Audio+Video
On Wednesday, May 18th, the Building Movement Project hosted the second of our ongoing series of “cohort calls” that concentrate on the different roles/activities of service providers involved in social change work. The purpose of the calls is to build connections and share information among staffers across the country working in service delivery groups that are also looking to address larger issues affecting their clients. This call focused on the experience of Executive Directors/Senior Staff and was led by Jim Mangia, President & CEO of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center in Los Angeles, CA.
Movement Builders
Progressive Technology Project
(PTP) supports grassroots social change community-led organizing in low income communities and communities of color. Its goal is strengthening community organizing with effective technology. Its programs include supporting a community of practice of people using technology as part of their grassroots organizing efforts.
What's New
55 or Older? Take Our Leadership Survey!
Building Movement Project, in conjunction with Civic Ventures and Clohesy Consulting, is conducting a survey of long-term nonprofit leaders 55 years and older about their plans for the future. We’re interested in hearing from both leaders still in their positions and those who have already left. The survey, which compliments a series of interviews, is designed to learn about the supports needed for long-term leaders as they plan and when they leave their positions.
Catalysts for Change: New Fact Sheet from BMP!
In 2009, with the support of The California Endowment, the Building Movement Project launched an initiative to explore whether California-based health and human service providers engage in activities beyond direct services to address the causes of the problems facing their constituents. This summary of a larger report discusses findings from a survey of more than 450 California nonprofit service providers about the ways in which they are (or are not) integrating community involvement/social change into their work
Women of SNCC: Passing the Torch, Preserving the Flame
On Sunday, January 15th more than 60 Detroit area women and girl activists and advocates representing a variety of causes and racial ethnic groups, gathered to celebrate the historic role of women in the fight for peace and justice. Hosted by the Building Movement Project Detroit and the M.L.K. Day 2012 Committee, the event honored five women members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Council (SNCC) with family ties rooted in Detroit. Sharing personal stories documented in the book “Hands on the Freedom Plow”, younger women and next generation activists were transported back to the pre- Civil Rights days of terror and oppression as experienced by African Americans, especially those who were caught in the exploitative share cropping system. The women spoke of the courage and vision of many of those community members who braved retaliation and the threat of death simply to register and vote.
Podcast: NAMAC Structuring Leadership Telesalon
In December, Caroline McAndrews and Frances Kunreuther led a discussion on our new report, Structuring Leadership: Alternative Models for Distributing Power and Decision-making in Nonprofit Organizations. The presentation was only open to NAMAC members at the time, but a recording of the event is now open to the public. Continue reading to listen along if you are interested in hearing about examples from our recent study of organizations practicing shared leadership, or how these methods could be applied in your own organization.
Nonprofits Talking Taxes- A Common Conversation for the Common Good
On December 8th, Project Team member Kim Klein hosted this webinar about how Nonprofits need to see themselves as a "common good lobby" to advocate for the ideas that people are more important than profit, that some things are simply not for sale, and that our job is to create a society in which it is easy to be good.
Structuring Leadership: Alternative Models for Distributing Power and Decision-making
This report sets out to identify and document models of distributed leadership with a focus on increasing organizational impact. Our interest was to find operating structures that address potential barriers to effectiveness, including the growing demands on executives running nonprofits, the current realities of a multigenerational workforce where older leaders will stay longer, and the expectations and work style of new generations coming into the workplace with a strong team orientation. This paper outlines the foundations, practices, and results of distributed leadership and suggests directions for further research.
New Report from YNPN
Director of Leadership, Caroline McAndrews, recently provided feedback for this great new report on emerging nonprofit leaders from YNPN . Be sure to check it out!
News from the Detroit Food Justice Taskforce
The Building Movement Project recently partnered with the Detroit Food Justice Task Force to help them bring “healthy, affordable foods to all of the city’s people”. Check out this update from the Task Force, where they talk about the successes of their “Cook, Eat, Talk” program, which seeks to facilitate discussion and provide resources for access to healthy, local food for all Detroiters.
Part of the 99%
Here at BMP, we’re excited to be in New York at the epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street movement. We’ve been watching for two weeks now as protestors continue to camp in Zuccotti Park to demonstrate their frustration with the current American economic system. While some are critical about the lack of a specific set of demands, what’s most important is that within the multitude of voices coming from downtown, people are standing together and speaking out for social change.
Building Movement Battle Creek
A few years ago, Building Movement Project traveled to Battle Creek, Michigan, where they helped nonprofit organizations in the community begin their transformation from standard service providers to agencies of social change. Recently, the coalition put out a video that documents their group’s success. Watch as one man speaks to the benefits of community involvement, as he tells the story of how he went from client to board member in one organization.