Blog

The Leadership Learning Community staff is excited to welcome the newest member of our team, Lauren Rodriguez, who brings rich experience and research skills to her role as Junior Research Associate.

Lauren, a fluent Spanish speaker, has studied and worked abroad extensively. After earning a Political Science degree from U.C. Berkeley, including a term at the University of Chile, Lauren went on to study at the The London School of Economics and Political Science where she earned a Master of Science Degree in Sociology.

Some highlights of Lauren’s career have included being selected to join UC Berkeley’s research team dedicated to the data analysis and drafting of a published report commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which focused on human rights abuses in Central America. As a research assistant to the Center for Latino Policy Research at UC Berkeley, Lauren analyzed migration public policy on a project focused on out-migration from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to San Francisco. In her most recent position as a visiting researcher in residence hosted by the Mexican NGO based in Puerto Vallarta, AMA Mexico, Lauren worked as the Director of Survey research. Soon, results will be published from the survey, in which Lauren designed, implemented, and coded data from her bilingual interview survey research.

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On Networks...

Beth Kanter of Beth’s Blog shares a wealth of resources in relation to her facilitation of peer learning exchanges for nonprofit networking and social media. Helping networked nonprofits to effectively use Facebook and Twitter impacts their ability to inform the network, increase visibility, and expand their capacity to effect policy change. Peer-to-Peer sharing and learning is also the focus of an illuminating interview with Pete Plastrik and Julia Parzen, authors of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network’s Regional Networks guidebook 2.0, which can be downloaded from the article along with a presentation on Using Networks to Advance Environmental Goals. In a similar vein, Debra Askanase discusses ‘Content Alchemy’, wherein a networked nonprofit seeks to provide content that most resonates with social media participants. Interactivity and trust within a network can be bolstered by careful selection of content based on community data. The importance of Network Mapping and identifying Critical Connectors in addition to the use of social media is highlighted in Maya Townsend’s article which responds to Plastrik and Madeline Taylor’s NET GAINS: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change. Network Mapping is the focus of Ben Schiller’s piece that follows a community action group called Network Center for Community Change, and their work to map neighborhoods in order to give the community an accurate snapshot of an areas blighted properties and more stable properties. The Network Map enables community members to make decisions based on the reality of local conditions. Jack Ricchiuto offers specific indicators for Happiness in Networks in his heartening article, and finally Gibrán Rivera gives nod to June Holley’s recent post on Network Beavers which she describes here: “Network beavers create gatherings that pool network assets, relationships, and energy in a space of dynamic and complex adaptive interaction.”

Image Source: Beth Kanter 2012

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With great pride, we welcome our newest awesome member of the LLC team: Grace Kong, our new Administrative Manager. Grace has just moved down from Seattle for sunnier weather and exciting new opportunities.

Grace is no stranger to the leadership development field. She participated in the Community Leaders Program at the Asian Community Leadership Foundation. She provided leadership development training to at-risk youth at King County. Most recently she worked as a facilitator and trainer at the Safe Schools Coalition in Seattle, Washington. read more »

In the summer 2012 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Marianne Hughes and Didi Goldenhar have written a case study on the Barr Fellows Network, entitled Networking a City.  It describes a seven year investment in seasoned nonprofit executive directors to reinvigorate their leadership and create environments for them to form authentic relationships with each other that spur innovation and transform Boston’s social sector to become more highly collaborative and mission-driven.  The assumption is that if diverse leaders in the social sector form authentic, trusting relationships, then they will find creative, innovative ways to tap their collective assets for greater social benefit.   read more »