Recent News

CIVIC & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy
www.usabudgetdiscussion.org
Served as National Outreach Coordinators for a full-day gathering that took place in 2010 of 3,500 Americans in 57 sites across the country to discuss the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges. Participants worked in small groups with skilled facilitators to learn about the issues, weigh trade-offs, and express their preferences. Face to face meetings at each of the sites took place simultaneously and were linked together by satellite and webcast. The meeting was designed to provide recommendations to the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform and the Bi-Partisan Debt Commission to reduce the nation’s deficit.

University Park Alliance (UPA); Akron, Ohio
http://www.upakron.com/
Providing community outreach expertise to engage residents, pastors, and community leaders in developing strategic community priorities for action. UPA is a non-profit community development corporation in the midst of implementing a comprehensive urban re-investment development strategy.

Growing Hope Food Summit
Provided project management, outreach coordination, meeting design and event production for a weekend gathering of hundreds of Summit County residents to identify priorities to strengthen the local food economy and increase access to healthy food. Over 100 organizations were represented, and skilled facilitators led demographically representative participants in small group discussions and individual voting. Translation was provided for three languages. Growing Hope Food Summit Outcomes Report - http://www.ascainc.org/events.html

Unified New Orleans Plan
www.unifiedneworleansplan.com
Managed outreach and logistics work in Houston to convene close to 1,000 displaced residents to establish priorities to rebuild New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Two meetings were connected by satellite to four other cities and the final plan paved the way for the release of federal funds.

New Orleans Diaspora Leadership Project
Managed continued work to engage displaced citizens following the Unified New Orleans Plan. Evacuees from four cities came together in a leadership retreat which led to a campaign to organize displaced citizens living in FEMA trailers in Louisiana. Trailer park residents developed and delivered recommendations for a more effective transition to permanent affordable housing to local, state and federal officials. Greater coordination among agencies led to more effective case management and prioritization of issues that most impacted residents in their recovery.

Rebuilding Lives Coalition
Managed work with residents across southern Louisiana in the wake of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike to convene a meeting in Lake Charles with representation from seven regions of the state. Meeting results shaped a collective agenda that impacted state and federal housing policy and created new structures for residents to participate in recovery planning and policy.

California Healthcare Reform
www.californiaspeaks.org
The governor and legislative leadership invited California’s citizens to weigh in on their priorities for health care reform in a day-long meeting with a representative sample of 3,500 citizens across eight cities. Round River Consulting staff provided on-site management in San Diego and Humboldt County.

Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism
www.afaa-us.org
Managed volunteer table facilitator recruitment and training for a meeting held simultaneously in 16 cities via webcast.

Voices & Choices
www.advancenortheastohio.org
Provided community outreach expertise in a process that engaged over 20,000 citizens in a 16 county area in Northeast Ohio

Power of 32
www.powerof32.org
Served as outreach consultant to a regional planning project that engaged a 32 county/4 state area in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.

Marguerite Casey Foundation Equal Voices Project
www.caseygrants.org
Served as floor managers for a meeting in Los Angeles of 6,500 people speaking 11 different languages. The project created an agenda for action for America’s working families.

BISCO
Designed and facilitated training for organizing staff of a community-based organization serving a bayou region in southern Louisiana.

This City Reads!
www.thiscityreads.org
Led an initiative with community leaders to create a new collaborative with dozens of organizations, businesses, school districts, and institutions that continues to mobilize tens of thousands of citizens to make reading a priority in Summit County, Ohio.

Summit Education Initiative
www.sei.org
Provided outreach and project design consulting to convene hundreds of community leaders, stakeholders and residents to attend a community forum on education reform. Facilitated follow-up session with key community leaders to identify opportunities for decisive community action.

Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton/Building Healthy Communities
www. scfcanton.org
Provided consultation and leadership training to support the growth of a community organizing project in SW Canton that leveraged jobs, community improvements and the reduction of crime.

Learning Communities Network
Developed a network of African American educators from the South who served as principals and educators in segregated schools.

 

COMMUNITY HEALTH

Austen BioInnovation Institute of Akron
http://www.abiakron.org/ccchi
Currently providing professional services to ABIA’s Center for Clinical and Community Health Improvement. CCCHI is dedicated to increasing the quality and effectiveness of community-based medical care, with an emphasis upon the medically underserved populations in the greater Akron region. The Center is developing a national community model to improve medical access, delivery and outcomes. Serving on the CCCHI Advisory Board and Wellness Council.

Akron Children's Hospital, Akron General Health System and Summa Health System
www.akronchildrens.org
www.akrongeneral.org
www.summahealth.org
Designed and managed a regional community health needs assessment project that engaged over 3,000 residents. Coordinated a leadership team representing three health systems operating in five counties to leverage partnerships with public health departments and over 100 community-based organizations. Information from the assessment will be used by the health systems along with public health departments and community-based agencies to better serve the needs of the community.

Austen Bioinnovation Institute in Akron
www.abiakron.org
Facilitated a planning retreat for the research committee of the Center for Clinical and Community Health Improvement.

Summa Health System
www.summahealth.org
Developed survey instruments and moderator guides and facilitated focus groups throughout the community to assess and evaluate linguistic and cultural barriers to patient/provider communication.

Akron Children’s Hospital
www.akronchildrens.org
Facilitated a staff retreat for the Infectious Disease Department

Summit County Minority Health Roundtable
www.minorityhealthroundtable.org
Designed and facilitated a strategic planning retreat

Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Summit County (ADM Board)
www.admboard.org
Designed and implemented of a series of community-based conversations to identify strategic issues for a successful levy campaign, setting the stage to build a constituency of support. Facilitated a series of meetings with contract agency CEO’s to enhance capacity and coordination. Facilitated a series of meetings with community leaders to identify critical issues within the minority community.

Summit 2010: Quality of Life Project
www.co.summit.oh.us
Worked with the ADM Board and othe r agencies to convene a Summit convening over 60 leaders to identify priorities and strategies to strengthen the behavioral health system of care.

County of Summit Board of Developmental Disabilities
www.summitdd.org
Led a five year project to create a comprehensive Inclusion/Diversity Project that eventually aligned with the Quality Initiative to address “Opportunities for Improvement” as identified in the agency’s first Baldrige review.

Community Support Services; Summit County, Ohio
www.cssbh.org
Continue to provide on-going consultation over the last three years to design and facilitate two board strategic planning retreats, staff tactical plan development, an employee recognition program and development of an agency-wide inclusion initiative to enhance organizational performance.

Canton Community Clinic
www.cantoncommunityclinic.org
Facilitated a strategic planning project that provided the necessary focus for the clinic as a new federally qualified health clinic and developed a new marketing plan.

PRISM Health
Designed and facilitated three sessions with four CEO’s to clarify strategic priorities.

HealthPath Foundation of Ohio (formerly the Anthem Foundation)
www. healthpathohio.org
Designed and facilitated a strategic planning project with the Board of Directors

Community Action Organization of Scioto County Center for Dental Wellness www.caosciotocounty.org
Designed and facilitated a strategic planning project and follow-up implementation sessions

Western Stark Free Clinic
www.wsfreeclinic.com
Designed and facilitated two strategic planning projects and provided consultation to develop operational plans and structures.

Stark Prescription Assistance Network
www.starkrxnetwork.org
Led a strategic planning and capacity-building process

Warrior’s Journey Home
www.fcctallmadge.org/warriorsjourney.htm
Led a strategic planning retreat with combat veterans and community members to build leadership and support the expansion of the program.

Anthem Family Violence
Designed and facilitated a two day retreat for program coordinators from across the state of Ohio to position the projects to build capacity

 

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT/STRATEGIC PLANNING PROJECTS

Summit Akron Solid Waste Management Authority
http://www.saswma.org/
Designed and implemented a comprehensive strategic planning process that engaged the Board of Directors, staff, and community members through four stakeholder meetings and two community meetings. Worked with staff to create a five-year operational plan to implement strategic plan priorities.

National United Church of Christ
Facilitated a projectto identify priorities and create a plan to shape the future of women’s ministries. Facilitated two retreats with national leadership, designed online survey and focus group materials, analyzed and compiled results.

United Church of Christ (Akron, Ohio)
Currently working with six inner-city congregations to develop a shared ministry model that draws on the strengths of each faith community to create a coordinated community mission. A strategic plan will be developed to establish a shared vision, mission, strategic goals and objectives and a new organizational structure.

Akron-Summit County Public Library
www.akronlibrary.org
Designed and implemented a comprehensive strategic planning process which included individual meetings, 16 focus groups, customer satisfaction surveys, and an environmental scan. Implementation support included management training, administrative leadership session and the introduction of inclusion tools to engage staff more fully. Within the first two years of implementation, the system was recognized as one of the best library systems in the country by Library Journal.

Northeast Ohio Library System
www.neo-rls.org
Coordinated a strategic planning process in a new organization with a total potential membership of 400 libraries. The process included focus groups, on-line surveys and facilitation of project management team and membership meetings. The plan was completed just as a new executive director was hired who welcomed the plan as a roadmap for action.

Community Support Services; Summit County, Ohio
www.cssbh.org
Designed and facilitated two strategic planning board retreats and a series of staff tactical planning sessions over the last three years. A new agency-wide inclusion initiative is creating strategies and capacity to enhance organizational performance.

PRISM Health
Designed and facilitated three sessions with four CEO’s to clarify strategic priorities.

Adoption Network Cleveland
www.adoptionnetwork.org
Designed and facilitated a strategic planning process that led to hiring a full-time executive director and significant organizational growth in Greater Cleveland.

United Way of Stark County
www.uwstark.org
Designed and facilitated a series of strategic sessions with board and staff and focus groups with key constituent groups in the community.

Girl Scouts of the Western Reserve
www.gsneo.org
Designed and managed a comprehensive strategic planning process that was approved by the national office.

Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton
www.scfcanton.org
Designed and facilitated two board retreats to assess and determine priorities for investment.

Church of Our Saviour
www.episcopalakron.org
Designed and facilitated a reorganization process during a two year transition

Character Counts of Akron
Designed and facilitated a strategic planning process.

Unitarian Universalist Association
www.uua.org
Served as consultants to congregations in Connecticut and Georgia to identify priorities and implement plans to strengthen capacity to promote diversity and inclusion and to implement social justice ministries

INCLUSION INITIATIVES

Roadway Express, Inc.; Akron, Ohio
www.yrc.com
Led a training team to engage over 900 employees over one year to introduce and implement a diversity and inclusion initiative to enhance individual and collective performance.

County of Summit Board of Developmental Disabilities
www.summitdd.org
Led a five year project to create a comprehensive Inclusion/Diversity Project that eventually aligned with the Quality Initiative to address “Opportunities for Improvement” as identified in the agency’s first Baldrige review.

Community Support Services; Summit County, Ohio
www.cssbh.org
Designed and facilitated two strategic planning board retreats and a series of staff tactical planning sessions over the last three years. A new agency-wide inclusion initiative is creating strategies and capacity to enhance organizational performance.