Leadership Learning Community Webinar Series
June 2011
@leadershipera #leadershipnet
"LLC brings together the best minds in leadership development to advance the field…LLC anticipates the future and is a dynamic catalyst capable of creating a link from today’s issues in leadership development to tomorrow’s solutions.“ (Donna Stark, The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
Network Research Application
Inclusive, Networked & Collective Leadership
The value of collective leadership networks is in their capacity to
solve problems quickly in an environment of uncertainty and
complexity (Watts, 2004)
www.leadershipforanewera.org
Leadership Webinar Series
A Case Study in Popular Education and Scaling Leadership Impact in Rural Communities
Ruby Lee, Northwest Area Foundation
Daring to Lead 2011: Leadership Development & Support for Nonprofit Leaders
Are You A Network Weaver?
June Holley, Network Weaver
Marla Cornelius, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services
A Case Study in Popular Education and Scaling Leadership Impact The Horizons Program offers a compelling story for all in the field of leadership who care deeply about how to connect and mobilize leadership at the scale needed to address complex social problems.
Patrick L. Scully, Everyday Democracy, Senior Associate Ruby Lee, Program Director, Northwest Area Foundation Lynette Flage, North Dakota State University Extension Service Deborah Meehan, Executive Director, Leadership Learning Community
The Horizons Program: Testing New
Ideas and Approaches
Is it possible to build leadership capacity in hundreds of rural communities?
Yes!!! 100,000 rural people engaged from 283 communities across 7 states.
Horizon’s Leadership Impact
• A 63% increase in civic engagement
• Community governance is more accessible and transparent in 50% of the communities
• Majority of participants are new to leadership
• Over 1,811 action plans implemented
• $21,000,000 in new resources for communities
Key Elements of Horizons
Study Circles
Leadership Plenty
Community Visioning
Coaching: Action Plans
Small Grants
Social Media
Traditional Leadership Approach
Individual Skills and Knowledge
Strong Organizations
Community Results
From Individuals to Communities
Traditional Approaches Horizons Program
From Organizations to Networks…
Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefangmonster/ / CC BY 2.0
From Silos to Partnerships…
Volunteers
Community
Business
Government
Vo
lun
teer
s
Co
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un
ity
Inst
itu
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ns
(co
llege
s, c
hu
rch
es, k
12
)
Bu
sin
ess
Go
vern
men
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Scalable
Builds Connection
Promotes Action
Leverages Resources
Builds & Doesn’t Rely on Infrastructure
Horizons is a Model That Is….
Lessons Learned from the Horizons Program
Implementation & Evaluation
Leadership and Poverty Reduction
Will increased leadership capacity help rural communities reduce poverty & build prosperity? Yes and No:
77% of Study Circle participants understand root causes of poverty and over half are still engaged in poverty reduction actions
AND
Many participants were not clear on definitions & expectations and believe it’s too early to know if they are making a difference.
Study Circles Inspire Action
Popular education helps to motivate people who have been disengaged to take action by helping
them to understand how their personal experiences are connected to societal problems.
We had wonderful ideas after the study circles ..to decide what poverty meant to everybody and where we were going to go with it and how we were going to fix it. Horizon’s participant
Horizons Builds Connection
• Individuals
• Organizations
• Delivery Organizations
• Community & Extension
• Community & Foundations
Strengthening the Horizons Model
• Diversity and race: The program increased leadership diversity, but needed to bring a race lens to understanding and acting on poverty & to appropriately tailor the program for different communities.
The Horizons Program provides an important model for all who are interested in how to mobilize leadership at the scale needed to make a significant difference in the well-being of communities.
“We have lived here for eight years, and, they’ve been talking about ‘somebody’s got to do something’ …and now in eighteen months somebody has done something.” Horizons’ participant
Images: Lawrence Community Works Website, Bruner Loeb Forum
Highlights from the Foundation
Ruby Lee
Program Officer
Northwest Area Foundation
Highlights from the Study Circles
Patrick L. Scully
Everyday Democracy
Senior Associate
Highlights from Community Coaching
Lynette Flage
North Dakota State University
Extension Service
Questions?
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