Raise Your Voice Blog | Nicole Clark Consulting

23 Mar, 2022

Try This: Reproductive Justice & Program Design

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-03-23T13:02:14-04:00March 23rd, 2022|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: Monitoring and Evaluation, program design, reproductive justice, Try This|0 Comments

Try this activity, and let me know how it goes for you.

I partnered with a client organization to engage staff and board of directors in understanding the Reproductive Justice framework, and its application to organizational programming and other areas respective areas.

We started with a RJ 101 session in December 2021, followed by a more advanced training for staff in January 2022.

During the January training, each program was presented, and we discussed, using the insights from the RJ 101 training, how each program currently embodies RJ values and principles OR how the program can apply these values and principles.

In comparison to the Reproductive Health and Rights models, Reproductive Justice is an organizing framework, prioritizing intersectionality and the leadership of communities of color and other marginalized identities to challenge and change structural inequities (Forward Together, 2005).

While the RJ framework is easy to understand and more relevant compared to the “pro choice” vs “pro life” debate, strategizing how to apply the framework outside of traditional community organizing contexts can be a challenge.

So, how can your programs prioritize the voices and leadership of the communities your organization supports?

This activity is ideal for:

Anyone responsible for developing programs and services
Anyone responsible for leading and participating in program evaluation activities

Here’s what you need:

Set aside a full day (or several days) for strategizing, where you and your staff can work uninterrupted (as we’re still in a pandemic, determine how this will work for an in-person setting or a virtual setting) Make sure to schedule breaks
Whatever setup you use to capture your process (laptop, pen and paper, whiteboard, etc.) but make sure it’s kept in a place that you can refer back to

The steps:

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9 Mar, 2022

Self Care Corner: Representation Burnout

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2023-09-28T14:57:45-04:00March 9th, 2022|Categories: Self & Community Care|Tags: Burnout, DEI, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Self Care Corner|0 Comments

I’ve been putting off writing this blog post for nearly 2 years. Mostly because it’s complicated to talk about.

Representation burnout.

I first came across this term via Shine’s article “Why We Need to Talk About – and Recognize – Representation Burnout” by Martha Tesema.

The article was posted a year before George Floyd was murdered in May 2020. The day after his murder, I facilitated a partnership meeting for a client organization. I joined the Zoom meeting several minutes early with the partnership co-leads, after spending the day looking at news coverage of George’s murder.

I admitted to them that I wasn’t fully present, yet I still wanted to fully show up. I also admitted it at the start of the meeting with the partners.

In Nonprofit Quarterly article “The Hidden Cost of DEI Work –And What to Do About It,” , co-author Tiloma Jayasinghe asks questions that perfectly sums up how I often feel:

What if I, the professional facilitator, break down in tears in front of a full Zoom room of clients because this work, and the stakes if it fails, feels like I am letting BIPOC people down and ruining this small opening for workplace liberation?

How am I supposed to cope with race equity work when another Black trans woman was murdered today, and/or last night another Asian elder was hit and painfully injured on the Lower East Side of New York City, and/or how many hundreds of Black people have been murdered since brother George Floyd took his last breath? Where is the outrage for them?

When and how do I just pause and stop so that I can rest, recharge, so that I can be on this journey for the long haul?

“The Hidden Cost of DEI Work–And What to Do About It” by Andrea J. Rogers and Tiloma Jayasinghe (Nonprofit Quarterly, 2021)

When people see me, they see a Black woman, because we’re visual. Getting to know me, you’ll discover that I’m a Black cisgender heterosexual woman. Going deeper, you’ll discover that I’m a Black cisgender heterosexual woman, from the south, an identical twin, has a bachelors degree from a HBCU and a masters degree from an Ivy League, became motherless at age 17, grew up in Christianity, full time self employed for 6 years, a New York City transplant for 11 years, now resides in Washington, DC, and so on.

Like you, I have multiple identities and lived experiences. Also like you, the identity that gets the most prominence largely depends on the space I walk into.

And sometimes, these identities are the only reasons we’re allowed into spaces in the first place.

How do we deal with this?

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2 Mar, 2022

Ask Nicole: The Best Way to Follow Up with Former Clients

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-03-02T08:17:08-05:00March 2nd, 2022|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole, Client Relationships, consulting|0 Comments

*Have a question you’d like to be featured? Let me know.*

In late Summer 2021, I started a strategic planning project with a new client organization. During the initial meeting, the Executive Director and I caught up a bit. This Executive Director had previously been a Co-Executive Director for a client organization I worked with at the start of my consulting practice.

At some point during our conversation, the Executive Director shared with me what happened after I completed my project with their former organization, and how things have shifted over the years.

Mind you, the Co-Executive Directors both wrote a client testimonial for me, but it was a treat to hear how this organization was able to move forward. I still keep in touch with this organization via their newsletter and social media.

At some point, your relationships with your client organizations will come to an end.

And over the years, I’ve slowly reached out to former client organizations just to ask them how things has gone for them since the project ended.

No expectations for future work, and no expectations for referrals. I also share their events and resources in my newsletter and on social media.

This is the best way to follow up with former clients.

I don’t make it a habit of choosing projects that don’t align with my values. Because of this, I have an invested interest in what happens next for my clients. Any ahas, successes, or hiccups, and what they’ve learned along the way.

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16 Feb, 2022

What’s in it for Me?: Evaluating Stakeholder Engagement

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-02-15T09:54:43-05:00February 16th, 2022|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: Stakeholders, Strategic Planning|0 Comments

Last fall, I joined an ad-hoc group to strategize around Black maternal health and abortion access. During our initial meeting, one member asked, “How will this be different from what’s currently being done?”

In the marketing and advertising world, there’s the question “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM for short).

“What’s in it for me?” is a tactic to describe (from your perspective) the benefits customers should expect to experience as a result of having the product or service. Getting customers to buy a product or service is one thing. But what keep customers coming back?

“What’s in it for me?” ins’t just a marketing tactic. It’s a barometer for stakeholder engagement. For our involvement, we expect to gain something in return.

“How will this be different from what’s currently being done?” is a variation on “What’s in is for me?” because while we still want to be a part of something that matters, we’re still need to determine if this one thing (in this case, participation in an ad hoc meeting that leads for a result) would be worth our time.

Whether driven by intrinsic drivers (experiencing a sense of accomplishment or a higher sense of self worth) or extrinsic ones (recognition for a job well done or payment is exchange for labor), as each person is different, each person is motivated by different things.

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2 Feb, 2022

Ask Nicole: Be Honest About Your Organizational Culture

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-02-02T21:04:07-05:00February 2nd, 2022|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole, consulting, Organizational Culture|0 Comments

If there’s anything I’ve hated about a consulting project, it most likely stems from the organization I worked with, and less about the actual project.

In some ways, the process of securing a new consultant or consulting team mirrors the process of recruiting and onboarding a new employee. You’re assessing whether this candidate can perform the job description and fit into your organization’s culture.

Beyond task descriptions and deliverables, how often do organizations choose a consultant and consulting team that understands and fits into their organization’s culture?

On the flip side, some organizations are aware of their culture and its toxicity. From micro aggressions, lack of diversity (in all the ways diversity looks), low wages, and micromanagement, if a job candidate knew this about your organization, of course they wouldn’t want to work with you.

Try as you might to shield candidates from these toxic aspects, your new hires will eventually notice them.

If that’s the case for an employee, wouldn’t this be the same for your consultants?

While your project may be amazing, if consultants are experiencing any of the red flags below, the chances of them returning for a new project is not likely:

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Try This: Reproductive Justice & Program Design

Self Care Corner: Representation Burnout

Ask Nicole: The Best Way to Follow Up with Former Clients

What’s in it for Me?: Evaluating Stakeholder Engagement

Ask Nicole: Be Honest About Your Organizational Culture

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