16 Nov, 2016

What Do You Want to See in a Reproductive Justice Action Toolkit?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:57:52-04:00November 16th, 2016|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: Announcements, reproductive justice|0 Comments

Share Your Feedback on the Reproductive Justice Action Toolkit!

Over the past several months, I’ve been focusing on creating a cohesive fusion between what I provide for clients: education and action planning using the Reproductive Justice (RJ) framework, education and training on program evaluation, and using design thinking to create programs and services for women and girls of color.

I became a Generative Fellow through CoreAlign’s Generative Fellows in March 2016 where my primary interest at the time was on developing a method for evaluating RJ programs and services.

Evaluation is an ever-evolving field, but since my first Fellows retreat in March, I’ve grown more interested in design thinking and how it can be used as a new entry point into the Reproductive Justice movement. As a result, I switched my project’s focus during my final Fellows retreat in September.

I’ve reached out to nonprofit professionals, community leaders, students, teachers and more, whom I hope this toolkit will be used by. I asked them about their struggles in applying the RJ framework into their professional and personal lives, and their struggles in articulating this framework to others. Also, in working with former and current clients, I’ve noticed something else: What people think Reproductive Justice looks likes isn’t really Reproductive Justice at all.

Why is that? Some work in environments that are more “Reproductive Health” or “Reproductive Rights” without a focus on intersectionality (one of the core principles of Reproductive Justice). This makes it hard to promote a framework that’s not acknowledged in the space, that’s not acknowledged, or is acknowledged but there will need to be a major shift in order for RJ to be centered.

And when you’re developing programs and campaigns that aren’t grounded in solid program theory and mutual collaboration, it won’t matter how well you know the RJ framework and what to include it in what you do.

Enter the Reproductive Justice Action Toolkit. (…or something like that. This is the name I’m going with for now.)

This toolkit focuses on a 3-part system: 1) A strong foundation in RJ, 2) solid program/campaign development, and 3) collaborative and engaging evaluation activities.

It’s my hope that this Action Toolkit will serve as a go-to reference for nonprofits, schools, community groups, and government agencies on creating collaborative and impactful Reproductive Justice programs and campaigns in their communities.

And I need your feedback! I’ve created a survey to get your opinion on what crucial elements you feel should be included. Share your feedback and let me know what you think. My goal is to begin piloting this toolkit with nonprofits, community groups, and more in late Winter 2016-early Spring 2017. As a token of appreciation, when you complete the survey, you’ll receive The Revolution Starts with Me! the self care zine I developed with my co-facilitator Adaku Utah.

RAISE YOUR VOICE: Take the Reproductive Justice Action Toolkit survey today, and share below in the comments section what you’d like to see in the toolkit.

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2 Nov, 2016

Ask Nicole: What’s the Best Way to Deliver Bad News?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:57:13-04:00November 2nd, 2016|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: Ask Nicole, program evaluation|0 Comments

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If you have a question that you’d like to share with the Raise Your Voice community , contact me.

It’s the worst thing ever. That moment when you’ve been working with a client, community members, or some other form of stakeholder, and you have to bring the bad news.

I recently got this email from a nonprofit professional (and FYI: I’ve removed identifying information):

My nonprofit has created a program that seeks to increase the importance of physical activity among young indigenous youth in a rural community where there’s a lack of access to gyms and other places that would make it easier for youth to be more active. The stakeholders were expecting that the activities included in the program would resonate with the youth. In my nonprofit, I’ve been charged to carry out an evaluation of this program. We used surveys and focus groups with the youth participants. The results of the evaluation were that the participants weren’t interested in the activities, which aligned with the lack of participation. In fact, the results showed that the participants have developed more creative means to get in physical activity, but they brought up the need for other quality of life services that the program wasn’t addressing. The results could potentially impact the funding that was given to this program, as the funders were expecting that the program would be a success. What’s the best way to handle this?

Dealing with funders and leadership can be tricky, and nonprofits know all too well the stress of proving that a program or service is successful to stakeholders.

So, how do you share unexpected results in a way that is diplomatic and addresses concern head on?

Make it participatory from the start

I’ve worked with clients who had the expectation that I would come in, ready to go, with all the surveys, focus group questions, and in-depth interviews scheduled. They just want someone to come in and do the work for them. When I noticed this happening, I began to push back against working with clients in this way, and in encouraging current clients and potential clients in developing a participatory way of working together. From determining data collection tools to developing questions to ask participants (and even getting everyone together to interpret the data), when you make feedback gathering participatory from the start, it creates buy-in, puts everyone on the same page, and makes everything more transparent. When people are more involved, it makes this process more fun (at least for me), and everyone learns in the process.

And here’s a secret: When you make it participatory, it improves the likelihood that recommendations from the evaluation are actually implemented.

Address expectations and potential consequences

When you ask your stakeholders what they intend the outcome of their program to be, also ask this:

“What if what we’re expecting doesn’t happen?”

Ideally, we create programs or services based on theory, research, and what’s happen in our community. It builds the foundation to do some meaningful work. Can you believe there are nonprofits actually create programs or services because it just sounds like a good idea? You’d be surprised. So, can we really feel some type of way when we get results that we weren’t expecting, and in the case of the nonprofit above, it sounds like a program was created to address a need that the community has already dealt with.

But when we follow the theory, research, and community input, yet the outcome is still not what we’re expecting?

Determine if it really is bad

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20 Jul, 2016

Ask Nicole: Any Advice for Social Workers Moving to New York City?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:56:05-04:00July 20th, 2016|Categories: Public Health & Social Work|Tags: Ask Nicole, Social Work|0 Comments

If you have a question that you’d like to share with the Raise Your Voice community , contact me.

I recently got an email from Stephanie, a graduating social work student:

I stumbled upon your Instagram today and was pleased to see that you are a social worker who currently resides in New York City; I graduate with my MSW in August and plan on moving to New York City from Florida, thereafter. Living and working in New York has always been a dream of mine. In preparation for graduation I’ve been doing some online job searching, but most positions that offer a viable wage require that you are licensed. My passion is working with children, families and women.

What advice would you give to a new social worker looking to move to New York City who isn’t licensed and wishes to work with children and families or women? Are there any specific agencies you would recommend applying to?

Stephanie’s question is interesting because it encompasses many factors, of which I’ve come up with several questions that I hope can guide Stephanie (and you) in thinking more about the next steps in living as a a social worker in New York City:

What is your ideal social work role?

This question can be answered based on where you are currently (education-wise) as a social worker. Do you plan to work as a micro level social worker, mezzo level social worker, or macro level social worker? Do you plan to work at one level for your entire social work career, or do you have expectations of moving up or blending different levels of social work? If you’re interested in working with women, youth, and families, what does that mean? Reproductive or maternal health? Crisis management and prevention? Substance use? Mental illness?

How are you looking for social work positions?

This question ties into the first question. Stephanie mentions women, children, and families as potential populations she wants to work with. In addition to identifying if you want to work at the micro, mezzo, or macro level, are you looking for counseling positions versus case management, teaching versus facilitating workshops, etc?. I was able to land a case management position within 3 months of graduating, working directly with adults impacted by HIV/AIDS and homelessness. As social workers, we’re conditioned to look for positions that explicitly have “social worker” in the title when there are plenty of organizations and agencies that recommend having the skills of a social worker but it may not be mentioned in the position requirements. I had lots of experience in conducting workshops around youth engagement, sexual/reproductive health and justice, and the like prior to grad school, but felt that I needed something that mentioned “social work” or “case management” in the title. If you find a position that interests you but doesn’t mention “social worker”, highlight in your cover letter and interview how being a social worker lends itself well to that position. The MSW degree is one of the most flexible degrees out there, and the skills we learn can translate to a variety of roles.

What setting do you want to work in?

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6 Jul, 2016

How Can Nonprofits Balance Positive and Negative Feedback?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:55:19-04:00July 6th, 2016|Categories: Public Health & Social Work|Tags: Capacity Building, program evaluation|0 Comments

When you sit down with your supervisor for your annual review or evaluation, it can go one of two ways.

When your supervisor spends more time on areas that “need improvement”, you may walk out of her office feeling defeated.

And how do you feel when you receive a glowing review? Pretty happy. Makes you feel like you’re excelling.

If you care about what you do, you welcome praise as well as recommendations for how to improve. Too much positive and you don’t feel the need to grow. If you’ve ever asked about things that you can improve of, and you don’t receive much of a response because everything is going well, how do you feel?

I’ve had my fair share of working with executive directors and program directors who only wanted me to focus on positive outcomes. And it makes me suspicious.

Of course, you want the people invested in what you’re doing to be happy. These people—the stakeholders—can range from anyone that is impacted directly on indirectly by the programs, services, or initiatives you’ve created for them.

Stakeholders want to see what’s going well. What’s going well can mean more media, more opportunities and more funding. “Negative” findings (and I use quotation marks because negative is subjective) can also lead to more media, and a lot of nonprofits fear this. Negative findings can give the impression that things are worse off than they really are.

But too much of the positive can give the impression that nothing needs to change. Let’s face it: Some nonprofits are out here designing surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus group questions that are so biased that one can’t expect anything but positive results. And that’s not valuable either.

How can positive findings give your staff the credit they deserve, and how can you address “negative” findings in a way that allows for your stakeholders to see opportunities?

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15 Jun, 2016

“My Name is…, and I Represent…”

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:54:49-04:00June 15th, 2016|Categories: Equity & Justice|Tags: Reflections|0 Comments

Does you voice matter less when you’re not part of an organization?

This became part of my consciousness back in 2012 when I attended the Strong Families Summit. I was invited to assist with Strong Families’ social media team to highlight the goals of the Initiative, the participants’ general feedback, and how the Initiative can move forward.

As attendees introduced themselves, they shared the basics (name, organization, preferred gender pronouns, and their intention for being present at the Summit), and as they shared the name of their organization, there were a few attendees that said:

“My name is [insert name], and I’m representing myself” or

“I’m [insert name], and I work with [insert name of organization], but I’m speaking on behalf of myself”.

Of course, in discussions around issues pertaining to sexual health and reproductive justice, or any topic that may be controversial, it’s important to raise our own voices. It’s also important to be mindful that what we say may have an impact on whatever group or organization we’re representing.

When I was part of an organization as a front line social worker and direct service provider, my actions and interactions with clients either had a positive or negative effect not only my clients’ impression of me but also that of my organization. Now, as someone who runs her own business, I’ve been able to reflect on the fact that I’m fortunate enough to be representing myself apart from an agency or organization. I’m able to flow in and out of multiple spaces and can be a social worker, program designer, speaker, or program evaluator at any given time, and I can be known for one aspect or all aspects of what I do.

Knowing this, I’m also mindful in how I represent my business in person, through email, or on social media, can impact who wants to work with me as a client. We definitely see this in today’s political climate, sports, and entertainment industries where people quickly lose their endorsements and support.

But back to the original question:

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What Do You Want to See in a Reproductive Justice Action Toolkit?

RAISE YOUR VOICE: Take the Reproductive Justice Action Toolkit survey today, and share below in the comments section what you’d like to see in the toolkit.

Like this post? Subscribe to the Raise Your Voice newsletter to receive resources, advice, and tips to help you raise your voice for women and girls of color.

Ask Nicole: What’s the Best Way to Deliver Bad News?

Make it participatory from the start

Address expectations and potential consequences

Determine if it really is bad

Ask Nicole: Any Advice for Social Workers Moving to New York City?

What is your ideal social work role?

How are you looking for social work positions?

What setting do you want to work in?

How Can Nonprofits Balance Positive and Negative Feedback?

“My Name is…, and I Represent…”

“My name is [insert name], and I’m representing myself” or

“I’m [insert name], and I work with [insert name of organization], but I’m speaking on behalf of myself”.

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