Board of Directors Main 2008 Election Meeting Sites & Dates Officers and Directors Election Results, 1998-present

2008 Election Candidate Forum: The Questions Question 14: What are some measures the Club should take to improve leadership development? What other grassroots capacity-building actions, if any, would you recommend? Candidate responses were limited to 150 words per question. Lane Boldman The Club invested heavily in the Leadership Development Project. I attended these projects and held a demonstration at my own meetings. While this program is a great start, the LDP is scaled as a large, comprehensive program. Local leaders also need support for smaller-scale, immediate situations related to leadership development. Many times, particularly this year, I have seen an increase in contacts from leaders to me as Council Chair, desperately looking for advice on how to handle leader-related situations because they found other channels to confusing or complicated. I believe we can start by taking our existing LDP program and our existing Chapter Leader Training program and configure a smaller scale, online version of some of the components. I would also like to investigate a “hotline” for leader support where advice can be obtained quickly, similar to what was intended in the Mentoring program but even more immediate. Joni Bosh Questionnaire Not Returned Clark Buchner The Leadership Development Program that emerged in some form out of the work that was started by Marshall Ganz and the NPLA survey that was done seems like a good start, although it did not prove to be a cure all with the Florida Chapter. Going back and revisiting the work that Ganz did might just be an excellent idea. The Summit seemed to work, and many changes have taken place  in the club in only 2-1/2 years. The capacity building grants for chapter fundraising seemed like a good idea but we hastily tossed that one out, and perhaps that's another one we should revisit. Jeremy Doochin More accessible leadership training programs are needed within the Club. The Leadership Development Program (LDP) has been effective, but has high entry barriers and requires a very significant time investment. We can start with leadership training by providing online training modules and online leadership training courses. This means that people who ordinarily would not be able to attend several weekend retreats would be able to go online and follow the training module. As aforementioned, we can and should be using internet communication tools to more effectively coordinate grassroots efforts. These are relatively easy and very cost-effective. It is also an advantageous way to pull in community activists that might not ordinarily be targeted. Jim Dougherty I led the (unsuccessful) effort to restore $70,000 in 2008 budget funds for national support for chapter fundraising programs. I have called for expanded rollout of the Leadership Development Project. I support the primacy of Chapters and Groups. Larry Fahn Questionnaire Not Returned Barbara Frank I think the Club's  Leadership Development Program is excellent and I feel that will be a very   effective way to develop strong teams and volunteer leaders,  both critical elements in  the Club and absolutely essential to doing good work.  More help from the national organization such as specially tailored training might be beneficial.    Delivery could be via regional teams of staff and volunteers. David Scott I’m glad to see the new Leadership Development Program being offered to chapters. It should be improved and expanded.  I’d like to see more national staff whose dedicated task was to directly help group and chapter issue activists.  And the volunteers who have worked on Chapter Capacity Building Grants need an opportunity to show whether that program has been effective or can be effective. Jerry Sutherland Members become activists because of personal support and one-on-one mentoring at the chapter level. Chapter leaders need training and recognition, as well as the empowerment that comes from a high level of self-determination granted by the Board. The Organizational Effectiveness and Training Governance Committees have combined to initiate the Leadership Development Project in three chapters, with the goal of enhancing leadership skills and building more active, effective and sustainable chapters and groups. I hope this will be a successful effort that can grow to other chapters. The Board approved recommendations from the Electronic Communication and Capacity-Building Task Forces I participated in last year, some of which have been implemented, such as the new database system called HELEN.  More needs to be implemented, such as facilitation of networking between local and national activists. Matt Urban I’d keep the board’s focus on the supporting and enhancing the current Leadership Development Program. We need to insure its effectiveness, and find ways to integrate key concepts and principles from the program into other areas throughout the Club. I’d also keep connected with the Grassroots to learn what they need to be effective and work to create new programs to meet those needs. We also should look to the current Cool Cities campaign as a model of capacity building, and continue to refine and expand the concept of a ‘campaign toolkit’ that can be distributed throughout the entire organization. Programs like Cool Cities, if organized correctly, provide the opportunity for training and leadership development at the same time they offer positive environmental solutions. Nathan Wyeth Questionnaire Not Returned << Question 13   Question 15 >> Show all questions Show all candidates Back to Candidate Forum Main Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use