Since 2001, Collective Impact has provided capacity building services to help organizations and communities achieve their mission, realize their vision, and thrive! Over the years, we have become the “go-to” place for meeting government agency and non-profit organization training and professional development needs. Our interactive, action-oriented approach to learning engages participants in an enjoyable experience and results in greater retention of educational content. Collective Impact provides an array of training and facilitation services. Click here to learn more about these services.
In light of the rash of sexual harassment allegations spreading across our nation, mounting mental health and substance abuse/addiction issues facing our families and communities, and a call for greater understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion … direct and meaningful action is needed now more than ever!
Collective Impact’s Training and Professional Development Services can help your organization better deal with today’s challenges and opportunities. Here are some examples of our Cultural Competence Capacity Building Training Workshops that address current real-life issues facing your organization and community today:
Strengthening Workplace Sensitivity
The County Council of Berkeley County, West Virginia contracted with Collective Impact to design and deliver a workplace sensitivity and community engagement training for uniformed law enforcement personnel and other full & part-time County employees.
The intent of this training workshop is to raise awareness of the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) within the workplace, as well as with residents, community partners, and other stakeholders. The interactive training pushes participants to face biases, prejudices, and assumptions in a proactive and positive manner. It encompass definitions and examples of harassment and discrimination and clarification of laws addressing these areas. It also provides interactive activities focusing on addressing inappropriate behavior, valuing differences, heightening cultural awareness, and creating a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect in the workplace. Building cultural competence through strengthening workplace sensitivity is important for government agencies and non-profit organizations to be able to thrive in today’s complex and challenging world.
Participant Quotes:
"Allowed the opportunity to disagree with another opinion with respect and changed my outlook."
"Provided officers with techniques and skills to engage with the community in a more positive manner."
"Truthfully, this was the most knowledgeable, engaging, least painful training I've ever set through with any job. It was actually a pleasant experience."
“I have worked in the county for 14 years and have always hoped a class such as this would be implemented. Thank you!"
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
MHFA is a public education program that introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental illnesses, builds understanding of their impact, and overviews common supports. This 8-hour course uses role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to offer initial help in a mental health crisis and connect persons to the appropriate professional, peer, social, and self-help care. The program also teaches the common risk factors and warning signs of specific types of illnesses, like anxiety, depression, substance use, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and schizophrenia. Mental Health First Aid is included on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP).
Like CPR, Mental Health First Aid prepares participants to interact with a person in crisis and connect the person with help. The program offers concrete tools and answers key questions, like “what do I do?” and “where can someone find help?” Certified Mental Health First Aid instructors provide a list of community healthcare providers and national resources, support groups, and online tools for mental health and addictions treatment and support. All trainees receive a program manual to compliment the course material.
Mental Health First Aid teaches participants a five-step action plan, ALGEE, to support someone developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in an emotional crisis. Participants learn how to apply the ALGEE Mental Health First Aid action plan in a variety of situations, including when someone is experiencing:
Overdose or withdrawal from alcohol or drug use
Panic attacks
Suicidal thoughts or behaviors
Non-suicidal self-injury
Acute psychosis (e.g., hallucinations or delusions)
Reaction to a traumatic event
MHFA certification is beneficial for first-responders and others who work with youth and/or the general public on a regular basis
Participant Quotes:
“Interactive and engaging training that helps to break the stigma of mental health.”
“This training really applies to our everyday job of working with at-risk youth.”
“Every organization that works with people needs this training to raise awareness of mental health and its impact in the workplace.”
“Great Workshop! This information was exactly what we needed.”
Generational Cohorts in the Workplace
In a time where there are multiple generations in the workforce, organizations need to be keenly aware of how understanding the various age groups within your staff, on your Board, and among those you serve greatly influence how well you proactively deal with change, successfully impact your mission, and survive beyond sustainability.
The United States population as a whole is growing older as two generations – the Traditionalist and Boomers - are rapidly aging. In fact, the number of people aged 65 and over is projected to rise nearly 30% over the next 15 years, and 42 % by 2050.
On the other hand, a younger generation has been entering the workforce by storm – the Millennials! On top of that, add in the “other” generation – Gen Xers - to the mix and we have fertile ground for an explosion of values, beliefs, workstyles, innovation, creativity, and everything in between. This fun and interactive workshop explores the importance of cultural competence in the workplace in general, with a specific focus on similarities and differences among the various generational cohorts in the workplace.
Participant Quotes:
“Loved the interaction and activities”
“Fun and useful training that will help us understand each other better and hopefully get along better on the job”
“Great workshop. Great insight into the similarities and differences among our team”
“I am ready to advocate for this training in my County”
Allies for LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer)
With an increasingly diverse workforce, rapidly shifting community demographics, and an ever-changing client/customer base, many organizations struggle to help their established workforce, volunteers, and/or board members successfully adapt. More than half of all Fortune 500 companies provide some form of diversity training that includes sexual orientation and gender identity, but this is not the case for nonprofit organizations or governmental agencies where the need for sensitivity training is even more needed due to the range and different types of services provided to the general public and oftentimes, vulnerable or marginalized populations.
This interactive training workshop is an introductory resource for organizations and community members on how to create an environment that is inclusive and welcoming of diversity to ensure that LGBTQ people are treated with dignity and respect and provided equal opportunity. It provides activities focusing on sexual orientation, gender identity, LGBTQ vocabulary and inclusive language, the coming out process, community resources, and issues of risk and challenges specific to LGBTQ people (i.e., health disparities, social isolation, propensity for violence and suicide, community and work safety, etc.).
Participant Quotes:
“Handled difficult topics in a very professional and non-threating way”
“I learned a lot and hope to apply what I learned in the workplace and at home”
“Thanks you … have needed this kind of training for some time and this was a great start”
“I learned that it is a long process to change organizational culture, but I think we are ready”
“Really good training and topic, thank you!”
If you can’t find the specific topic you are looking for on our website, let us know and we can design and deliver the right training workshop to meet your specific needs!
Collective Impact is working with the Joint Commission on Sports Medicine and Science (JCSMS) to engage its membership in the Collective Impact approach. JCSMS serves as a convener and catalyst for cooperative ventures. The Collective Impact approach is a commitment of a group of individuals from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem, using a structured form of collaboration. The concept of collective impact hinges on the idea that organizations need to coordinate their efforts and work together around a clearly defined goal if they are to create lasting solutions to social problems on a large-scale. This approach was highlighted in a Stanford Social Innovation Review article titled “Collective Impact”. More recently, with financial support from the Wallace Foundation, the Teachers College of Columbia University engaged in research relating to collective engagement around education reform. Their report (Collective Impact and the New Generation of Cross-Sector Collaborations for Education) describes the development of cross-sector collaborations and presents findings from a scan of initiatives across the United States. With assistance from Collective Impact, JCSMS membership is exploring how the model might be used to address relevant issues facing their member organizations.
Collective Impact worked with Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and Wells Fargo in planning and facilitation of the Building Bridges Collaborative conference. As part of the project, Collective Impact assisted 7 regional affordable housing and community development collaboratives in team building and assessing their needs and identifying priority strategies to address those needs. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs has been an advocate for communities in Georgia since its creation in 1977. For four decades, DCA has helped communities spur private job creation, implement comprehensive plans, develop downtowns, generate affordable housing solutions, and promote volunteerism.
"The City of Shinnston was awarded a Flex-E Grant to increase our community capacity through leadership training. We once again called upon Bruce Decker and Collective Impact to facilitate sessions on visioning, team building, motivation, cultural competence, and leadership. The exercises designed for these sessions were challenging, thought-provoking, and highly effective. I have also personally been through other training sessions led by Bruce at conferences put on by Create West Virginia and the WV Community Development Hub. I've never been disappointed; Bruce always delivers results." ~ Debra Herndon - City Manager, City of Shinnston, WV
Visioning is the first step in a goal-setting or planning process. While mission statements guide an organization or community in its day-to-day operations, visions provide a sense of direction for the long term - the means to the future. Learn More!
