Raise Your Voice Blog | Nicole Clark Consulting

3 Jun, 2015

You Didn’t Feel Like Blogging This Week Too? (and Helpful Ways to Ditch Your Blogging Slump)

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:44:16-04:00June 3rd, 2015|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Branding, Marketing|0 Comments

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Sometimes, when you know you’re supposed to do something and you don’t feel like it, you’ll get a little sign that confirms that you need to do it.

That came three weeks ago in the form of a blog post I saw on Pinterest by creative business consultant and brand designer Julie Harris.

And last week, I checked my inbox and saw this post by entrepreneur Christine Kane.

I know the benefits of having a blog: You have the opportunity to position yourself as a thought leader in your area of expertise, and you can connect with other people with similar interests. Having a blog is useful because, as speaker and entrepreneur Michael Hyatt says, a blog is your “home base”. In comparison to your social media networks (which Hyatt identifies as your “embassies”), you can have a consistent presence, but those networks can disappear at any time. Your blog will always remain (unless you don’t renew your hosting.)

But some of the gripes I have about blogging are the same gripes everyone else has: Not having the time, being consistent, not knowing what to write about, the fear of others not agreeing with your stance, not getting any comments (or getting too many trolling comments), or the idea that no one will read it.

Between social work, evaluation, and reproductive justice, there’s plenty I could write about, but at times it feels like a chore! I’m too embarrassed to admit to the number of times I started writing a blog post, and decided to close my MacBook and take a nap instead.

So, what have I’ve done in the past (that I know I need to start back doing) to help me step up my blogging game when I’d rather be doing something else? Here are my tips:

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15 Apr, 2015

One Key Strategy to Set the Tone for Your Workshop

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:43:45-04:00April 15th, 2015|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: Facilitation, Workshops|0 Comments

Over the weekend, I attended the annual Civil Liberties & Public Policy conference at Hampshire College. The topic of the conference is “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom”, and it was an eclectic mixture of students, activists, and grassroots and nonprofit professionals.

I returned to CLPP to facilitate “The Revolution Starts with Me: Recipes, Remedies, Rituals and Resources for Activist Self Care”. As in years past, this workshop had over 40 participants and was well-received.

At the start of every workshop I do, I make sure to explain the purpose and intent of the workshop and its activities, share what’s going to take place, and what I feel is going to be the take-away points and “call to action” for my participants.

One major component of my workshops is establishing the ground rules. Known as “group agreements”, “safe space agreements”, “community norms”, and many more names, ground rules are the first step in setting the tone for how the facilitator and participants will interact with each other during their time together. Here are some things to keep in mind:

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12 Mar, 2015

Ask Nicole: What’s the Difference Between Research and Evaluation?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:43:13-04:00March 12th, 2015|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: Ask Nicole, evaluation, Research|0 Comments

Do you have any questions related to social work, evaluation, reproductive justice? Curious about how I feel about a particular topic? Contact me and I’ll answer it!

This is probably the most common question you’ll hear about evaluation practice. Because I’m asked this question often, I would like to given my take on it.

To start, there are several differences between research and evaluation. Evaluation is a systematic way of figuring out how effective your programs and services are, and if the desired outcomes of the program/service line up with what participants are experiencing. You can do this in a variety of ways, including surveys, focus groups, interviews, and more. Evaluation can inform key stakeholders (which can include legislators, program participants, funders, nonprofit staff, etc.) how sustainable your program or service is.

In comparison, research is designed to seek new knowledge about a behavior or phenomenon and focuses on the methods of getting to that new knowledge (hypothesis, independent/dependent variables, etc.). In other words, research wants to know if a particular variable caused a particular effect (causation). Once testing is done, researchers can make research recommendations and publish their findings. However, one of the key differences between research and evaluation is that conducting an evaluation can lead to insights in what’s going well and what can be improved. In other words, evaluation shows how valuable your program or service is.

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4 Mar, 2015

Why Social Workers Make the Best Reproductive Justice Activists

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:42:44-04:00March 4th, 2015|Categories: Public Health & Social Work|Tags: reproductive justice, Social Work|0 Comments

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March is one of my favorite months of the year. There’s a lot happening during March for us to raise our voices about, including Women’s History Month, National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers (3/10th), National Women and Girls HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (3/10th), and National Native HIV Awareness Day (3/21st) (among others).

My favorite thing about March is that it’s all about the social worker. March is National Social Work Month, and this year’s theme is “Social Work Paves the Way for Change”. From individual counseling to managing an evaluation project or grant process, social workers make a difference in the lives of individuals, families, schools, organizations and communities.

What’s so great about this year’s Social Work Month is that I’ve been invited to be a co-presenter for a 3-part webinar series focusing on two of favorite topics: social work and reproductive justice. This series, sponsored by Social Workers for Reproductive Justice with support of The Abortion Conversation Project , will focus on not only how social workers are change agents in the lives of many, but how social workers are often in the forefront of many social justice movements. While this series is meant to be educational and empowering for any professional social worker or student social worker (as well as anyone interested in going into the field), this series will also touch on how the personal views of social workers can often get in the way of our clients’ right to self determination, and what we can do to make sure we remain unbiased in our interaction with our clients and the resources we provide.

Social work was a natural progression for me before I could see how it would relate to my ongoing work as a college student activist, and I am grateful that I’ve been able to combine reproductive justice with social work, in addition to the program evaluation work that I do.

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10 Dec, 2014

What Do You Do When Self Care Isn’t An Option?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:42:13-04:00December 10th, 2014|Categories: Self & Community Care|Tags: self care|0 Comments

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.” ~ Audre Lorde

Today is International Human Rights Day. First commemorated in 1950, International Human Rights Day brings attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all nations. The 2014 theme, “Human Rights 365”, celebrates the fundamental principle that everyone is entitled to the full range of human rights at all times, that human rights belong equally to each of us, and these rights bind us together as a global community.

Given the pain, frustration, and unrest that have resulted in protests in recent weeks around the United States to bring awareness to the increase of policing tactics against communities of color, the constant attacks on women’s reproductive access, continuous news about hate crimes against members of the LGBTQ community, the debates surrounding immigration rights, and countless other stressors on marginalized communities, the state of basic human rights around the world is nothing short of dismal.

As social workers, counselors, and therapists, we are receptacles of our clients’ trauma. We encourage clients to work through a traumatic experience by giving voice to it, but what ends up hopefully being a cathartic release for our clients, leaves us literally holding our clients’ trauma in our hands.

As teachers, agency or nonprofit workers, or community activists, the well-being of our communities is a priority for us. We conduct needs assessments and speak to our students and community members about what needs to change within the school system, agency, or community. What ends up being a positive way for community members to voice their concerns can leave us drained because what needs to change—often at a systemic and policy level—can feel daunting.

When your communities are constantly under attacked, when there seems to be no end in sight, and when your fundamental rights are being taken away, what do you do when self care isn’t an option for you?

When times get tough, I rely on self care activities and rituals that I’ve developed for myself. I mention self care, especially to service providers and activists, because I believe that you can’t raise your voice for others if you’re not able to care for yourself.

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You Didn’t Feel Like Blogging This Week Too? (and Helpful Ways to Ditch Your Blogging Slump)

One Key Strategy to Set the Tone for Your Workshop

Ask Nicole: What’s the Difference Between Research and Evaluation?

Why Social Workers Make the Best Reproductive Justice Activists

What Do You Do When Self Care Isn’t An Option?

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