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 »
One of WNA’s business goals is to create opportunities and platforms to connect with other skilled professionals through formal and informal partnerships. What’s really fun about this is that we get to connect with other like-minded professionals whose work aligns with our vision to create, grow and sustain initiatives that result in positive social outcomes.
Coffee with Colleagues: Q&A with Sandy Battise Read More »
We recently completed a Needs Assessment for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department Community Services Block Grant Program. The report highlights what many social sector leaders in the region are experiencing first-hand:
Why Strategic Planning is Especially Important When You’re Swimming Upstream Read More »
With the summer heat starting to bear down on us, it is hard to remember what it was like to put on a sweater or turn on the heater. But before we know it, fall will be here with its cooler temperatures and falling leaves. For many organizations and collaborations, fall means the beginning of
Don’t Leaf for Summer Vacation Without Making Plans for the Fall! Read More »
Here at WNA, we like coffee. We spend a significant amount of time at Austin coffee shops (our favorite is Bennu on E. MLK). In fact, if you’re reading this in Central Texas, it’s likely that you’ve had coffee with us at one time or another. Coffee fuels our work. Bennu also serves as a
Meet our New Team Members (and a Love Letter to Bennu Coffee) Read More »
I attended the Collective Impact Forum‘s Champions for Change workshop last month, and it got me thinking about how we structure collaborative social sector initiatives, especially here in Texas. Wait, buzzword alert. Surely you’ve heard this term, collective impact, right? Everyone’s throwing it around lately. John Kania and Mark Kramer with FSG wrote a landmark
What's a Backbone, Anyway? Read More »
We recently concluded a 9-month community planning process focusing on children’s mental health in Travis County in partnership with Austin Travis County Integral Care. It was quite a journey and truly a collective impact effort, and my hope is that it will serve as a case study for future community planning initiatives. Like the search
The Zen of Creating a Common Agenda Read More »
It’s been one year since Woollard Nichols & Associates officially launched, and we’ve been reflecting on the work that we’ve done over the last year. It was a great year – we supported almost twenty clients including coalitions and collaborations, membership associations, non-profit organizations, city departments and divisions of school districts. We facilitated community planning
Happy Birthday to Us… But the Gifts are For You! Read More »
A while back, I got an email informing me that we didn’t get a grant that I had convened a team of consultants to apply for. A dozen lines in response to an application that required well over 100 combined hours of unpaid work to submit – no question that it was a downer to
Reflections on a Grant Rejection Letter Read More »
We are supporting an effort led by Austin-Travis County Integral Care to coordinate community mental health services for children and create a community plan to improve the mental health of youth throughout the county. As part of this, we participated in planning and facilitating the Austin Community Conversation on Teen and Young Adult Mental Health
Sometimes it's Just about Sitting Down to Talk Read More »