Hello world!

4 thoughts on “Hello world!”

1. Dear Fellows,

   We are now live on Blogs@Baruch! The title of our ‘site’ is: leadershipfellows.
   You can journal, comment on each other’s posts, post notice of any events or resources or information that you think other Fellows will appreciate, etc.

   All my best,

   Michael

2. “The theater is not the cure for cancer, but we enrich the lives of people who are living …”
   Broadway Producer Stewart F. Lane

   Once upon a time I wanted to be a ballet dancer, then an actress and a singer…

   This past Thursday, March 19 at 11:10am, I went to my first presentation to the Bronx Delegation Budget Hearings. It was the second time for Associate Artistic Director Colón-Lespier, but my first time … and it went well!

   Few weeks earlier, we were both “gently recruited” by our Development Officer to meet with Council Members individually to provide an update on recent achievements and outlining rationale behind FY16 Discretionary and Capital Funding requests. We both prepared and went to the meetings to give our pitch and answer questions.

   Since I’m an expert in finding myself doing things for the first time with very little knowledge base, I went on to learn, or I should say… to figure out what I was doing, while doing it…

   Lesson #1: What’s Discretionary Funding?

   Discretionary Funding allows certain elected officials – including Council Members and Borough Presidents – to designate specific not-for-profit organizations to receive funding as an alternative to funding programs through competitive procurement.

   Categories of Discretionary Funds:
   • Local Initiatives – Member: An annual amount to be used at the Member’s discretion to meet local needs in the Member’s district.
   • Local Initiatives – City Council: Organizations may apply for funding directly to the Speaker, or Members may request that the Speaker fund an organization whose scope of services exceeds their individual ability to fund, or which serves a larger geographical area. This is often referred to as the “Speaker’s list.”
   • Member Aging Discretionary Funds: An annual amount to fund senior services in his or her district through the Department for the Aging.
   • Member Youth Discretionary Funds: An annual amount for the provision of services for youth or community development through the Department of Youth and Community Development.
   • Initiatives: The Council may also initiate programs for the purpose of addressing community needs that it feels are not met by existing Agency programming, or to extend the reach of agency programs to underserved communities or populations. In most, but not all, cases, the Council will provide funding to specific not-for-profit providers.

   Lesson #2: How Do I Make My Case?

   I discovered that our organization may apply for funding directly to the Speaker [Local Initiatives], or ask Members to support our request to the Speaker to fund our organization for the following reasons:
   1. We are geographically located on the Speaker’s District.
   2. The scope of services we provide exceeds our individual ability to fund.
   3. And we serve a larger geographical area.

   Lucky and grateful to be mentored by an organization that has been around for over 35 years, and has developed strong relationships with City Council Members based on the organization’s capacity and integrity to provide quality service, with transparency and accountability in the use of discretionary funding, I was always exited to report back after meeting with each Council Member, with whom I had very challenging conversations.

   But at the Bronx Delegation Budget Hearings I witnessed something truly unexpected. I witnessed how members of our local government talked about our organization as a valuable component to our community. One Council Member encouraged other Members of the Council to support us like they support hospitals and colleges, because theater institutions serve a wide range of individuals and communities beyond the district’s “boundaries or limits”. Just like hospitals and colleges, theaters and institutions have a greater impact in the entire community, she said. Yes!, I said to myself in High C. What a great statement! To elevate theaters, and therefore, arts & culture institutions’ contribution to society, and consider them as important as health providers and educational institutions in the community, is something that I don’t hear too often.

   In a larger context, I witnessed a demonstration of support and a great deal of gratitude to the non-profit sector for working with the government and other partners to implement measures and initiatives critical to ensuring the future of the services we provide to the community. This might be old information for many, but it was fairly new to me, and being able to see it in full display during a real discussion among elected government officials was an eye-opening experience for me, and a master class on advocacy.

   Lesson #3: If I Had To Do It Alone…

   What would have happened if I was there alone… with no Associate Director by my side and no Council Member supporting me? What would I have done for my organization?

   Crash course on 6 minutes pitch. – Ready? Go!
   • Take control of those precious 6 minutes from Hello! Distribute to each person around the table a one-page, two-sided printout with photos and a brief description of how the funds were to be used, as the presentation unfolds. Stay focused, be confident, and smile!
   • Know your numbers! Demonstrate the organization’s integrity, compliance, and a successful track record in providing the services for which we have been selected to provide.
   • Prepare for any possible question. Have written down previous FY Capital and Discretionary Request Breakdowns as detailed as possible. Know how much was spent in what? How much was left? Who gave what? And how much % of increase the organization is asking for this FY?

   I learned that our local government values tremendously nonprofits as community partners and the important work we do. I honestly had doubts, but this experience gave me a little bit of Hope.

   Best,
   Yaremis

3. Great post….the six-minute pitch is spot on. Knowing your audience and your organization is key!

4. 1. What did you find memorable or applicable in the readings? IN other words, what can you take away or apply from your readings in your in your own communication? And the governance of your organization?
   – The most memorable piece of the readings for me would be how attitude is the root of the communication. I want to apply the “confident attitude” piece to my conversation or meetings with my co-workers, my supervisor as well as the board to persuade the decision making process.

   2. How do these week’s reading relate to your major initiative/project?
   – My project is to establish a systematic financial management system in my organization as well as to communicate this newly established financial management knowledge with the senior program managers. This week’s readings have made me rethink my approach of communication with my co-workers because I have tried to share my knowledge with them before. However, now I have realized that it was always like the “Taper” and Listener” experiment described in one of readings. So, using the knowledge I have learned from these readings and from my leadership class, I hope to develop a different and better communication strategy for my colleagues to understand the financial data.

   3. What is the best idea you have learned about effective communication?
   – The best idea I have learned about effective communication is from the “Confession of a Public Speaker” by Berkan. He made an excellent point that we should just accept the fact that we will make few mistakes while speaking in public. Therefore, we should not focus on the mistakes that we have made during the public speaking because people in the audience simply don’t care or don’t pay attention as much as we think they do. We should rather focus on the content or points of the speech and their connections to the audience.

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