The Taos Institute, an organization at the forefront of Dialogue and Appreciative Inquiry, will convene a conference in Sarasota, Florida in September entitled: Dialogues that Deliver: Collaboration, Conflict and Community. An added special feature will be a panel discussion among the founders of the institute - that hasn't occurred in a long time.
Details here at their website.
Credentialing Committee "enthusiastic"
The Reach Institute, part of Whitman grantee organization, On The Move, was granted accreditation for its teacher credentialing program. One of the hallmarks of this program is that 15 new teachers from throughout the Bay Area created the design and implementation process themselves.
Read what Reach's director, Page Tomkins, wrote in a letter of thanks to their many supporters and sponsors after the jump...
Continue reading "OTM-Reach Institute's Teacher Program Credentialed" »
The video, Conversations for Change, shows how theYouth Dialogue Project was a vital part of the RockRose Institute's World Forum 2007 held in San Francisco earlier this year. The youth dialogue component, partially underwritten by TWI, made it possible for youth from five different parts of the world - South Africa, New Zealand, Cyprus, Denmark and the US - to stay in dialogue with each other throughout the year in some very innovative ways. Then they came together in San Francisco to learn more in-depth dialogue skills and techniques, and to share their learning with other participants of the forum.
The video very effectively captures a model for intergenerational sustainability. It is 16 minutes in length, and well worth the time investment. Here's the link.
BTW is a consulting organization with strong ties to TWI. One founder of BTW, Jill Blair, is on the Whitman board. BTW's latest newsletter has some interesting articles about philanthropy that is worth a read.
Kim Ammaann Howard, BTW's Director of Evaluation and Organizational Learning, wrote a wonderfully clear and concise article, Designing Learning Communities for Enhanced Impact. Check it out here.
If more grant makers and grantees actually did have effective learning communities, then there would be fewer situations described in this New York Times piece about some of the spectacular failures in the philanthropic world. (The evaluator in one of these studies was BTW.) Link also here.
Mitch Findley, the first youth advocate hired by VOICES was profiled in a recent article in the Napa Register. He describes how his own experiences in foster care are informing his work with emancipating foster youth who are currently "aging out" of the system.
Details here.
The second article describes three Napa men (including Mitch Findley) closely associated with VOICES who have been given awards in recognition of their community involvement, especially in foster care. Greg Sutton was named 'Father of the Year". Dick Bull - also from Napa - received the "Male Role Model Award", and Mitch was named this year's "Youth Role Model".
Here is a link to the article.
Congratulations to all!
Alison Fine's recent book, Momentum, was Recently recognized by the Alliance for Nonprofit Management.
Here is the first part of the news release:
Washington, DC - Alliance for Nonprofit Management named Momentum: Igniting Social Change by Allison H. Fine as the winner of the 2007 Terry McAdam Book Award. Fine's energetic and entrepreneurial approach to building ownership and influence for activities that create social benefit caught the both the minds and hearts of this year's jury in an engaging and provocative way."This year's pool of exceptional candidates reflects the growing and vibrant field of experts in nonprofit management," said Tangie Newborn, Alliance Executive Director and CEO. "The profound and cutting edge thinking arising from the nonprofit sector and authors like Allison, indicates the positive change emerging in our industry."
Alison is a writer and researcher supported by TWI through a fellowship with Demos.
Congratulations, Alison!
The Napa Register has recently profiled CHANCES, the latest program offering at V.O.I.C.E.S., an innovative community in Napa, California that provides services to emancipated (and emancipating) foster youth. CHANCES is a much needed new wellness program targeting youth with special needs.
Check the article out here.