Training Executive Directors and Board Chairs on the Importance of Technology Planning, Vision and Leadership
Anne Sherman, Associate at TCC Group, was looking for a partner to help design and conduct a workshop on technology leadership and planning. The workshop grew out of a study that TCC Group conducted in the fall of 2000 for the New York City HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council to get a sense of management capacity and technical assistance needs of Ryan White-funded agencies. They interviewed over 25 executive directors, funders, policy makers, and technical assistance providers, and consistently, technology was one of the top issues that emerged as a capacity building issue. People said they needed money to purchase and maintain technology, but they also said that they needed staff who understood how to use and maintain technology, and that they needed help using technology to collect and interpret data, not just for funders, but also as a way to improve quality by better managing their staff and programs. Having heard that NPower NY was starting up its services, Anne asked us to be TCC Group's partners in the design of the program.
NPower NY worked with Anne and her colleagues to design a three-hour training workshop that would not only help nonprofit leaders develop a technology vision statement but also give them tangible benchmarking information that would lay the foundation for the creation of a strategic technology plan. The design team agreed that the information needed to be presented in a manner that was not intimidating nor filled with incomprehensible technology jargon. Instead it had to speak to these non-profit leaders in a very approachable, informative manner that reflected an understanding of their underlying missions and how technology could best benefit them. The result is a hands-on workshop that will be offered in summer 2001 to a group of 20-40 Executive Directors and Board Chairs. Main topics include (1) defining and exerting technology leadership, (2) developing a technology vision statement, and (3) laying the foundation for a tech plan through the use of benchmarking.
"NPower NY really helped us put the meat on the bones of this workshop," says Anne Sherman of TCC Group. "The tools they brought to the table gave us an immediate platform from which to design the training and they clearly show an understanding of the non-profit and funding communities which makes the technology lesson that much more relevant."
TCC Group (formerly The Conservation Company) is a consulting firm that develops strategies and programs that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, philanthropies and corporate citizenship programs to achieve social impact.
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