JVA's Robert Jakubowski speaks with sixth and seventh graders from Denver Public Schools about college and career goals.

106. A perfect score. A testament to what can happen when a passionate and focused team is leveraged toward a common goal.

So what does it all mean? JVA and Denver Public Schools (DPS) recently got the news that they had received a perfect score (a 106 out of 106 possible points) on a U.S. Department of Education Grant JVA wrote on behalf of DPS. Although the number 106 did not have any special meaning prior to writing the grant for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergrad Programs (GEAR UP) funding, it now means a great deal to DPS youth, district leaders and the JVA team.

My immediate reaction to this grant announcement was focused on how well the JVA/DPS team did on the grant itself. However, after celebrating this achievement with my colleagues, I began to think more about the purpose of the GEAR UP grant. At that point, the number 106 became more about real-world social change, and less about skills in grantwriting. Because of JVA’s efforts, and the work of Cori Canty, (DPS Director of Counseling), and other community partners (see Denver Post announcement here), DPS will receive $4.8 million to help low-income youth realize their college aspirations. Through this funding, close to 1,000 students, across eight schools in Northwest Denver, will receive focused college-attainment services over the next eight years. With this funding, DPS will not only be able to increase college attainment among GEAR UP students at these schools, but also learn a great deal about the support all DPS students need to reach college. In addition, the results that the JVA GEAR UP evaluation team will uncover over the next several years have the potential to impact  countless youth across the state, and even the U.S.

As I attended the District media event for this funding, the number 106 became even more personal. At this event, I had the privilege of listening to a diverse group of DPS sixth and seventh graders talk about their career aspirations, and what they want to do “when they grow up.” Having worked on social research projects in the past, I realize that the obstacles these underserved youth will face over the next several years could be severe. However, in that moment, listening to Denver youth talk about wanting to be surgeons, geologists, bakers, fishermen, athletes, scientists, drummers, game designers, archeologists, and architects; listening to the sophistication of how they were going to get there…taking science and math, focusing on the arts, traveling abroad, getting good grades, listening to their parents, applying for scholarships, and “studying hard”; and hearing more about what they experienced during recent college visits, I was reminded that no matter how big or small, we all have an opportunity for impact.

As I think more about the issues that these youth will face, and the state of education in Colorado and across the country, I realize that there will always be sizeable challenges. However, for those tirelessly working toward social change, there are battles to be won and silver linings to be had. Yes, 106 is just a number, but to me, it represents all of the positive things that can happen when group determination is directed toward serving others. So…what’s in a number? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

Back in November, I wrote an Ask Amber blog about LinkedIn, but as the saying goes, “you learn something new every day.” After lengthy discussions with several other young professionals recently, I have learned  a little more about LinkedIn and how useful it can be for making connections.

From these discussions, it became apparent to me that many people are having a hard time sorting through the clutter of social media these days. Finding the sites that will keep you up to date on the sector and the ones that can land you a job can be a confusing process. Amidst the effort to keep your Facebook, Twitter and Google+ accounts updated, it’s easy to lose sight of the career-building potential of LinkedIn.

Unlike other online profiles you may use for fun, LinkedIn use should be strategic. Adding contacts to your LinkedIn profile, for example, should always benefit you professionally. If you are a young professional with a limited professional network, start by adding friends to your LinkedIn contacts, but make sure to use discretion. This is not the time to add everyone you met in high school and college. Think of friends who you know are well connected, currently employed in the field you want to be in or live near where you want to work. These are the friends you want to add because their LinkedIn contacts can be great resources for you when you are job hunting, considering a shift in career or just looking to ask questions from someone in a position you would like to be in.

Once you add these contacts, look through their contacts for people who could help you professionally. When you identify these contacts, ask your contact’s permission to contact the person and use your mutual contact as a reference. Even better, ask if your contact to write you a letter of recommendation to accompany your application or to provide an introduction. I have heard of people landing interviews or getting calls based on the references and introductions they receive via LinkedIn.

Don’t just be strategic about the contacts you make on LinkedIn, be strategic about the information you upload. Similar to a hard copy resume, you want to highlight the skills and experiences that are relevant to the type of job you are seeking. Focus on transferable skills, volunteer experience or internships if you are new to the sector.

LinkedIn is one of the most important online profiles you can have. By starting to build your profile and updating it often, you will be one step closer to a new job and more professional connections. Leave a comment below to add your tips and tricks for LinkedIn or to share how you found a job through LinkedIn.

2011 EDA graduate Coby Gould (left) and Adam Brock of The GrowHaus.

As a new executive director in a new organization, Coby Gould found himself seeking answers and tools to prepare for his newfound leadership role at The GrowHaus, a North Denver nonprofit that focuses on food access and education and provides regular classes open to the community. For Gould, finding a training that gave background information on what it means to be an executive director, and was offered in a succinct format, was very important.

“I liked the format of the class being one solid week,” says Gould of JVA Consulting’s Executive Director Academy (EDA). Taking a weeklong course rather than meeting periodically over an extended period made attendance easier on the busy executive director. He also welcomed the opportunity to network with other leaders during his week in the JVA training. Having previously partnered with JVA for The GrowHaus’ strategic planning session, Gould had confidence in JVA’s knowledge of Colorado nonprofits and the nonprofit field in general. “It was a wonderful experience, very beneficial.”

EDA welcomes new, aspiring and learning nonprofit executive directors from throughout Colorado and the country to its intensive, weeklong course, consisting of 38 concentrated hours of training. Each session includes an overview of relevant trends in the sector, interactive activities and the opportunity to ask questions of JVA staff who are experts in the field.

Participants can also now use the course for graduate credit through Adams State College (call JVA at 303.477.4896 for more details), and all attendees walk away with a binder including hundreds of pages of resources and handouts to refer to after EDA ends: “The binder has been a lifesaver,” exclaims 2010 EDA graduate Aisha Young, of African Americans in Gerontology.

Fall 2011 EDA graduate Stacey Hiatt of HOPE for Longmont at the EDA graduation celebration.

Stacey Hiatt, who was offered the executive director position at Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement (HOPE) for Longmont, which is an afterhours outreach program that provides lifesaving supplies to the community’s most vulnerable, signed up for EDA to expand her knowledge of the nonprofit sector, having no previous nonprofit management experience. Like Young, Hiatt also found the manual a great take-home resource and said of the course, “I think it’s a great program and everyone should do it.” Hiatt found the difficulty level just right, saying, “I was looking for a basic knowledge of the sector and what I got was much more than that.”

Whether you are a current executive director seeking formal training and a supportive peer network, or an aspiring executive director searching for the tools to advance your career, JVA invites you to join us for the 10th EDA, February 13–17, 2012. For more information and to register, click here. Monthly payment plans are available to make this training accessible to you no matter what your organization’s budget.

I am about to start my 12^th year at JVA Consulting, and I have been a trainer for 10 of those years. During my tenure, JVA’s trainings have expanded and increased in both breadth and depth. We now offer over 60 training topics, all led by JVA experts in the nonprofit sector.

The crown jewel of JVA’s training program is the Executive Director Academy (EDA). From Feb.13–17, JVA will present its 10^th EDA. More than 200 people have attended EDA in Colorado and Indiana. JVA has attracted participants from Nevada, California and Oregon to the Colorado training. Attendees tell us that the travel and lodging is worth it because of the reasonable registration fee ($895), the high quality materials and the incredible peer network they form with other participants.

An anecdote shared with me by Executive Director of the Civic Center Conservancy and EDA graduate, Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, demonstrates the ongoing value of EDA. Lindy called me after her office moved last year. During the move, her EDA binder had been misplaced and she was anxious to replace her materials as soon as possible. Her organization was going to have its first audit and she really wanted the EDA binder so she could review JVA’s resources about audit preparation.

As Lindy’s experience shows, not only is the in-person training valuable, but the resources that EDA participants receive are valuable for years to come. Click here to reserve your space in our next EDA.

Expert input: Every JVA Executive Director Academy includes what we like to call the “Genius Bar,” a panel of nonprofit movers and shakers who share their expertise on what it is like to lead some of the area’s most dynamic nonprofits. Past Genius Bar panelists have included Grant Jones from the Center for African American Health, Alyssa Kopf from Community Shares of Colorado, Jim Garcia from Clínica Tepeyac, and Nita Gonzales from Escuela Tlatelolco.

Seasoned trainers: Genius Bar participants aren’t the only experts, however. EDA participants also benefit from the experience of JVA’s trainers—all nonprofit professionals with years of experience in the field. This session’s trainers include Lisa Cirincione, who was on the statewide committee that revised the Colorado Common Grant Application in 2008, and JVA President Janine Vanderburg, who has trained thousands of people across the country in creating sustainable nonprofit organizations, writing proposals, researching funders, developing business plans, creating new social enterprises, and other aspects of social change work.

A peer-learning network: Sure, expertise is great, but what about the chance to become a part of a network of new and learning executive directors? Or the chance to develop friendships and working relationships with peers who are at the same place in their careers? EDA is a great place to meet fellow EDs who are new to the sector, refreshing their knowledge, or are nonprofit sector veterans who have recently become EDs. Many of our past ED participants have formed bonds with their fellow EDA participants that have spanned years. And JVA has made it easier than ever to maintain these connections with its new series of Executive Director Breakfast Clubs. Exclusively for EDs, ED Breakfast Clubs meet at JVA monthly for expert discussion and plenty of time to network with peers over coffee and breakfast.
JVA’s next EDA will be held Monday, February 13, through Friday, February 17, 2012. To hear first-hand from previous EDA participants and for more info, click here. To hear what one of our trainers has to say about the EDA grantwriting session click here. To sign up, click here.

By Lisa Cirincione, JVA Consulting

Grants….In many respects, they are the lifeblood of nonprofit agencies, but in an already-way-too-crowded day, how much time do executive directors need to devote to them? In the EDA grantwriting session, executive directors will learn the proper role of grants in their agencies and what they can and cannot delegate to other staff and volunteers. This session may challenge your preconceived notions about grants and just how much is expected from you in order to have a successful grant program.

There are many skills a young nonprofit professional should perfect, but one of those skills is the key to opening all other doors. Above all, a young professional should be well versed and comfortable speaking to anyone, anywhere, any time.

In the words of one young professional I interviewed: “Today, most communication revolves around emails, facebook, texts, etc. Thus, many young professionals forget about public speaking and practicing and improving on their public speaking skills. However, these skills are invaluable assets that must not be forgotten. Public speaking portrays the emotions of the speaker that electronic forms have difficulty portraying.”

There are many occasions where you will need to have the gift of gab, including but not limited to the following:

Job Interviews

Wendy Silveira-Steinway, recruitment/staff development manager at JVA, explains that “interviews are your chance to shine” and without good communication skills you won’t really be taking advantage of the time you are given. In an interview you must be ready to speak one on one with a recruiter, answering any impromptu questions they have about you personally. There may also be times where you interview with a panel or a committee, so you must be prepared to speak to a group, which means it’s important to watch your eye contact and body language so as not to exclude anyone from the conversation.

Community Dialogues/Public Events

If you attend an event that requires active participation by anyone in the crowd, you should be prepared to speak your mind. If the reason you are there is that you are passionate about the subject, why not offer your own thoughts? This occasion calls for the ability to project your voice, articulate clearly and captivate a large group.

In a Class/Training/Meeting

When you are asked to give your opinion in a professional setting, it is important to be confident and knowledgeable about the subject. Since meetings and professional development trainings are common, you will need to be prepared to speak in this setting on a regular basis.

If you are not already a confident speaker, this is something to prioritize. Practice speaking in front of friends or family, attend more community dialogues and volunteer to speak or attend a class.

In order to help all of you out there who are not yet seasoned public speakers (and those who absolutely dread public speaking) JVA is proud to announce that we are starting a Toastmasters club in 2012. If you want to make a difference in the world and improve your speaking skills in a welcoming environment, join the ChangeMakers. Call Lydia at 303.477.4896 for more information. All new and current Toastmasters members are welcome to join. We hope to see you there!

Google, Wikipedia and hundreds of other websites have shut down today in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) legislation in the U.S. Senate, bills that aim to curb Internet piracy and copyright infringement by no longer allowing U.S. companies to sell ads to pirates or process payments for illegal online sales. Under this legislation, U.S.-based search-engines would be forced to remove suspected pirates from their search results. And according to a Huffington Post article, a website accused of copyright infringement could be shut down with “neither a trial nor a traditional court hearing.”

In response to the possible legislation, numerous websites have shut down or “blacked” out their sites today in protest. Wikipedia officially shutdown its English-language site at midnight last night for 24 hours. In a statement, Wikipedia said these bills, if passed would “be devastating to the free and open web” and “…will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States.” Click here to read more about websites who have joined the strike.

We were curious to find out what the implications of SOPA and PIPA might be for the nonprofit sector. The Huffington Post points out that the blocking suspicious sites’ DNS servers (the place where URL addresses entered into web browsers are translated into IP addresses and ultimately connect Internet users to websites) may have unintended consequences for nonprofits’ donation processes because interfering with DNS servers may make a site more vulnerable to identity theft and cyber-attacks. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar recently announced that DNS blocking will be removed from the legislation.

SOPA and PIPA may also have implications for nonprofit organizations like public libraries. Three major library associations—the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries and the Association of Research Libraries wrote a letter to Chairman Lamar Smith saying, “In this environment, the criminal prosecution of a library for copyright infringement is no longer beyond the realm of possibility,” and identified certain sections of SOPA that could be amended to avoid this.

With SOPA hearings delayed until February, we would like to ask our Nonprofit Street readers, how do you see SOPA and PIPA affecting the nonprofit sector? Do you have any concerns? Did you block your website today in protest? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

At JVA, we recently came across a list of the top 2011 nonprofit buzzwords as determined by Lucy Bernholz in a 2173 blog. We thought they were great (particularly the fact that Bernholz named the hashtag as the top buzzword of the year!), but we wanted to add a few of our own (okay, and we are calling them “catchphrases” because we had a hard time confining ourselves to just one word!) and discuss why the issues they describe are creating a buzz.

Integrated messaging—This is one that we hear (and use) all the time. It may not be a very catchy phrase, but it is simply good business sense. Integrated messaging means that all of your messaging channels (be they Facebook, Google +, Twitter, blog, your website, direct mail, etc.) are linked and project a unified message. For example, your Twitter feed should direct readers to your latest blog, and your website should link to your Twitter and Facebook pages. Furthermore, the image you project on these mediums should be consistent. If you have multiple staff members or volunteers who post to your social media, they need to be on the same page as far as your marketing messages. What is the overall message that you want to project, and how should this be communicated? Drawing up a social media communications plan with your marketing team is a great first step.

Streamlined social media marketing—This is really a spin-off of our first catchphrase. And if your messaging is integrated, you are well on your way to streamlined social media marketing. This catch phrase speaks to making sure your tweets and Facebook updates are short and sweet, and most importantly, serve a purpose that ties back to your overall marketing messaging strategy.

Circles. At JVA, we often ask our coworkers and clients to share messages or info with their “circles.” In fact, we use the term so frequently, it’s hard to remember a time when we didn’t have this term to describe the different groups of people in our lives—coworkers, clients, friends, family, school buddies, etc. Further solidifying the term “circles” is the advent of Google Circles, one of the many features of Google+. While we have yet to see many in the sector using Google+ in everyday life, this is one to watch for 2012—we’re betting this new and comprehensive social networking tool takes off in the next year.

Breakfast clubs. Okay, we admit it, this one hasn’t necessarily become a buzzword outside of JVA yet, but we think our new line of breakfast networking clubs, is a growing area. We started our breakfast clubs, which target specific sector-related professions such as executive directors and development directors, because we were hearing from our clients that they wanted concentrated time to network with peers in their areas of expertise. Think of it as “micronetworking.” In the last few months, we have seen such a need that we have added a nonprofit job networking club for those who are seeking work in the nonprofit sector or those who are new to the Denver area.

Think we left out any buzzwords or catchprases? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Walk Denver Program Development Intern

WalkDenver is an advocacy group focused on pedestrian safety and experience. Our Vision for Denver is to become a pedestrian-oriented community. We see our city as a network of well-connected neighborhoods that are people-focused, culturally vibrant, active, and economically thriving. For more information please visit www.walkdenver.org.

WalkDenver is seeking a bright, entrepreneurial, and self-motivated graduate student or a recent graduate to develop programs and membership for a new organization that seeks to promote quality, walk-friendly built environment that fosters healthy lifestyles and economic growth. This is a unique opportunity to become involved in a movement at the inception stage.

Scope of Work for Internship

The program development intern will be responsible for ramping up the following programs:

• Design a membership program, including researching membership programs for similar organizations locally and across the country

• Develop an online community outreach and social media program to reach underserved communities

• Design and implement a series of walking events to increase awareness of the benefits of walking for both individual health and for the environment

• Participate in community outreach programs to introduce the benefits of walking to children

• Provide technical support to the Walk Denver Executive Director to complete certification process of Denver as a “walk-friendly” community

•    Support the start-up board

Qualifications Sought:

The ideal candidate will be a graduate student or recent graduate in urban design, planning or a related field who is passionate about walkability, active transportation and pedestrian-friendly built environment.

We are looking for someone who is:

•  Self-motivated

• Goal-oriented

• Reliable

•   Great communication skills

•   Resourceful

•    Owns a laptop computer

You will have the opportunity to build your resume and portfolio, and meet people who work in the field of sustainable communities design and planning.

Terms:

This is an unpaid internship; we can arrange for academic credit. You will have an opportunity to network with key players in metro Denver who are focused on sustainability.

To apply:

Email resume, three professional references and a cover letter stating why you are passionate about this opportunity to:

gkung@kungarch.com

No phone calls, please.