Celebrating Five Years (!!!) as The Ross Collective
How are you? In our world, this is NOT business as usual and we would be the first to say that we’re extremely concerned by the hostile takeover of the government (let’s say “Crime Spree”) happening at the Federal level. The billionaires running (ruining?) the Federal government are aiming to loot Medicaid, Social Security, the IRS and the National Parks (!!?!#$%). We’re hearing from the leaders that we work with that the environment out there is “uncertain” to say the least.
And here we are, “celebrating” (?) five years as The Ross Collective? Actually, no, I choose to state it more assertively - because, in these times, we most certainly need to find these moments of optimism and joy. So: Here we are, celebrating FIVE YEARS as The Ross Collective! We plan to keep Guiding a loving, compassionate way forward in a very hard moment.
ID: a pink 5 with the word YEARS in white, on a green background. Above the 5 are some orange sparks.
We’re also in the middle of teaching the Board Development course through Cal State East Bay, which has been energizing. The leaders we work with are thoughtful, visionary people who want to strengthen their communities and our world. It is a joy to do this work alongside you!
We feel hopeful reflecting on the leadership we see around us
What better way to celebrate this milestone than to honor five of the organizations with whom we’ve been honored to work with? Here are highlights and takeaways from five recent processes:
Bike East Bay: Narrowing in on Mobility Justice
Our team led the strategic planning process for Bike East Bay, an advocacy and membership organization that works to “mobilize by bike to build thriving communities that are joyful, safe, and inclusive.”
One highlight: Working with the board and staff to narrow their focus from many (!!!) ideas generated in the brainstorming phase to three key priorities that are the focus of the organization’s work. These foci include movement building around their work, mobility justice, and implementing practices that support a thriving team.
Youth Alive: Connecting with Past, Present, and Future
We facilitated the strategic planning process for Youth Alive, a community-based violence prevention, intervention, and healing organization based in Oakland, California.
One big win: The clarity from the creation of the strategic plan immediately generated some large individual gifts.
A highlight of this process was doing a “Wall of Wonder,” or history wall, at the strategic planning retreat to review events in the world, Oakland, and individuals’ lives since the founding of Youth Alive. Participants connected their personal stories, such as graduations, jobs,births and losses, with the story of the organization. Since the staff had doubled over the past five years, this was a great way to get everyone on the same page.
New Museum Los Gatos: Honoring Community Conversations
We worked with New Museum Los Gatos to create a strategic plan. This is a community-based arts organization with a dedicated board and staff. In the data collection phase of the process, board and staff members conducted almost 30 (!!!) interviews with donors, partners, and community members. This became an excellent relationship-building tool to engage with donors and community members about aspects of the organization that they value.
Student Achievement Partners: Values, Rigor, and Belonging and the “First Pancake”
We have a warm feeling about our Board engagement with Student Achievement Partners, which we wrote about recently.
A win: We accomplished the goal of shifting from a policy to governance board. The board emerged with clarity of mission and concrete next steps.
A highlight of the process: The “first pancake”! The staff and board team shared their rule of “the first pancake” - the first time we try something new (whether making a pancake or using new teaching tools), we are unlikely to create perfection - instead we should expect a “first pancake” that may be malformed, slightly undercooked, etc. This is a helpful idea for coaching others AND running a business that demands ongoing experimentation and failing forward.
Rubicon Programs: Leadership that looks like the community
This year, Richmond-based Rubicon Programs offered five slots for staff to complete the Cal State East Bay Nonprofit Management Certificate program. The five who were selected have joined our Board Development course and will be joining future CSUEB courses.
We’ve loved learning about Rubicon Programs’ model of breaking the cycle of poverty through concrete, research-tested tools.
In terms of the board specifically, it has been encouraging to learn about Rubicon Programs’ shift towards leadership that looks like the community.
Do these examples of community leadership inspire you too?
Even in these challenging times, we need to stay focused on our sense of purpose and what brings us joy. And while five years is but a small step, The Ross Collective wouldn’t be here without these tremendous organizations or you, Dear Reader. For us to make it another five and beyond, we need you all to keep the faith and take actions to ensure that we, together, can continue to make the improvements necessary that will ensure that our nation, states, communities, organizations and families will be here for many generations to come.
Whether you’ve been with us from the very beginning or just joined us recently, I want to thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and participate. Your contributions are important - you are important.
We know that the nonprofit leaders (and all of us!) are holding a lot right now. How can we support your work -- possibly with scenario planning? In these times, bringing people together to create clarity and alignment are more important than ever. Reach out, we’d be happy to discuss.
