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Board of Directors Development Paper Kaitlin Rhodes Duquesne University

2 Final Organization History Beaver County has suffered severe economic and educational decline since the postindustrial bust of the local steel enterprise. The resulting fallout has impacted the youth of the area in multiple facets of life. Many have suffered great losses associated with families in crisis. Often many try to cope by aggressively acting out against others. In order for students to reverse these trends and succeed in the future, they must be holistically educated in these areas of need. This means that effective community programs must exist in collaboration with local schools and traditional service providers in order to address the life quality issues of emerging generations. Beaver County is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. It is a diverse area, having pockets of affluence as well as very poor districts; urban and rural areas, and varying economic resources. The racial composition of Beaver Countys population is predominantly Caucasian (92.5%) and has not changed significantly in the past 20 years. African Americans account for the second largest racial group in Beaver County (6%). In reviewing median income levels for Beaver County it is found that more than 20% of the countys children ages 0-18 and 60% of its African American children live in homes with incomes below the poverty level. Once a thriving community supported by the steel industry and agriculture, Beaver County has struggled in the wake of de-industrialization. Unemployment and dislocated workers have contributed to increases in crime, substance abuse, incarceration and deterioration of family units. Every culture recognizes a time of passage from childhood to adulthood. In our society, the beginning is marked by the onset of puberty, and the end is marked by acceptance of the responsibilities and privileges of adulthood - completing school, finding work, owning a car, voting, contributing to the support of a household, and sustaining relationships with others. These can be difficult tasks for any adolescent, but are especially challenging for young adults

3 Final with mental health issues, alcohol and other drug addiction or co-occurring disorders. Additionally, youth facing economic poverty and lack of family support systems are at increased risk of failure. For these youth, transitioning to adulthood poses a number of additional risks and challenges than those faced by general population of adolescents. Frequently, the lack of coordinated services among mental health, child welfare, education, adult mental health, substance abuse providers, juvenile and criminal justice systems, and rehabilitation sectors result in further confusion for youth consumers and their family members. Natural supports that exist within the community play a vital role in supporting families and youth that have frequently grown distrustful of larger more formalized systems of care. Beaver County Adult and Juvenile Offices of Probation and Parole as well as Children and Youth Services have identified the communities of Aliquippa, Ambridge, Beaver Falls, New Brighton and Rochester as high risk in every area including crime, addiction, poverty and overall community distress. The focus of this paper is going to be the community of Beaver Falls. The TRAILS Re-entry Project is a wholistic, faith-based approach to assisting those directly or indirectly impacted by the trauma of incarceration. The Project introduces Jesus Christs transforming power and restorative truth at every contact point, through best practices and evidence-based programming. This process begins during an individuals incarceration for both themselves and their families and continues through the redeeming process of restoration and reunification. TRAILS Ministries continues to partner with organizations throughout Beaver County. TRAILS serve the community with a variety of programs and services in attempt to reach its goals and actualize its vision and mission.

Project Proposal

4 Final I believe that through networking and advocacy TRAILS can obtain the funding they need to reach their mission and goals. While TRAILS has proven how much they can do with minimal resources, with additional resources they can easily become a stable organization. I have been a part of TRAILS for four years now. The changes and growth I have seen in the past four years truly amazes me. Within four years, the organization went from being a semi

operative organization with two part time workers to being an organization with ten full time staff members and volunteers and running programs that occur everyday of the week. Despite having limited resources, TRAILS has developed into a strong organizational foundation and structure. Also TRAILS has learned how to use their resources wisely by providing many

resources and programming to individuals impacted by incarceration. In order to become a stable organization, a strong board, in my opinion, is important and necessary for TRAILS. Through a strong management and adaptive structure, TRAILS has proven that it can gain more resources to become a strong presence in the community. Also, adapting a trusting and safe internal environment provides the necessary encouragement and support needed to keep the staff and volunteers focused on the mission and objectives. Since TRAILS has been quiet for so many years, it has adapted a quiet board, which has little involvement. By creating a strong active board TRAILS can obtain the support and resources needed to be viable, trusted, and sustainable for the years to come.

Problem Assessment The biggest challenge I see currently is the lack of an active board. Currently, TRAILS board does not meet on the regular basis. The only member that currently meets with the Executive Director is the President of the Board. At the present moment each board member is being asked to take part in an online training provided by Prison Fellowship. After everyone has

5 Final taken the training TRAILS Staff and Board will be come together for an onsite training provided by Prison Fellowship. After this training I would advice that the president of the board organize a meeting where the CEO can update all the members on what is occurring at TRAILS. After this update members can begin to brainstorm how they would like to be further involved and share their own individual ideas for growth. Finally, I believe that TRAILS needs to provide a Training Retreat weekend for the board. At this training the board can learn what is required of them, the skills they have that can contribute to TRAILS, and ways they can use these skills. Methodology If I was hired as a facilitation consultant for TRAILS my first plan would be to design a weekend retreat for the board. Going on a retreat serves a couple of purposes. First, TRAILS has a large board from all over the United States and they rarely find the opportunity to interact alone as a staff. Second, by taking the staff away from the agency, they can begin to solely focus on the communication problem. Third, the board gets time away from the stress and demands of the community and gets the opportunity to relax. During the weekend, the board will have the

opportunity the meet together as an entire team, and to have personal reflection time. My first step would be to have the entire staff meet together and take part in a variety of team building activities. For example, I would provide a long rope with both ends tied together. The task is that each individual take a part of the rope. Each individual is then blind folded. The goal is to create a star. The one rule is that the rope must cross over at least two times. After the activities I would want to facilitate a conversation about what they learned. How did they feel during the activity? Who were the leaders that stood out during the activity? Did anyones role during the activity shock you? Do you think there was anything you could have done to make the

6 Final activity run better? By the end of the activities I would like the staff to realize that each of them are different and play a different part in the organization, but you need every part in order to reach the vision. My second step would be to explain the importance of knowing themselves and how that affects how they communicate with one another. This conversation would lead to the opportunity for each individual staff member to complete the exercises provided in the workbook.(see attached document). All these assessments were found in Peter Northouse book Leadership: Theory and Practice. After teaching this material to the board I would hand each staff member a personal journal. In the journal would be an example of Krile worksheet 11 Checklist for Creating Shared Meaning. The first activity in the journal would be provide a list of values and ask each person to list their top three values. The next activity would be to have the individual journal about their own personal experiences and roles they have had in their life. I would ask that the staff to find a quiet place and for the next two hours to take their time and do the exercises the workbook. After they had each had a long period of personal reflection time I would have the entire staff come together and facilitate a conversation about what they each learned about themselves and how their own individual values and experiences could affect their communications with others. I would next split the group into two different groups, the directors staff, and the administration and program staff. I would have each group come up with three specific situations where they felt that communication was lost or misread. Once the groups come back together it would be my task to help guide each group through several of those situations and define what the one groups wellsprings and filters were, and what the other groups wellsprings and filters were and how they could have come in conflict with each other. The point behind this

7 Final activity is to realize that in order to be a good leader it is important to adapt to the other persons wellsprings and filters in order to understand what they are communicating. For example in my own personal life I have been hurt by many relationships which resulted in a lower self-esteem. In many cases even when I do not agree with the person, I will agree with them just so I will not lose their friendship. When my coworkers work with me now sometimes they will stop and clearly ask Katie what do you really believe or Katie erase the doubt out of your voice. By understanding my past experiences and values it has helped my workplace work better with me and even build a stronger confidence in myself. I would end the big group exercises by doing a short lesson on conflict management strategies. I believe that in order to go through a training on conflict management it would take another entire weekend, but it would be smart to introduce the basics. In Krile book he suggest that when dealing with conflict it is important to ask three questions; what are the incompatible goals, what are the key causes of the conflict, what are the consequences of conflict. Krile also emphasizes the importance of determining what is more important the relationship or the issue. If the issue is more important than one should use the competition method. If the relationship is more important than one should use the accommodation approach. When both the relationship and the issue is important then the parties involved should attempt to come up with a compromise. Finally, when neither the relationship nor the issue is important then the people should just avoid the conflict.

Evaluation Strengths Based analysis In the book Now, Discover your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton the authors write about the importance of focusing on ones strengths instead of weaknesses. The authors write, Your yearnings reflect the physical reality that some of your mental connections

8 Final are simply stronger than others. So no matter how repressive the external influences prove to be, these stronger connections will keep calling out to you, demanding to be heard (2001 pg 710). The mental connections they are referring to are your strengths. Each of us has different strengths, and each of us must learn how to utilize our strengths in our day to day life. My strongest strength is responsibility. As a leader I am learning that responsibility lives in being aware of whom I am and the role God has given me to mentor the broken. Also, in their book Now Discover Your Strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton discuss the process of synapses. Synapse creates our talents. Synapse is connections in our brain that creates communication threads between our neurons. As a toddler we have billions of synaptic connections, but as we get older half these connections die. The connections die so that we can build on threads that will become our strengths. Buckingham and Clifton write, Your yearnings reflect the physical reality that some of your mental connections are simply stronger than others. So no matter how repressive the external influences prove to be, these stronger connections will keep calling out to you, demanding to be heard (2001 pg 710). The mental connections they are referring to are our strengths. Each of us has different strengths, and each of us must learn how to utilize our strengths in our day to day life. In one of my classes I was assigned to ask individuals in my life when they have seen me at my best. Each individual I asked identified times when I was most confident with whom I was. I began to realize that along with identifying my strengths it is important for me to be confident in them. This week in a reflection I was asked to write about leaders who have

influenced me. As many other individuals in this class I could not identify just one leader that influence me, but I was able to identify individual leaders that identified each of my strengths and help me to pursue them. On my first camp out trip in Girl Scouts, I remember honoring a girl who had received her Gold Award, the highest award one can achieve in girl scouts, I made

9 Final it a goal at that young age to achieve that award. I was the first girl in my troop of 20 to receive my Gold award. In high school I was on the speech and debate team. I never received any awards, but was dedicated all four years. Also in high school my youth pastor noticed my love for people especially the broken hearted, and my strong faith in Christ. He influenced me to go into ministry. Finally, after college my work saw my organizational skills and provided me opportunities to strength that skill. Each of these individuals identified my strengths; My Girl Scout leader saw achievement, My Forensic coach saw responsibility, My youth pastor saw empathy and belief, and my bosses saw input. This class has helped me to realize the strengths I have been developing for years, and the confidence I need to continue to pursue these strengths and use them in my life. Decision Making An awareness of our strengths though is not enough; we must also be active and ethical in our decisions. In the book Political Savvy by Joel Deluca, Deluca writes about the importance of understanding that our communities and organizations are a human system. To succeed it is important to learn how to navigate through this human system. That is where political savvy comes in. Deluca defines political savvy as ethically building a critical mass of support for an idea you care about(1999 pg 112). Joel DeLuca summaries being Political Savvy by becoming an active and ethical player and learning to work the human system. DeLuca first mentions that we need to become an active ethical player. Being involved in ministry requires me to base all my decisions and choices on his Word. DeLuca also ask us to be active. Being active is hard, because once you act, people expect something from you, and you will hear other people comments. Finally, DeLuca tells us to work the human system. I think it is important to note that this is the second point. Before we work the human system we need to have established being a

10 Final strong ethical player. After we have developed that character we are ready to work the human system. Relationships Krile (2006) writes, Social Capital requires trust. And Trust requires communication(pg 80). Green and Haines (2008) define social capital as social relationships and their ties to collective action in communities. The main indicators of social capital are voter turnout, newspaper readership, participation in voluntary organizations, attendance at meetings in local organizations, and involvement a variety of social networks. (Green et al. 2008). There are two forms of social capital, bonding and bridging capital. Bonding capital refers to bringing people together who already know each other with the goal of strengthening relationships that already exist(Green et al., 2008,pg 112). Bridging capital brings people who do not previously know each other with the goal of establishing new social ties to provide new information, access additional social networks, and fill the structural holes in the system of networks in the community(Green et al., 2008, pg 112). In order for them to come out of the retreat with a shared strategy of working with the youth it is important for them to strengthen their relationships and get to know each individual at a deeper level. Krile stresses that it is important to maintaining relationships so that individuals can work together and share resources. The basis of almost every problem that occurs in an organization is errors in communication. Krile(2006) writes that Communication is the creation of shared meaning(pg 82). The problem is that as individuals we are uniquely created thus we each find different meaning in non verbal and verbal communication. I believe that it is important to realize that in order for effective communication to happen it is important to assume that share meaning does not automatically exist. In conversation it is important to continually check with the other person to see what meaning they are getting out of the message. Krile (2006) gives one of the best

11 Final examples I have seen on how our individual identities effect communication. Each person has different wellsprings and filters. Our wellsprings are the tendencies that guide us as we create meaning in the messages that we send(pg 84). Our filters are the tendencies that guide us as we assign meaning to the messages we receive(pg 84). Our wellsprings and our filters are affected by our values, experiences, personality, and roles. The process of communication is that our values, experiences, personality and roles affect the verbal and nonverbal means in which we communicate. On the other end, the listener uses their individual values, experiences, personality and roles to process with the speaker spoke or demonstrated.

Conclusion T.R.A.I.L.S. Ministries Inc. provides a continuum of services to families that are impacted by incarcerated. These services include, systems navigation, Re-entry meetings, NA meetings, homework assistance, teen character development, adult and youth mentoring, letter writing, virtual visitation, and spiritual support. I believe board development will provide TRAILS with several advantages. First, the board will bet better equip to let the community be aware of who we are and the services we provide. Second, The board can tell the story of TRAILS through their stories. Finally, we can develop the best practices needed to meet the needs of Beaver County. This ministry is very important to me. It has been my first job, and I have been able to sit in the front row and watch an non-profit grow from a seed to tree. I hope and pray that I can watch the tree now grow fruits. A solid Board who is on one page and excited about the organization can help us develop those fruits.

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Work Cited Buckingham, M., & Clifton, D. (2001). Now discover your strengths. New York, NY: The Free Press. Connolly, P. (2006). Navigating the Organizational Lifecycle: A Capacity-Building Guide for Nonprofit Leaders. Washington: BoardSource. DeLuca, J. (1999). Political savvy. Berwyn, PA: EBG Publishing. Green, G.P., & Haines, A. (2008). Asset building and community development. Thousand Oak, CA: Sage Publishing. . Krile, J.F. (2006). The Community leadership handbook. Saint Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance.

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