, Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back. Krebs poses that using Social Network Analysis to identify and create alternative paths in a network is key for network resilience.

On Evaluation...

The podcast Making Change recently featured Hildy Gottlieb’s interview with Michael Quinn Patton, an author of five books on program evaluation. In the podcast, Patton discusses evaluating programs in times of rapid change. Ellen Remmer of The Philanthropic Initiative Inc., writes on the recent proliferation of the concept of social capital, following several examples of foundations, including Barr Foundation with the eight-year-old Barr Fellows Network, that have put forth effort in this area.

Image Source: IISC 2012

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