Commonwealth Corps Transitions: Sustaining Your Service and Your Development J A N U A R Y P R E S E N T E D B Y A M Y & J U L I A N N E

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1 Commonwealth Corps Transitions: Sustaining Your Service and Your Development J A N U A R Y P R E S E N T E D B Y A M Y & J U L I A N N E

2 After today we hope you will Be able to celebrate and reflect on your impact and growth this year. Have more tools to talk about your service experiences. Understand strategies you can use to sustain your service at your site. Begin to think about how you will sustain your experiences from this year and move towards your post-service plans. Begin to develop a realistic plan for wrapping up your service and leaving a legacy.

3 Overview & Agenda Introductions Part 1: Sustaining Your Service Individual, Organizational and Community Levels Leaving a Legacy Lunch Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell Intro & Tour Part 2: Sustaining Yourself Personal/Professional Transitions Knowing Yourself Capturing Your Skills

4 Introductions Please share: your name, host site and your favorite winter activity.

5 What is Sustainability?

6 What is Sustainability? Sustainability is the ability of a program or organization to continue engaging community stakeholders to meet the needs of the community efficiently and effectively after the last service member is gone; AND Sustainability is the ability of a service program to continue engaging a community s citizens to meet the needs of the community, through potentially changing circumstances and sources of support.

7 Reflection: Getting Started Imagine that it is next winter. You have made a successful transition to life after service Pair & Share: What is one thing that you really hope will still be going strong from the project(s) you ve done and your service this year?

8 Think Big Picture, Act Practically This presentation includes ideas for building sustainability at the individual, organizational, and community levels. Individual Appropriate for all Commonwealth Corps projects Organizational/Community May be more feasible for some projects than others Factors affecting organizational and community readiness to sustain your project may be beyond the control of members and supervisors.

9 Levels of Action for Sustainability: Individual Member (you!) Guiding those that come after you Leaving a Legacy Organizational Buy in, resources (funds and people) to carry it on Community Support Ownership (planning, communicating value)

10 Individual Sustainability Legacy projects or products: Exit memo and/or Letter to Your Successor Record of your project, key contacts, location of records (and access passwords), ideas for what helped you settled in and what could have helped you settle in faster/better, and comments about what has been done and what needs to be done. There may be a section for identifying key community members with whom it is important to build relationships, These may not always be the people in formal leadership roles. (Make sure to keep things on a positive note appropriate for a written document that will remain behind when you leave.) Project or Service Binder Complete record of project, with sample materials (Electronic files and/or actual binder) Exit debrief meeting Some supervisors may already have plans to request this meeting. If not, you can suggest it. Documenting accomplishments can take various forms, such as: Blog, Wiki page, Photo montage or Video.

11 Examples AmeriCorps Programs Reading Partners Blog City Year Boston Peace Corps Peace Corps Member in Ethiopia

12 Leaving a Legacy What will it take? Time Speak with your supervisor now about fitting it into your service schedule during the last months of your term Clarity Clear systems and locations for saving/sharing materials; making sure files are public, not in personal folders/drives Planning Save things as you go, such as meeting notes, contact info, promotional materials, volunteer database, training manuals, etc.

13 Individual Sustainability (cont.) The Two-Person Rule: To create a sustainable network that will last after your project is over, make sure that at least two people know what you are doing, where your files are, and details of the project.

14 Organizational Stability Best practices for sustainability at the organizational level include: Plans are in places, or resources are secured, to carry on the project after you leave the organization. The project or program is seen as valuable within the organization. Senior staff and board member are aware of key activities and accomplishments.

15 Gaining Community Support Record of project thus far: List of volunteers (with contact information) List of key community members (with contact information) Informal as well as formal community leaders List of partner organizations (with contact information) Notes from partner and community meetings Ways to Build Support Elevator Speech succinct statement of project Involvement of community members in planning and implementing the project Promotion newspaper articles, social media, events, etc.

16 Sustainability. What went wrong? Why are some projects not sustained? Poor organization of project and materials Poor project management Programming or organization lacked resources - funds and/or volunteers Lacked community or organization support Lack of knowledge within organization about project (no buy in from the executive leadership and Board of Directors) Two person rule was not enforced Community unaware of positive impacts of project

17 Activity: Preparing for Sustainability On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = no sustainability and 10 = full sustainability : How would you rate your organization s current readiness to sustain your service after you are gone? Have you and your supervisor begun to discuss ways to sustain your project? What can you personally do to help the organization sustain the project? If there is not a personal role for you in some areas, what can you learn from what others are doing?

18 Worksheet: Leaving a Legacy Take some time to reflect on: What do you wish you had known from others/your host site when you started (but nobody told you)? What did you find most helpful in getting started, from the things you were told/given? What would you do next, if you were staying longer?

19 Sustaining Yourself Professional connections (organization and community) Letters of reference Organizations/individuals/professional networks you ve encountered Personal connections Career or education next steps Resumes, networking, informational interviews, and job interviews Another year of service (e.g. AmeriCorps / Peace Corps) ( You can find a list of MA AmeriCorps Programs on MSA Website) College, grad school, or other coursework/certifications Community volunteering

20 Sustaining Yourself (cont.) Celebrating and capturing your accomplishments Documenting experience and successes (legacy projects, sustainability conversations) Assessing and capturing your leadership and skill development Downloading/printing your monthly reports and/or capturing highlights from your timesheets/reports as you do them MSA end-of-service celebration in June Continuing to serve / Staying active in your community How will you use the skills and passion you have cultivated through Commonwealth Corps? How would you like to stay connected to your host site as a volunteer, if relevant

21 The Importance of Knowing Yourself The benefits of self-knowledge Strategically directing your career Identifying jobs and organization that fit you Authentically and specifically communicating your fit What Color Is Your Parachute? Worksheet: 7 Ways of Describing Who You are & Flower Exercise Small Group Discussion Knowing Yourself: Skills and Experiences (pg. 1)

22 What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual For Job-Hunters and Career-Changers Book by Richard N. Bolles Available in 22 languages, used in 26 countries around the world & over 10 million copies have been sold Updated version released each year

23 What Color Is Your Parachute? The Flower Exercise: 7 Ways of describing who you are Seven sides to you, or ways of thinking about yourself, using the language of the workplace Purpose (center) Salary Skills People Workplace Knowledges Geography What happens if you are not mindful of all aspects of who you are when in a job/applying for a position?

24 The Importance of Knowing Yourself The benefits of self-knowledge Strategically directing your career Identifying jobs and organization that fit you Authentically and specifically communicating your fit What Color Is Your Parachute? Worksheet: 7 Ways of Describing Who You are & Flower Exercise Small Group Discussion Knowing Yourself: Skills and Experiences (pg. 1)

25 Transitions: Planning Transition Planning: Closing out or continuing connections with your clients/students Financial (budgeting, health insurance, housing/moving, etc.) Exiting from a member-development-focused program Potential change in supervisor relationship post-commonwealth Corps Staying connected to the Commonwealth Corps, your host site, MSA, and the national service movement

26 Transitions: What Can Be Done Now? Job searching is a long process and your CC term doesn t end until June, but there are things you can do now: Explore yourself/goals (activities from Jan. & Nov. trainings) MSA-Related Time: Completing activities distributed in MSA Trainings/online; maximum time per activity of minutes. *Map out network of people/organizations you know *Researching fields and organizations of interest Set up informational interviews MSA-Related Time: A maximum of 10 hours through June (including any relevant preparation, travel, and actual interview time) *Update resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, etc. Also keep in mind your larger online presence (Facebook, etc.) * To complete on your own time, unless an MSA-provided activity

27 Networking/Informational Interview Tips Don t ask for a job (If there is a job match, people will tell you) Be brief (~10-20 minutes) Be clear/convincing an don t manipulate Try to meet in person as often as possible Don t let your guard down Your networking may be judged as your best work Help your network contact help you Learn to handle objections and be flexible Thank the person and reciprocate Be positive and patient Stay in touch Adapted from: Career Moves at JVS: JVS Keys to Networking

28 Network Mapping Alumni Network Chi Omega Alumni Network Mom RI Public Schools Maggie Feast and Fettle RI Restaurant World Dad UW of Providence Roger Williams Park Zoo Family Bobbie Villanova Reed Tenacity Lindsay Joe Tricia Colleen Becca Me Volunteering CLLC Parents Work MSA MSA Staff CC Partners AC Partners SE Partners Becky YMCA Heather Joe Billy

29 Transitions: Starting Points Idealist.org has created a wonderful series of guides for those interested in careers in the nonprofit sector: Service to Career Transition: Service Corps to Social Impact Career Early Career: Guide to Nonprofit Careers for First-Time Job Seekers Mid-Career: Switching to the Nonprofit Sector? Here s One Route You May Not Have Considered

30 Transitions: Translating Your Service Translating your service using CCAR Challenge: Increase number of youth receiving tutoring Context. Partnered with school, three nonprofit organizations and parent association; Limited financial resources and lack of volunteers. Action. Identified three local companies for volunteers; Presented to employees about being a volunteer tutor; Negotiated with HR for employees to being able to take time off; Trained 10 new tutors. Result. 15 additional youth received tutoring during the academic year; Brokered three new corporate partnerships resulting in 10 volunteer tutors and in-kind/financial donations worth approximately $10,000.

31 Action Steps for Sustaining Yourself Think About & Write Down: One personal goal Plus: One short term action step One long term action step Think About & Write Down: One professional goal Plus: One short term action step One long term action step Longer term visioning and goal setting Resources from Shoshanna Cogan and beyond Reach out to your supervisor and MSA for support and ideas

32 Reminders/Updates Member Shadowing Member-Led Trainings (webinar/in-person) Site Visits Monthly Reports Serving with Me 101 Updated Travel Reimbursement Form

33 Upcoming Trainings February Training Continuation of Sustaining Yourself: resume building, cover letter writing,networking and interviewing, and planning your transition. February 22: Waltham (10am 3pm) +volunteer opportunity February 26: Worcester (10:30am 2:30pm) March Training Leveraging Your Skills for the Future March TBD: Springfield (10:30am 2:30pm) March 12 or 19: Boston (10:30am 2:30pm)