TIME TO RENEW EZECCC COMMUNITY BOARD MINITRAINING SESSION - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Title: TIME TO RENEW EZECCC COMMUNITY BOARD MINITRAINING SESSION


1
TIME TO RENEW!EZ/EC/CC COMMUNITY BOARD
MINI-TRAINING SESSION

• Adapted from Advanced Systems Corp.
• Community Empowerment Board Training
• by Rural Developments Office of Community
  Development
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Washington, DC

2
Welcome

• Introductions
• Theme
• Purpose and Agenda
• Logistics
• Norms

3
History, Progress and Promise of the Empowerment
Program

• Vision
• The Four Key principles of the Empowerment
  Program (we never get tired of hearing these!)
• Each community is part of the larger whole
  (what's your communitys part?)
• Future considerations

4
The Empowerment Staircase

• Empowerment is a process,
• like climbing stairs

5
First Steps on the Empowerment Staircase
5. Converting vision into workplan
4. Creating sound strategies
3. Finding partners
2. Building broad participation
1. Building a solid foundation
6
Next Steps in Building Empowerment
10. Achieving sustainable development
9. Adapting strategic plans
8. Building community capacity
7. Creating successes
6. Finding resources
7
Where Should Your EZ/EC Put Its Energies?

• Activity Indicate which step(s) along the
  Empowerment Staircase the Board should focus its
  energies in the next year or two?

8
EZ Responsibilities Social Contract

• Legal stuff -- MOA, grant agreement, forms
• Be true to the plan and vision
• Celebrating, amending, and revising your plan
• Benchmarks are a board's best friend

9
EZ/EC Regs Boards Post March 25th

• 7 CFR Part 25 25.404 Validation of designation.
• (a) Maintaining the principles of the program
• Ongoing broad-based participation
• (1) Continuous improvement
• Learn from the past and continuously enhance
  performance
• (2) Participation
• Continuous broad-based community participation
  in the implementation of the strategic plan,,
  including board membership in the lead entity
  and other key partnership entities.

10
EZ/EC Regs and Boards (continued)

• 7 CFR Part 25 25.404 Validation of designation.
• (b) Administration of the strategic plan
• (3) Board Membership
• Must be representative of the entire community
• Either broad-based election or appointment
• 55 must be elected locally
• At least 1 locally elected board member from each
  census tract that is representative of low income
  residents in that tract
• For Tribal Government Organizations the Deputy
  Administrator can waive the 55 elected criteria
  if its determined, in writing, that an appointed
  board will be more representative of the community

11
Guidelines on Board Representation

• Broad Based Election
• Locally Acceptable
• Nominations
• Sufficient Notice
• Representative Board
• Conflict of Interest
• Low-Income
• Transparency

12
Board Representation and Reconfiguration
Discussion

• Are we fully compliant? What steps need to be
  taken to meet the requirements?
• Beyond strict compliance, is it opportune to make
  other changes in Board selection, composition,
  and terms?
• When was the last time we made an assessment of
  our internal operations?
• How do we best increase effectiveness and
  maintain the spirit of the program?

13
Empowerment CommunityBoard Type

• An Empowerment Community Board is a type of
  Executive Management Team providing
• Leadership
• Direction
• Oversight
• Advice
• Motivation

14
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT BOARD

• The Board members are to be the organizations
  leaders, providing it with oversight and advise
  concerning mission- related efforts. They are
  responsible for creating and updating the
  organizations Strategic Plan, giving all members
  of the organization a sense of direction. Also
  to keep the organization motivated.

15
Empowerment CommunityBoard Type

• An Empowerment Community Board is like an
  Executive Management Team
• Purpose to provide coordinated leadership to the
  organization
• Contribution oversight and advice
• Dangers that it shirk its responsibilities or
  not be used
• Advantages builds common purpose and consensus
  within the organization

16
EZ/EC Board As Hybrid

• Different from Corporate Board
• Different from common Volunteer Boards
• Key Role played by Committees
• Limited Staff size
• Board members One head -- Two hats

17
Committees Vital to the Mission

• EZ/EC Community-Based Mission Philosophy
• Job too big for Board and Staff
• Committee Make-up
• Geography (sub-Zone) or Sector representative
• Ad-Hoc or Standing
• EZ/EC Created or Pre-existing partner
• Board-led, staff-led or citizen-led
• Empower Communicate - Monitor

18
Ten Responsibilities of Non-Profit Boards

• 1. Determine the Organizations Mission and
  Purpose
• 2. Select the Chief Executive
• 3. Support the Chief Executive and Assess His/Her
  Performance
• 4. Ensure Effective Organizational Planning
• 5. Ensure Adequate Resources
• 6. Manage Resources Effectively
• 7. Determine, Monitor, and Strengthen the
  Organizations Programs and Services
• 8. Enhance the Organizations Public Standing
• 9. Ensure Legal and Ethical Integrity and
  Maintain Accountability
• 10.Recruit and Orient New Board Members and
  Assess Board Performance
• - Richard T. Ingram, Association of Governing
  Boards of Universities and Colleges

19
Define Reasons for Being

• As your organizations Strategic Planners, you
  must spell out its purpose (why it was formed)
• You must also create a formal statement of the
  organizations Mission (what are its
  responsibilities)
• You should also organize these responsibilities
  in descending priority

20
Select a Manager

• As Board Members, you are your organizations
  leaders
• One exercise of leadership is to define the
  characteristics you want in a manager of
  day-to-day operations
• Another leadership function is to select the
  candidate who is best qualified to carry out your
  agenda

21
Support and Assess the Manager

• The Manager and his/her Staff are your
  organizations troops in the trenches
• As leaders, you must provide adequate support and
  guidance to these troops
• As mentors and coaches, you must evaluate the
  performance of the Manager and Staff and provide
  them with feedback

22
Perform Planning

• To qualify for designation as an Empowerment
  Community, you had to create a Strategic Plan
• Your planning responsibility requires you now to
  develop a Tactical or Implementation Plan
• You need to revisit your Strategic and Tactical
  Plans periodically to update and revise them as
  needed

23
Acquire Leverage Resources

• In addition to your Title XX grants, you need to
  acquire other, continuing resources
• You need to form alliances or partnerships with
  other organizations to leverage both your
  resources
• You need to guide your community in the necessary
  activity of fundraising

24
Oversee Resource Utilization

• As leaders, you need to resist the temptation of
  micro-managing your organization
• You should review and make decisions on proposed
  resource allocations
• You should review and evaluate resource
  utilization

25
Oversee Organizational Activities

• As leaders, you dont design and sponsor your
  organizations programs and services
• Instead, you assess, advise, and facilitate your
  organizations actions in support of its programs
  and services
• One of your important responsibilities as leaders
  is to grow people in your community

26
Maintain Public Relations

• You can not assume that your organization will
  continue to have the respect of the community
• As leaders, you have a responsibility to inform
  them continually of your problems, your efforts
  to solve them, and your accomplishments
• As leaders, you have a responsibility to motivate
  your community to take responsibility for its own
  fate

27
Govern Morally

• As leaders, you must ensure that your
  organization avoids any actions that are illegal
  or unethical
• As leaders, you must be concerned that your
  organization does not even give the appearance of
  illegal or unethical behavior
• As evaluators of proposals, you must be impartial
  and not give preferential treatment to any
  individual or organization

28
Recruit Fresh Blood

• As leaders concerned with the continued
  well-being of your organization, you must be
  constantly looking for new candidates for the
  Board
• As new Board Members take their place, you must
  be sure that they are given formal orientation
  into the purpose and functioning of the Board
• As leaders, you must set the example of assessing
  and evaluating the performance of the Board

29
Leadership
30
Activities of a Leader

• Experiment and take risks
• Envision the future
• Enlist others to follow
• Search for opportunities for change and
  improvement
• Foster collaboration
• Empower followers
• Lead by doing
• Build commitment to action
• Recognize contributions
• Celebrate accomplishments
• Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge (1987)

31
Activities of a Manager

• Structure the job
• Select staff
• Improve competencies
• Correct incorrect behavior
• Motivate staff
• Delegate responsibility and authority
• Support your staffs activities
• Clay Carr, The New Managers Survival Manual
  (1989)

32
Board Executive Director Relationship

• No single relationship in the organization is as
  important as that between the board and its chief
  executive officer.
• John Carver, Boards that Make a Difference

33
Activities of an Executive Director

• Execute policies of the Board
• Maintain fiscal accountability
• Foster environment for communication success
• Ensure compliance with Federal State laws
• Participate in fund-raising efforts
• Promote the corporation thru public relations,
  marketing and advocacy
• Work with others to improve programs
• Provide planning structure recommendations
• Provide leadership for policy development
• Supervise and evaluate day-to-day operations

34
Leadership Questions

• Who do you think of as leaders?
• What was his/her chief leadership characteristic?
• Who do you think of as managers?
• What was his/her chief manager characteristic?
• What are the differences between a leader and a
  manager?
• Can the same person/group be a leader and a
  manager simultaneously?

35
Leader/Manager in an Empowerment Community

• The role of leader is played by the Board
• The role of manager is played by the Executive
  Director
• If the Board must play both roles, it must be
  very aware at any moment which role it is playing

36
Activity IHow Do You Rate as a Leader?

• 1. On your own, fill out the Leadership
  Questionnaire.
• 2. Identify areas where you need improvement.
• 3. Devise a plan for becoming a better leader.
• 4. Make a commitment to carry out your plan.

37
Teaming Board and Staff
38
Teaming Atmosphere

• What kind of atmosphere or environment is
  necessary for a group to act as a team?
• Individualistic?
• Competitive?
• Cooperative?

39
Individualistic Atmosphere

• Encourages each person to go his/her own way
• No guarantee that all individuals will reliably
  march in the same direction
• Individuals usually invest personal feelings in
  their own thoughts, beliefs, and values

40
Competitive Atmosphere

• Pits groups members against one another
• Competition is a game in which one side wins
  and the other loses
• Competitors find it difficult to admit that the
  ideas of others can be true, good, or valuable

41
Cooperative Atmosphere

• Group members work for the good of the whole,
  rather than for their own good
• They are convinced that working together is
  better than working alone
• They are willing to do whatever needs to be done
  to get the job done

42
Teaming Beliefs

• The best way to solve this problem is by all
  working together
• Each of us has his/her own set of talents to
  contribute
• Our success as a team depends on the quality of
  our communications with one another
• To meet our responsibilities and make good
  decisions, we all need to be well-informed and we
  need to hear from every member

43
Team Decision-Making

• Team members will implement decisions made
  through consensus, which is reached by
• Discussing
• Bargaining
• Compromising or collaborating
• Voting

44
Decision-Making Tools

• Problem Identification
• Brainstorming
• Multi-voting

45
Who is Your Community?

• Results from Community Quiz

46
Why Involve the Community?

• Community problems can be solved by the community
  or by outside experts
• Usually the community can not afford experts
• As often as a community allows someone else to
  solve its problems, it strengthens its doubt in
  its own ability to satisfy its own needs

47
The Principle of Community-Based Partnerships

• One of the four principles of the Empowerment
  Community Program is that of Community-Based
  Partnerships
• Involving participation of all segments of the
  community
• Working together to build and implement a plan
  for bettering their community
• Developing problem-solving abilities to enable
  self-sufficiency

48
Required Paradigm Shift

• To be successful, leaders must adopt a
  collaborative approach
• Representative participation (grassroots
  volunteers)
• Committee consciousness (a meaningful slot for
  all)
• Collaborative atmosphere (a solution best for
  all)
• Consensus building (a chance to be heard)

49
Representative Participation

• Representatives of all civic groups
• Representatives of all concerned citizens
• All age groups (beyond children)
• Both genders
• All ethnic groups
• All income levels

50
Collaborative Atmosphere

• Involvement must be early and broad
• Give adequate notice of public involvement
  project
• Ensure time for community to review and discuss
• Ensure that participants have a clear, realistic
  understanding of the goals of the project
• Give real (not make-work) tasks and show
  appreciation for efforts expended
• Provide public access to technical information
• Use collaborative decision-making process

51
Implementing Decisions

• Present proposed plan to decision makers for
  ratification
• Have committee present plan to decision makers
• Obtain formal approval for any suggested changes
  agreed to
• Monitor implementation
• Evaluate project
• Produce Lessons Learned

52
EC Status Report

• How is the EC community doing?
• How is the Board performing?
• Where are the challenges?

53
Pre-Training Questionnaire

• 1. Our Board works as a team because all the
  members have shared goals, works together, and
  all derive some benefit from their membership on
  the Board
• 2. All of our Board members are committed to
• 3. During Board meetings, our members encourage
  each other to express his/her opinions on each
  topic under discussion.
• 4. Our Board is concerned about keeping all our
  stakeholders informed of Board activities and
  decisions.
• 5. Our Board members do whatever they can to
  contribute to our organizations success.
• 6. Every Board member is sensitive to actual or
  possible conflicts of interest.
• 7 Our Board tries to maintain appropriate lines
  of communication with our organizations support
  staff.

54
Questionnaire Contd.

• 8. Members of our Board trust and respect one
  another.
• 9. Each Board member is committed to enhancing
  the public image of our organization in the
  community.
• 10. Every Board member is continually on the
  lookout for individuals who can be recruited to
  serve as future Board members.
• 11. Our Board always follows its policies on
  Board size, composition, nominations, and
  elections.
• 12. Our Board has published a policies and
  procedures manual.
• 13. Our Board has developed a formal orientation
  program that it gives to new members when they
  come on board.
• 14. Our Board has effective and open lines of
  communication among its members and with the
  Exec. Dir.
• 15. Our Board seeks to ensure diversity in its
  membership.
• 16. Our Board conducts periodic assessments of
  its operations.

55
Questionnaire Contd.

• 16. Our Board conducts periodic assessments of
  its operations.
• 17. Our Board provides opportunities for informal
  interactions between Board members and the
  Executive Directors staff.
• 18. The roles and responsibilities of the
  Executive Director are clearly understood by all
  Board members.
• 19. What, in your opinion, are the most
  significant accomplishments of the Enterprise
  Community (EC)?
• 20. What, in your opinion, are the most
  significant challenges facing the EC?
• 21. What are the Boards main strengths?
• 22. What are the Boards main weaknesses?
• 23. What one result would you most want to
  achieve at the upcoming Training?
• 24. Any additional Comments

56
The Communityat Work
57
Communications Make the Board

• Internal
• External (Wheres your Communications Committee?)
• Intramural (micromanagement/policy direction)

58
Strategic Planning
59
Why Strategic Planning?

• Organizations engage in Strategic Planning to
• Assess the environment in which they must operate
• Recognize their strengths and weaknesses
• Sketch its long-term dream (vision)
• Define it reasons for existing (mission)
• Map a course for it to follow for the next 1-2
  years
• Identify landmarks to gauge attainment of its
  objectives

60
The Components of Strategic Planning

• Audience
• External Factors
• Internal Factors
• Vision Statement
• Mission Statement
• Goals
• Objectives
• Performance Measures

61
Performance Measures

• Criteria (benchmarks) your organization will use
  to determine whether it is successful in
  attaining its Objectives
• Outputs that your organization plans to produce
• Outcomes (changed situations) your organization
  plans to bring about
• Specific improvements in the quality of your
  organizations services

62
Benchmark Management System

• A tool to monitor progress in implementing EZ/EC
  strategic plans

63
What is BMS?

• Monitors strategic plan activities
• Measures outputs and outcomes against baselines
  and targets
• Tracks resource use
• Provides an on-line workplan management tool for
  communities
• Incorporates on-line review and approval of
  changes to goals and budgets

64
What communities can do with it

• Manage strategic plan goals and actions
• Manage workplans, timetables, resources
• Print reports for community meetings
• Develop record of outputs and outcomes
• Make comparisons with other communities
• Establish basis for program evaluation
• Submit proposed changes for approval

65
What National Office Can Do

• Monitor progress nationally
• Electronic notification of changes to system
• Identify communities with common goals and
  activities
• Get national totals on resource usage
• Obtain national data on outputs and outcomes

66
How Does it Work in Communities?

• Requires only Internet access, Web browser,
  password for access
• Communities enter data
• Goals
• Activities
• Project descriptions and timetables
• Budgets and revenue sources
• Baselines, targets and performance indicators
• USDA State Offices notified of changes by e-mail

67
Results!

• Easy-to-use local workplan management system
• Uniform national data collected
• Accountability enforcement system
• Basis for program evaluations
• Strategic plan investment opportunities can be
  identified
• Provides results data for GPRA

68
EZ/EC Progress - An External Assessment

• The Positives
• The Negatives
• Need for more tangible results
• Common progress indicators
• Funds leveraged compared with other EZ/ECs
• Number, quality and range of projects implemented
• Visibility to the Public

69
Specific Challenges -- As We See It

• Board Compliance
• Permanent Staff
• Board Participation on Benchmark Activities
• Outreach to under-represented sectors
• Board as a Team

70
Its Your Community

• Do you agree these are serious or urgent
  challenges? If not these, what should the Board
  focus on?
• What will you do to tackle these challenges?
• What steps can be taken before your next Board
  Meeting?
• Who will do them?

71
The EC/USDA Partnership

• You are not alone!
• RD State Office
• Office of Community Development
• Other EZ/ECs
• Web Resources
• Others?

72
The Wrap-up

• Q and A
• Closing Comments
• Training Evaluation Form

73
TIME TO RENEW TIME TO ACT!