Mahardy organizational change proposal

Running head: BOARD CREATION AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT IN A NEW NON-

PROFIT

Paper Format: APA 6th ed.

Organizational Change Project: Board Creation and Program Development in a New Non-Profit

Heather Mahardy

Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program – Antioch University

July 2013

BOARD CREATION AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT IN A NEW NON-PROFIT 2

Background

Shikita Trahan, founder of Alliance for Community Empowerment, the non-profit agency

currently in its inception, sees a critical gap in services and resource access for at-risk youth in

historically marginalized communities in the Seattle area. After 12 years of volunteering and

working in schools and non-profit organizations, observing the successes and shortcomings of

various agencies’ programs and administrations, Ms. Trahan decided to pursue her commitment

to social justice in a new way: founding her own organization in order to provide direct services

and address community needs previously neglected or underserved by existing organizations.

In the founder’s experience, existing government and private agencies struggle to serve

the needs of at-risk youth and their communities due to a number of factors: limited resources,

limited cultural competency among agency leadership, failure to hire qualified people from the

neighborhood, continued academic achievement gaps among historically marginalized

populations, lack of effective and consistent leadership development opportunities for youth, no

clear network of services or standardized intake processes, and inconsistent financial resources.

Faced with these challenges, some agencies attempt to serve the majority population of a

neighborhood, choosing one marginalized population over another. This fractured approach

compounds existing threats to the success of at-risk youth and young adults: risk factors for high

school dropout, social pressure to join gangs, lack of high quality and appealing after-school

programs and sports, and limited access to high quality education and support services.

Rather than competing against existing agencies for funding, Alliance for Community

Empowerment seeks to establish a collaborative, community integrated support program by

actively engaging community members, middle and high school counselors, and other agencies

as active partners in order to assess needs, generate solution steps, and provide referrals and


direct services that are responsive to the High Point, West Seattle, White Center, Burien, South

Park, Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Rainier Beach, and Tukwila communities.

Proposed programs and services to be provided by Alliance for Community

Empowerment include: case management, resource referrals, academic advising, tutoring,

admissions support, service learning, leadership training, and sports camps. All programs will be

grant funded, providing services at no cost to at-risk youth and community members, so as to

mitigate financially prohibitive barriers to access.

My current position at Alliance for Community Empowerment is Vice President of the

board and Program Director, collaborating with the founder on a number of startup activities:

drafting a business plan, incorporating the organization, creating a board of directors, cultivating

strategic partnerships, securing grants, and program development. At this point in time, the

founder and I are the only employees and two additional board members have been recruited.

Criterion 1: Social Systems at Work in the Proposed Change

As referenced in the background section, existing government and private agencies and

organizations are encumbered by a number of challenges to effectively serving at-risk youth and

their communities. Financial scarcity impedes programs serving vulnerable populations,

including low-income families and at-risk youth, and state and private agencies face the

challenge of cutting back services and programs, potentially causing further marginalization of

the very populations the agencies were established to serve.

Another consequence of financial scarcity is an insular dynamic between agencies,

viewing other non-profits as threats to revenue streams, thereby discouraging interagency

communication, collaboration, or founding a coalition of agencies. In addition to forfeiting

opportunities to pool resources, the lack of interagency communication can result in redundant


programs and further complicates constituents’ resource access: an absence of coordinated

services and intake processes, the burden of navigating the bureaucracy of various agencies rests

on historically marginalized populations, still confronted with educational disparities.

Additionally, these marginalized populations often comprise only a minority of staff

positions within organizations serving high need communities, with the majority of program

management and senior leadership positions belonging to people from outside the community

and culture. Consequently, cultivating lasting relationships of trust and confidence with

marginalized communities continues to be a challenge for existing agencies intending to serve

these at-risk populations.

Establishing a collaborative, community-integrated agency that actively involves at-risk

populations in leadership decisions is in direct conflict with the dominant organizational culture

of existing agencies working in the High Point, West Seattle, White Center, Burien, South Park,

Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Rainier Beach, and Tukwila neighborhoods. Alliance

for Community Empowerment aims to invert the community engagement paradigm of existing

agencies, shifting the leadership, solution steps, and direction of social change back to the

communities when the agency will operate, as represented in Figure 1.


Figure 1. Proposed Community Engagement Culture at Alliance for Community

Empowerment

Since this agency is in its inception, there is a limited organizational structure in place,

consisting solely of the Board of Directors, with the founder and myself also serving as the only

two staff members. It is Ms. Trahan’s intention to create a Youth Advisory Board Member

position in order to develop a stronger relationship with youth and young adults in the

communities in which Alliance for Community Empowerment will operate. Figure 2

demonstrates the proposed organizational structure for the non-profit. Ms. Trahan has also

expressed an interest in embedding organizational health best practices throughout each phase of

the founding process.

historically marginalized and at-risk populations involved in leadership process and eventual

employment opportunities

directly engage community in

planning, implementation,

evaluation of programs/ services

community-dictated needs/

strengths assessment


Figure 2. Proposed Organizational Structure at Alliance for Community Empowerment

Criterion 2: Understanding of the Complexity of Planned Change

A number of risk factors impact at-risk youth at the individual, peer, family, school,

community, and societal levels. As such, a systems-based inquiry approach is essential to

understand the interconnected sociological factors impeding the success and empowerment of

this diverse and vulnerable population. By retaining the complexity of the risk factors and

sociological context – as opposed to trying to generalize or over-simplify the myriad challenges

facing at-risk youth – interventions can be specifically geared to addressing the needs of at-risk

youth and their communities.

In February 2013, the Building a Grad Nation Campaign reported that approximately 13

percent of Washington State high school students do not graduate. Additionally, Sitwell and

Sable (2013) cited Washington State as one of seven states with improving graduation rates, but

needing to accelerate intervention efforts. The demographic data is sobering, with historically

Board of Directors

Administrative Staff

Program Director

Instructors

Executive Director


marginalized populations comprising the majority of the students who drop out of school, as

Balfanz, Bridgeland, Bruce, and Fox (2013) explain:

A deeper look at the data, now possible as states and districts disaggregate information

consistently (a very beneficial legacy of No Child Left Behind), however reveals large

“graduation gaps” among subgroups in many states. The graduation rate for African

Americans, Hispanics, economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, or

with limited English proficiency lags far behind that of other students. These gaps

threaten individual prosperity, a strong economy, and a society that promotes opportunity

for all. … As the nation becomes more diverse, these students collectively will represent

the majority of students attending public high schools in many states. (p. 15-17)

Figure 3 demonstrates graduation data, as reported by Balfanz et al. (2013), for students in

Washington State. Subsequently, most of these populations are highly represented in the High

Point, West Seattle, White Center, Burien, South Park, Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way,

Rainier Beach, and Tukwila neighborhoods, the very communities where Alliance for

Community Empowerment intends to provide services.

2011 Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) by

Subgroup

Percentage in

WA State Students with Disabilities 56

Students with Limited English Proficiency 51

African American Students 65

Hispanic Students 63

White Students 79

Figure 3. Washington State Graduation Rates (Balfanz et al., 2013, p. 28-29)

BoostUp (2011), a national organization addressing high school dropout, compiled the

ten most significant factors contributing to a student’s decision to quit school:


They don’t feel challenged in school.

They don’t feel high educational expectations from either their family or school.

They believe their parents are too controlling and they want to rebel.

They have trouble with schoolwork or feel like they are not as smart as other students.

They have drug, alcohol or mental health problems.

They miss school or are frequently tardy.

They struggle with problems at home, including physical or verbal abuse.

They feel like they don’t fit in or have friends at school.

Their peers or siblings have dropped out of school.

They have poor learning conditions at school – such as overcrowding, high levels of

violence and excessive absenteeism.

The Civic Marshall Plan, an educational reform campaign initiated by Building a Grad Nation,

purports four principles necessary to effectively address the myriad sociological factors – such as

those cited by BoostUp – affecting at-risk youth in the United States. Figure 4 demonstrates the

Civic Marshall Plan theory of change and key principles.

PRINCIPLES

Philosophy of the Civic Marshall Plan to Build a Grad Nation

PLANKS

Ten research-based strategies to the cohort approach

GOAL

90% high school graduation rate for Class of 2020 and all students college and career ready


Figure 4. Civic Marshall Plan Theory of Change and Principles (Balfanz et al., 2013, p. 44)

The current mission of Alliance for Community Empowerment is to empower at-risk

youth and young adults to create positive change in their communities by connecting them with

the resources and guidance needed to achieve their life goals. These necessary interventions will

be centered around direct services, assisting youth that seek educational options, are on the verge

of dropping out of school, have dropped out of school, or who may be part of the juvenile justice

system. Alliance for Community Empowerment intends to provide case management, resource

referrals, educational transition programs, athletic camps, and leadership development.

Criterion 3: Rationale for the Proposed Change Based on Identified and Substantiated

Need

Alliance for Community Empowerment seeks to fund its activities through grants and, as

such, must meet grant compliance criteria. Since the organization is in the early development

stages, grant compliance criteria and organizational health principles will be used to direct

foundational activities. La Piana Associates Inc. (2003) created a tool for grantmakers to assess

candidate startup organizations, including six indicators of organizational health (p. 17):

1. A Healthy Governance Function – The organization has a board of directors that

works collaboratively with the executive director, defines the mission and then

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

All students deserve a world-class education and all children can succeed, if provided appropriate

supports.

STRATEGIC FOCUS

Direct human, financial and technical capacities and resources to low-graduation rate communities,

school systems, schools, and disadvantaged students.

ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT

We must measure our work so that we know what’s working— and what is not. We must build state, school system, and school capacity to improve

graduation and college readiness rates.

THOUGHTFUL COLLABORATION

Ending the dropout crisis requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. To achieve collective impact,

collaborations must be deliberately planned, guided by shared metrics, and thoughtfully integrated to

maximize efficiency and outcomes.

Principles of the Civic Marshall Plan


develops strategies and policies that advance it. It also provides an independent check

on management’s actions and a connection to the community served.

Alliance for Community Empowerment is a non-profit organization, filing under tax-exempt

status. As a small startup, the current staff is limited, comprised of the Executive Director and a

Program Director, under the governance of the Board of Directors. At this point in time, the two

staff members are also executive board members, collaborating with other board members to

develop programs, clarify the organization’s mission and vision, identify strategic goals, and

seek potential partnerships with existing agencies and foundations. A draft description of board

roles exists, but will need to be formally adopted as part of the foundational process.

2. A Competent Executive Director – The staff leader of a staffed startup non-profit in

particular must be a jack-of-all-trades. The leader must work collaboratively with the

board and staff; provide a bridge to the community, funders and clients; chart a future

course; raise funds and model a high ethical standard. The executive director sets the

tone for internal communications and the staff’s working relationships with one

another.

The founder is currently completing a non-profit leadership certificate program through South

Seattle Community College and will need additional institutional leadership resources, as this is

her first time leading at an executive level. Clarification and formalization of the Executive

Director position will need to be addressed by the board.

3. A Sound Financial Management System – Nonprofits need a system that controls

expenditures and offers accurate, timely reporting to management on income and

expenses. Management also needs data for accountability and decision making,


including an annual budget. There should be regular external review, both by the

finance committee and, periodically, by independent auditors.

Currently, finances are supervised by the President and Vice President, as recruitment for a

Treasurer is ongoing. Financial accountability policies and procedures, along with the creation

of a finance committee, are critical tasks to be addressed during the next few months of the

foundational period. Additionally, a formal accountant position will need to be established and a

hiring process conducted for the position.

4. Workable, Legal, Human Resource Policy and Practices – Nonprofits typically

spend upwards of 80 percent of their income on people: salaries and benefits as well

as training and supervision. They must manage this function wisely, complying with

complex government laws and regulations, compensating people adequately within

limited resources and motivating them to perform their best. Internal communications

must be structured to provide staff with appropriate input into decision making and

current knowledge of the activities of other units within the organization.

Research on current human resource laws and regulations will need to be conducted, as well as

drafting formal organizational policies. All of these activities will occur under the supervision of

the Alliance for Community Empowerment board. Additionally, the organization may explore

the creation of a personnel committee, as the board grows and develops with the agency.

5. A Successful Fund Development Strategy – One way or another, a nonprofit must

obtain funds: from grants, contracts, fees or individual gifts. It is a matter of life or

death, and a nonprofit that cannot attract resources is in desperate trouble indeed. Few

startups will have a development director, so the board and executive director must

work together to raise the necessary funds.


One of the pressing tasks facing board members is securing grants to fund the startup process.

The founder has identified preliminary needs to inform grant selection activities: business

startups, charitable use real estate, computer systems/equipment, emergency funds, equipment,

faculty/staff development, fellowships, general/operating support, internship funds, scholarship

funds, seed money, and student aid. A formal fund development strategy is a critical outcome

for the strategic planning process.

6. A Clear, Consistent Message – A nonprofit must communicate what it is about to

anyone who can either help it or be helped by it. Going well beyond a newsletter, its

marketing and communications efforts should make use of all available media and

take advantage of opportunities that arise to tell its story.

Alliance for Community Empowerment has working mission and vision statements, but does not

have a formal public relations or marketing plan at this time. Clarification of organizational

mission and vision, as well as development of a plan to effectively communicate the

organization’s programs and goals to potential investors and clients is essential to fulfilling its

mission.

Criterion 4: Concrete, Specific Goals for Leadership and Change for the Organization

and/or Community

The following action steps were generated from discussions with the founder and will be

completed via collaboration with the Alliance for Community Empowerment board of directors.

Organizational Leadership and Change Goal One

Completion of a business plan: documenting the need for the organization, clarifying the

mission statement, describe the programs and services to be offered, and developing a financial


plan. This process is essential not only for the thoughtful planning and establishment of the non-

profit, but is necessary for soliciting grants and strategic partnerships with other organizations.

Organizational Leadership and Change Goal Two

Establish board bylaws, articles of incorporation, and other foundational documentation

(e.g., organizational chart, internal controls policy, job descriptions for each position, personnel

policies, and public relations policy). In addition to clarifying the operational structure and

processes of the organization, this documentation is required for the incorporation, licensing, and

grant solicitation processes.

Organizational Leadership and Change Goal Three

Inventory of current programs and services in High Point, West Seattle, White Center,

Burien, South Park, Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Rainier Beach, and Tukwila

neighborhoods (e.g., budget, number of people served, specific services, populations served).

The organization needs additional data to inform program development activities and this data

can also be used as rationale for need to found Alliance for Community Empowerment, as well

as substantiate application requirements of grant requests.

Organizational Leadership and Change Goal Four

Develop a survey for community members regarding existing agencies and programs:

access to services, strengths/needs assessment, and trust/satisfaction with current services

provided. This goal is just one means to involve members from the High Point, West Seattle,

White Center, Burien, South Park, Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Rainier Beach, and

Tukwila neighborhoods in the program development process.

Organizational Leadership and Change Goal Five


Identify recruitment strategies to engage community members in the planning,

implementation, and assessment of services to be provided through Alliance for Community

Empowerment, and eventual coalition of agencies. Intentionally structuring community

engagement on an ongoing basis enables the non-profit to cultivate relationships of trust and

ensure that programs are responsive to community identified needs.

Organizational Leadership and Change Goal Six

Generate a list of potential grantors and strategic partners for board members to contact –

preliminary list of organizations includes: The Foundation Center, Small Business Association,

A Better Seattle, Russell Okung UP Foundation, Trufant Family Foundation, Marshawn Lynch

1st Family Foundation, YWCA of Seattle, Seattle Public Schools, City of Seattle Neighborhood

Matching Fund, Boeing Employees Community Fund, Microsoft, Seattle Youth Violence

Prevention Project, and the Clinton Global Fund. At present, only mission appropriate agencies

are under consideration for grant or strategic partnership solicitation – the board will also explore

block grants as a potential revenue stream.

Organizational Leadership and Change Goal Seven

Complete strategic planning – one-, two-, and three-year windows – addressing program

development, staffing, strategic partnerships, board development, and professional memberships.

Alliance for Community Empowerment planning activities are currently concentrated on the

startup phase, but organizational leadership has identified the need to complete a formal strategic

planning process.

Criterion 5: Concrete, Specific Goals for the Student as a Leader of Change

Serving the needs of at-risk youth is a personal passion and was the focus of my Master’s

thesis prior to being hired as Director of Student Services: I subsequently abandoned the thesis in


favor of designing the student services program as my graduate completion project. Participating

in this startup venture is an exciting opportunity for me to reconnect with a personal passion and

explore new leadership opportunities.

In my nine years as an educator, I have participated in a number of change initiatives –

strategic planning, accreditation, program design and implementation, organizational expansion,

feasibility study for a capital campaign, and a Head search – but in most of those situations, I

was not in a facilitator or senior leadership role. In my present role at Alliance for Community

Empowerment, I am Program Director and Vice President of the Board, in addition to facilitating

the change activities outlined in this proposal.

These current change initiatives can seem daunting because, at present, so much of the

foundational process at this stage is theoretical. Consequently, the founder and I spend an

extensive amount of time researching practical examples of establishment activities for non-

profits, basing decisions on what has or has not been successful for analogous agencies.

Personal Leadership Goal One

Collaborate with board to facilitate organizational development activities (e.g., board

establishment, drafting business plan, strategic planning, pursuing grants and strategic

partnerships, and public relations policy). I will achieve this goal by keeping the focus on

facilitation skills and best practices, seeking to establish a safe and constructive space for board

members to construct what organizational development means at Alliance for Community

Empowerment, as opposed to giving the board a canned set of tasks to perform.

Personal Leadership Goal Two


Collaborate with board members to generate ways to engage community stakeholders in

program design, implementation, and evaluation processes. Since the organization’s aim is to

empower at-risk youth in historically marginalized communities, it is especially important for

community stakeholders to be involved at each step of the organization’s development.

Additionally, involving historically marginalized populations in key leadership decisions at the

outset of the planned change fosters opportunities to cultivate social capital within the

community at large.

Personal Leadership Goal Three

Work with board members to define criteria for a healthy non-profit and embed the

criteria throughout the organizational development process. This goal is deeply personal to me,

especially after recently making the decision to leave an unhealthy and toxic organization.

Criterion 6: Description of Various Learning Strategies

Since this marks the first time the founder or any board members, including myself, have

participated in the establishment of an organization, an extensive literature review on board

creation, non-profit establishment processes, intervention programs for at-risk youth, interagency

communication and collaboration, strategic planning, organizational development, enacting

social change with historically marginalized populations, and strategies for cultivating leadership

and civic engagement are a priority. Figure 5 demonstrates the relevant literature found to date.

Author(s) Literature Published Adams Successful change: Paying attention to the intangibles 2003

Balfanz, Bridgeland,

Bruce, & Fox

Building a grade nation: Progress and challenges in ending the

high school dropout epidemic

2013

Battilana, Gilmartin,

Sengue, Pache, &

Alexander

Leadership competencies for implementing planned

organizational change

2010

Brendtro, Brokenleg, &

Van Bockern

Reclaiming youth at risk: Our hope for the future 2002


Brown & Posner Exploring the relationship between learning and leadership 2001

Burke A perspective on the field of organizational development and

change: The Zeigarnik effect

2010

Einspruch, Deck,

Grover, & Hahn

Readiness to learn: School-linked models for integrated family

services

2001

Family Strengthening

Policy Center

Family strengthening writ large: On becoming a nation that

promotes strong families and successful youth

2007

Harvard Family

Research Project

Learning from logic models: An example of a family/school

partnership program

1999

Landorf, Rocco, &

Nevin

Creating permeable boundaries: Teaching and learning for

social justice in a global society

2007

La Piana Associates

Inc.

Tools for assessing startup organizations 2003

Noguera City schools and the American dream: Reclaiming the promise

of public education

2003

Rouda & Kusy Development of human resources – Part 2: Needs assessment 1995

Stillwell & Sable Public school graduates and dropouts from the common core

of data

2013

Trumbull & Pacheco Leading with diversity: Cultural competencies for teacher

preparation and professional development

2005

Ongoing communication with board members will occur at each stage of the process,

establishing an inclusive, reflective, and responsive framework for this planned change.

Additionally, the key organizational change implementation activities of communicating,

mobilizing, and evaluating will be employed throughout the project (Battilana et al., 2010):

Communicating refers to activities leaders undertake to make the case for change, to

share their vision of the need for change with followers. Mobilizing refers to actions

leaders undertake to gain co-workers’ support for and acceptance of the enactment of

new work routines. Evaluating refers to measures leaders employ to monitor and assess

the impact of implementation efforts and institutionalize changes. (p. 424)


Criterion 7: Range of Change Strategies to Develop an Effective Project

Strategy 1: Scholarly and practical engagement with issues of ethical and participatory

leadership

As stated in the Criterion 4, a set of seven organizational change goals were identified

from discussions with the founder of Alliance for Community Empowerment:

1. Completion of a business plan: documenting the need for the organization, clarifying the

mission statement, describe the programs and services to be offered, and developing a

financial plan.

2. Establish board bylaws, articles of incorporation, and other foundational documentation

(e.g., organizational chart, internal controls policy, job descriptions for each position,

personnel policies, and public relations policy).

3. Inventory of current programs and services in High Point, West Seattle, White Center,

Burien, South Park, Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Rainier Beach, and

Tukwila neighborhoods (e.g., budget, number of people served, specific services,

populations served).

4. Develop a survey for community members regarding existing agencies and programs:

access to services, strengths/needs assessment, and trust/satisfaction with current services

provided.

5. Identify recruitment strategies to engage community members in the planning,

implementation, and assessment of services to be provided through Alliance for

Community Empowerment, and eventual coalition of agencies.

6. Generate a list of potential grantors and strategic partners for board members to contact.


7. Complete strategic planning – one-, two-, and three-year windows – addressing program

development, staffing, strategic partnerships, board development, and professional

memberships.

These aforementioned goals demonstrate the founder’s personal identification with servant

leadership principles, analogous to person-oriented leadership skills: “behaviors that promote

collaborative interaction among organization members, establish a supportive social climate, and

promote management practices that ensure equitable treatment of organization members”

(Battilana et al., 2010, p. 423). An extensive review of relevant literature, through an ethical and

participatory leadership lens, is outlined in the Criterion 6 section.

Strategy 2: In-depth exploration and reflection on student’s own personal and professional

capabilities for leading a change initiative

For the past five years, as Director of Student Services at a small, independent middle

school, I went through a number of formative leadership experiences. The most recent and most

painful was the recognition that I was caught in an adaptive leadership crisis, launching

intervention after intervention, trying to combat a system that was diametrically opposed to my

vision of a supportive learning environment for students. In the end, I made the excruciating

decision to resign my position and leave the school.

My decision to leave the school created a personal leadership crisis in and of itself. I

went through a period of extreme self-doubt, questioning if I had forfeiting my responsibilities as

a leader, if I truly was a leader, and if I would ever return to education. Fortunately, at the most

discouraging moment of this inner turmoil, I was asked by the founder of Alliance for

Community Empowerment to serve as a consultant and, shortly thereafter, as Program Director

and Vice President, two leadership positions that I never would have sought for myself.


Prior to my tenure as Director of Student Services, I intended to work with at-risk youth.

In fact, I was three weeks into writing my Master’s thesis – fittingly, on community integrated

reclaiming environments for at-risk youth – when I was offered the Student Services position and

shifted my graduate completion project to designing and implementing a Student Services

program. In many ways, I did not completely abandon my former research concentration, as at-

risk youth at the middle school quickly comprised the bulk of my case load.

Unfortunately, Student Services program was greatly under-resourced and I frequently

found myself in a reactive, as opposed to proactive, position. My previous experiences as an

outcomes assessment graduate assistant and as a strategic planning committee member reminded

me that moving from one organizational crisis to the next was unnecessary and

counterproductive. In hindsight, chaos was an organizational value of the middle school and I

made a conscious decision to pursue another path: a systems-based change initiative, grounded in

complexity theory.

Now that I have the opportunity to help build an organization from the ground up, instead

of trying to work through systemic limitations and problematic organizational culture already in

place, I want to do everything in my power to establish a healthy organization. This perspective

is shared by the founder and another board member, both of whom have had similar experiences

working within non-profits.

Strategy 3: An understanding of how the strategies may privilege and/or marginalize

different groups and individuals

The conception of this organizational change project is centered around Alliance for

Community Empowerment successfully completing its foundation process and make a strong

organizational start and achieve its goal: establishing a collaborative, community integrated

support program by actively engaging community members, middle and high school counselors,


and other agencies as active partners in order to assess needs, generate solution steps, and

provide referrals and direct services that are responsive to the High Point, West Seattle, White

Center, Burien, South Park, Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Rainier Beach, and

Tukwila communities.

Since at-risk youth and the aforementioned communities represent vulnerable and

historically marginalized populations, change strategies were selected on the basis of mitigating

privilege and/or marginalization of any one stakeholder group. Furthermore, specific research on

change strategies that foster empowerment and generate social capital will be sought during the

literature review phase of this change project.

Criterion 8: Appropriate Documentation of Support for the Planned Change

The founder of Alliance for Community Empowerment authorized me to conduct board,

organizational, and program development activities in March 2013 and a letter of authorization

was drafted in June 2013, which will be submitted to the Antioch University Institutional Review

Board, pending approval for this change project proposal.

Criterion 9: Development and Inclusion of Viable Time Frames and Deadlines

Note: some proposed activities may run concurrently.

PROJECT PLAN FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PROJECT

Activity Start End Duration

Initial change project proposal submitted to Alliance for

Community Empowerment founder and approved

July 2013 July 2013 1 week

Change project proposal and IRB application submitted

and approved

July 2013 July 2013 1-2

weeks

Review of literature on board creation, non-profit

establishment processes, intervention programs for at-

risk youth, interagency communication and

collaboration, strategic planning, organizational

development, enacting social change with historically

marginalized populations, and strategies for cultivating

leadership and civic engagement

July 2013 August

2013

2 weeks


Inventory of current programs and services in High

Point, West Seattle, White Center, Burien, South Park,

Kent, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Rainier

Beach, and Tukwila neighborhoods (e.g., budget,

number of people served, specific services, populations

served).

August

2013

August

2013

1 week

Establish board bylaws, articles of incorporation, and

other foundational documentation (e.g., organizational

chart, internal controls policy, job descriptions for each

position, personnel policies, and public relations

policy).

August

2013

August

2013

2 weeks

Completion of a business plan: documenting the need

for the organization, clarifying the mission statement,

describe the programs and services to be offered, and

developing a financial plan.

August

2013

August

2013

2 weeks

Generate a list of potential grantors and strategic

partners for board members to contact.

August

2013

August

2013

August

2013

Identify recruitment strategies to engage community

members in the planning, implementation, and

assessment of services to be provided through Alliance

for Community Empowerment, and eventual coalition

of agencies.

September

2013

September

2013

1 week

Develop a survey for community members regarding

existing agencies and programs: access to services,

strengths/needs assessment, and trust/satisfaction with

current services provided.

September

2013

September

2013

1 week

Complete strategic planning – one-, two-, and three-year

windows – addressing program development, staffing,

strategic partnerships, board development, and

professional memberships.

September

2013

September

2013

2 weeks

Evaluation and next steps for organization September

2013

September

2013

1 week


References

Adams, J. (2003). Successful change: Paying attention to the intangibles. OD Practitioner, 35(4),

3-7.

Addison, R., & Wittkuhn, K. (2001). HPT: The culture factor. Performance Improvement, 40(3),

14-19.

Balfanz, R., Bridgeland, J., Bruce, M., & Fox, J. Hornig. (2013). Building a grad nation:

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Mahardy organizational change proposal

Documents

program development

community empowerment

support services

new nonprofit

address community

direct services

board creation

existing agencies