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You Get What You Measure® In Use
Vermont Environmental Consortium. December 2004.
Shanna Ratner was selected by the Vermont Environmental Consortium to facilitate
a strategic planning retreat for the Board of Directors. Using Yellow Wood’s
trademarked
“You Get What You Measure®” approach, board members
were able to clarify goals, identify key leverage indicators, and design
measures of progress that prioritize and bring considerable focus to the next
eleven months of activity for their new Executive Director, Daniel Hecht. The
whole process was accomplished in two sessions of a little over eight hours
total. Contact Daniel Hecht, VEC, c/o Norwich University, 158 Harmon Drive,
Northfield, VT 05663; (802) 485-2455; vec@norwich.edu.
“Thanks again for all
your work in facilitating our strategic planning process. I am really excited
about the potential for VEC to make a real difference.”
- Ron Miller, VEC Chairman of the Board
" I am writing to
commend Yellow Wood Associates - and you personally - for your assistance with
Vermont Environmental Consortium's recent strategic planning process. I was
pleased that
“You Get What You Measure®” was easily explained to participants, and
that its very nature - interesting and fun - stimulated my board to think
creatively and positively. I can only describe YGWYM as a technology that takes
in a jumble of inchoate and often contradictory ideas about mission, vision,
values, policies, priorities, goals, objectives, measures, etc., processes them,
and turns them out as coherent, explicit planning products. In sum: terrific! I
commend your work highly, and I will be happy to offer my recommendation to
other organizations considering Yellow Wood for planning consultation and
facilitation."
-
Daniel Hecht, VEC Executive Director
Miner
County Community
Revitalization. June
2003. Facilitated
two-day application
of “You Get What
You Measure®”
with staff and
community leaders
focusing on
identifying key
leverage points and
measures of progress
toward poverty
reduction goals
identified in the
community plan.
Contact Randy Parry,
Miner County
Community
Revitalization, 131
South Main St., PO
Box 307, Howard, SD
57349, (605)
772-5153.
Arizona
Natural Resources
Working Group. June
2003. Facilitated
two-day application
of “You Get What
You Measure®”
for town, county and
tribal participants
focusing on forest
health and reducing
threat of
catastrophic
wildfire. Contact
Steve Campbell,
Natural Resources
Working Group, 402
East Hopi Drive,
Holbrook, AZ 86025,
(928) 524-6271.
Central
South King County,
Washington. June
2003.
Presented
“You Get What You
Measure®”
to multi-lingual
group of residents,
immigrants, and
refugees in Central
South King County,
Washington on behalf
of the Northwest
Area Foundation.
Language
groups included:
Bosnian,
Cambodian,
Vietnamese, Spanish,
Russian, and
English. Contact
Diane Wanner,
Northwest Area
Foundation, 60 Plato
Blvd., Suite 400,
St. Paul, MN 55107,
(651) 225-3873.
Opportunity
Works, Iowa.
May
2003. Facilitated
one-day application
of “You
Get What You Measure®”
focusing on
clarifying the
definition of
“assets” using
indicator analysis
in a systems context
for self-organizing
toward a region-wide
strategy of poverty
reduction. Contact
Stacy Van Gorp,
Project Director,
Opportunity Works,
212, East 4th
Street, Waterloo, IA
50703, (319)
226-3560.
Performance
Measures
Accountability
System. November
2002. Cooperative
Forestry, a unit of
the US Forest
Service, contracted
with Yellow Wood
Associates to assist
program leaders from
around the country
in developing
measures of progress
toward Cooperative
Forestry’s goals
using our
trademarked process,
“You Get What You
Measure®.”
The objectives for
the 3-day workshop
were to reduce
reporting
requirements for
Cooperative Forestry
programs, and to
better integrate
efforts across
program areas.
Contact
Steve
Marshall, USDA
Forest Service, 14th
St. &
Independence Ave.
SW, Old Auditors
Bldg., Washington,
DC 20250, (202)
205-1391.
Missouri
Multi-Agency
Initiative. February
2001.
YWA trained 26
people from the
Missouri Departments
of Economic
Development, Health,
and Mental Health,
in “You Get What
You Measure,”Ò
Yellow Wood’s
unique approach to
measuring progress
toward goals.
Participants applied
“You Get What You
Measure”Ò
to the Multi-Agency
Initiative and
prepared to take the
process into
communities across
the state. The
purpose of the
Multi-Agency
Initiative was to
increase
communication and
collaboration
between
community-level
workers in the three
agencies for the
benefit of
communities. Contact
Peggy Quigg,
Missouri Association
of Community Task
Forces, 1648 East
Elm Suite B,
Jefferson City, MO
65101, (877)
669-2280.
"Capacity
building indicators
and assessment is
something I can use
with my community
that is simple and
will open useful
discussions."
-New Mexico
Community Foundation
training participant
Navajo
Hogan Project. December
2000.
YWA trained
nearly 60 people in
“You Get What You
Measure”Ò
at the Navajo
Chapter House in
Cameron, Arizona in
December 2000.
Participants
included a mix of
Native and
non-Native
Americans, youth and
elders, men and
women, who came
together to
establish the goals
and indicators of
progress they would
use for the Navajo
Hogan Project. The
Navajo Hogan Project
seeks to provide
affordable housing
for elderly Navajos
and others in a
traditional
structure using
small diameter wood
from the National
Forest. Contact
Brett KenCairn, PO
Box 771624,
Steamboat Springs,
CO 80477-1624, (970)
846-7344.
“Our
facilitator Shanna
Ratner from Yellow
Wood Associates was
terrific and I feel
really helped us
identify some of the
key issues and
opportunities to
focus on as we take
our next big steps
forward.”
-Brett
KenCairn, Project
Director
USDA
Rural Development
Office of Policy and
Planning.
May – June 2000.
YWA co-delivered a
training with Daryl
Hobbs of the
University of
Missouri Office for
Social and Economic
Data Analysis using
YWA’s measurement
process to over 120
USDA Rural
Development staff
from around the
country at the 4th
Annual Rural
Community
Development National
Training Conference.
Contact Alicia
Petersen, US
Department of
Agriculture, Office
of Policy and
Planning,
Washington, DC
20250, (202)
690-0569.
Missouri
Conference Keynote
and Training.
March 2000.
YWA facilitated a
training and
presented a keynote
at “Seeing Beyond
the Symptoms: A
Conference of
Community Change
Agents,” sponsored
by the Missouri
Association of
Community Task
Forces in
conjunction with the
Missouri Department
of Economic
Development,
Missouri Department
of Health, and the
Southwest Center for
the Application of
Prevention
Technologies.
Introduced
the portion of
YWA’s measurement
training that has to
do with analyzing
indicators in a
systems context.
Contact Kathy Craig,
Missouri Association
Community Task
Forces, 1648B East
Elm Street,
Jefferson City, MO
65101, (573)
635-6669.
Rural
Action.
January 2000.
Designed and
delivered, “You
Get What You
Measure: Becoming a
Learning
Community,” for
the staff and 31
Vista volunteers of
Rural Action in
Athens, Ohio. Staff
and volunteers used
the workshop to
develop goals,
indicators, and
measures for their
work in key program
areas. YWA also
designed and
facilitated a
session for special
forest products
professionals to
assist Rural Action
staff in determining
priority
interventions in the
context of the
ongoing work of many
different groups.
Contact Karen Affeld,
Rural Action, One
Mound St., Athens,
OH 45701, (614)
593-7490.
Community
Forestry.
November –
December 1999.
Invited by the Aspen
Institute to deliver
two training
sessions to Ford
Foundation grantees
during the
Community-Based
Forestry
Demonstration
Program Meeting in
Memphis, Tennessee
in December 1999.
One training focused
on portions of
“You Get What You
MeasureÒ,”
while the second
focused on the
continuum from
pre-feasibility
study to business
plan and the role of
business networks in
sustainable
development. Contact
Barbara
Wyckoff-Baird, Aspen
Institute, One
Dupont Circle NW,
Suite 700,
Washington, DC
20036-1133, (202)
736-5800.
Cyprian
Center Measurement
Workshop. November
– December 1999.
YWA delivered its
interactive
workshop, “You Get
What You Measure,”Ò
for state government
employees at
Vermont’s Cyprian
Center, a state
personnel training
center.
Follow-up
from the initial
workshop included
working with an
eight-person unit of
the Agency of
Natural Resources,
Department of
Environmental
Conservation, Waste
Prevention Section
to redesign their
annual workplan in
terms of goals,
indicators, measures
and actions. We
offered an expanded
2-day version of the
workshop in the fall
of 1999, with time
in between sessions
for participants to
test the material in
their workplaces.
Contact Nancy Simoes,
Cyprian Learning
Center, Osgood
Building, 103 South
Main Street,
Waterbury, VT
05671-2801, (802)
241-1115.
Vermont
Businesses for
Social
Responsibility.
May
1999.
Conducted a
workshop,
“Integrating
Social
Responsibility Into
Your Business Plan:
How Do You Know When
You’re Doing
Good?” at the
annual meeting of
Vermont Businesses
for Social
Responsibility.
Workshop
participants
developed ideas for
concrete steps they
could take to
measure progress
toward the socially
responsible goals of
their businesses.
Contact Vermont
Business for Social
Responsibility, 30
Community Drive,
South Burlington, VT
05403, (802)
862-8347.
Rural
Development
Initiatives, Inc.
February
– March 1999. YWA
designed and
delivered
measurement
training, including
an intriguing
exercise about
assumptions, to the
staff of Rural
Development
Initiatives, Inc. in
Oregon.
In preparing
for this work, we
developed a complete
workbook on the
measurement process
designed to be used
in training
trainers. Contact
Kathleen Jaworski,
Rural Development
Initiatives, 941
Lawrence, Eugene, OR
97402, (541)
684-9077.
New
Mexico Rural
Economic Development
Forum ‑ Build
Community Capacity:
Tools for Vitalizing
Our Rural Economies.
October – November
1997. YWA presented
a workshop on
measuring progress
toward community
goals for economic
development
practitioners.
"The
lecture was
informative; but the
real action began
when we went through
the exercises. The
speaker had great
handouts and a
wonderful
methodology. Great
speaker; great
session."
-New
Mexico Rural
Economic Development
Forum workshop
participant
Working
Toward Community
Goals:
Helping
Communities Succeed.
July 1996 –
October 1997. YWA
worked with Cornelia
Butler Flora of the
North Central
Regional Center for
Rural Development
and the Heartland
Center for
Leadership
Development to
develop and test a
training program for
measuring progress
toward community
goals.
The program
was designed to be
used by Rural
Community Assistance
Program officers of
the US Forest
Service, other rural
development service
providers and
community members.
Contact
Cornelia Butler
Flora, 107 Curtiss
Hall, Iowa State
University, Ames, IA
50011-1055, (515)
294-1329.
State
of Maine Community
Foundation Training.
October
1997. YWA conducted
training for the
staff and grant
recipients of the
Maine Community
Foundation's Rural
Initiative. Training
focused on defining
poverty and economic
security and
learning how to
measure progress
toward the goals of
the Rural Initiative
and the goals of the
individual grant
recipient
initiatives. Contact
Diane Morton, Aspen
Institute, 1 Dupont
Circle NW,
Washington, DC
20036, (202)
736-5800.
U.S.
Forest Service
Regional Trainings.
July 1996 –
September 1997. YWA
delivered eight
trainings on
measuring progress
toward community
goals to Rural
Community Assistance
staff of the US
Forest Service and
other federal, state
and non-profit rural
development service
providers for the
Alaska, Eastern,
Inter-Mountain,
Rocky Mountain,
South, and
Southwestern
Regions. Contact
Stevin Dahl, North
Central Regional
Center for Rural
Development, 107
Curtiss Hall, Iowa
State Univeristy,
Ames, IA 50011-1055,
(515) 294-2303.
“[The
trainers] are
excellent, very
effective,
knowledgeable,
experienced,
positive.
Probably the
best workshop I have
attended.”
-Southwestern
Region Training
Participant
Rural
Community Capacity
Building.
November 1996. YWA
delivered a two-day
training program in
collaboration with
Vicki Creed of
Learning Partners on
community capacity
building for the
Massachusetts Rural
Development Council
(MRDC) and the
Agency of Community
Development.
The first day
included a training
in facilitation for
MRDC board members
who represent
federal, state and
non-profit
organizations
involved in rural
community
development.
The second
day had these
facilitators focus
on training ten
community teams in
the community
capacity building
process. Contact Tom
Guerino,
Massachusetts Rural
Development Council,
216 Draper Hall,
University of
Massachusetts.,
Amherst, MA
01003, (413)
545-4404.
“I
feel it was a huge
success and
appreciate your
being part of
that.”
-William H.
Bradley, Director,
USDA Rural
Development,
Massachusetts
State
of New Mexico
Community Foundation
Training.
September
1992. YWA provided
training to staff
and grant recipients
of the New Mexico
Community Foundation
to assist in
integrating
community capacity
building into the
foundation, rural
livelihood, and
strengthening family
grantee initiatives.
Training was
conducted in
collaboration with
Bruce Boggs of Rural
Development
Initiatives in
Oregon and Janet
Topolsky, Aspen
Institute, One
Dupont Circle NW,
Suite 700,
Washington, DC
20036, (202)
736-5800.
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