About five years ago, we met with Andrea as she started her own consulting business. Both Kelly and Sam had known and admired Andrea and were excited about looking for projects we could work on together and she became one of our Associates. Over time we realized that Andrea’s skillset is a great complement to the […]
Announcing Our New Managing Partner Andrea Torres Read More »
Needs assessments are a critical component of helping to build understanding about a community need and ultimately the theory of change that a collaboration or organization is pursuing to address that need. Our approach to needs assessments is grounded in the principles of Community-Based Participatory Research and Asset-Based Community Development, meaning that we want to
What is a People-Focused Community Assessment? Read More »
I have been facilitating a lot of strategic discussions lately, and it’s been a great opportunity to put pen to paper on our theory for designing strategic conversations. I created the graphic above as a way to think about our approach to facilitating strategic conversations as an ongoing cycle. In each phase of the cycle,
Our Approach to Strategic Decision Making Read More »
by Carol Johnson DELEGATION. It is a word that often summons up a feeling of overload in the mind of a nonprofit Executive Director (ED), especially an ED of a smaller nonprofit. We know we should delegate more, but… There is no one to delegate to. By the time I delegate it,
Find Your Work, Delegate the Rest Read More »
By Sam Woollard We were recently in a meeting when a prospective client compared community planning and coalition work to making baklava. As he described it, it matched perfectly with our experience. Baklava is a dessert of the Middle East and Mediterranean, and it has numerous variations depending on the country of origin. The same
In Which We Compare Making Baklava to Creating Successful Community Coalitions Read More »
It’s quite possible that the secret to employee retention is cute animal photos (they have been proven to make us more productive, after all). In case you are looking for other ideas, here is a joint post from Associates Carol Johnson and Andrea Torres. We hear from our clients that one of the biggest issues
The Secret to Employee Retention Read More »
It’s hard for us to believe, but WNA will be celebrating its three-year anniversary this fall. After two and a half years of doing a variety of interesting and meaningful work, as well as growing our team, it felt like time to revisit the way we are characterizing the services that we provide and the
Clarifying our Value Proposition Read More »
I was recently asked to write an essay on how my participation in an interdisciplinary poverty studies program and internship, the Shepherd Consortium, in college impacted my life and career. I’m sharing it here because I think it’s a good opportunity to express how my background and life experience informs the collective impact work that
Getting Comfortable with Discomfort, a Lifelong Practice Read More »
As you know if you’ve worked with us previously, we are big fans of tools that highlight the strengths of individuals and teams. We employ a strengths-based approach to strategic and community planning, and we often use appreciative inquiry as a tool for deepening connections to multiply impact with team members, boards, and coalitions. So
Building Our Strengths-Based Toolbox Read More »
I am participating in the 2016 Leadership Austin Essentials class (#bestclassever!) and recently contributed a blog post about our first class day. I thought it would be relevant to share here as well. I was drawn to Austin in the late 70’s because there was no ‘landed gentry’… there was a sense you could
Building a Truly Authentic City Read More »