How do you plan for uncertainty?
Instead of planning goals, action steps, and targets, you set directions and determine principles (see more on how we did this with a client in this article) that will guide your decisions.
That is exactly what The Improve Group did when, several months into the pandemic, we began to think about our physical office space.
Have you heard the news? The new PERIS Hill in Minneapolis’ Lowry Hill neighborhood has opened! As an organization with a portfolio of work supporting youth aging out of foster care, we were excited to see this development open—the first of its kind, PERIS Hill offers an innovative, affordable housing model that includes and supports young people who are aging out of foster care.
Hi, I am Marsha Base, and I have the best job at IG, at least I think so. My primary role is to support the growth and development of our powerhouse consulting team. I am excited to share with you the first part of an occasional series about my passion—coaching for growth and development.
As 2021 began, Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery was ready to revisit the direction and focus of its work through a strategic planning process. Like many organizations, the Nursery made major changes to respond to the pandemic and was evolving to find new ways to center equity in its work. The Nursery turned to IG as a partner because we’ve built a strong baseline of trust through our long working relationship.
The Nursery had two key priorities going into the process:
Hi, I’m Karissa Propson, a Senior Consultant at The Improve Group. In my role, I often bring a fresh perspective to the organizations we serve. I want to share some themes I’ve noticed from recent experiences of supporting clients to think deeply about evaluation and use results.
Hi—I’m Angel Velazquez Olmedo, and I’ve been an intern at The Improve Group this summer! As I wrap up my time at IG, I just wanted to share a little bit about what I’ve learned through my work. I’m particularly interested in immigration advocacy as a potential career path, and I took this chance to learn more about how evaluation can be a tool to advocate for communities.
Equity is a personal value of mine, and I am always looking for ways to apply it more at work. The Improve Group is also committed to equity. My colleagues and I know that this requires continued learning, application, and reflection.
Hi! I’m Becky Stewart, Chief Practice Officer at The Improve Group. It was our joy to collaborate recently with Dr. Nicky Bowman (Waapalaneexkweew, Lunaape/Mohican), President and Founder of Bowman Performance Consulting, on an equity-focused assessment of Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest’s service model.
Over the past year, many of us have been busier than ever. A lack of time is not a new barrier to evaluation, so we wanted to share some ever-helpful strategies to make evaluation realistic for clients and their stakeholders to participate. They might be helpful for anyone working to fit evaluation into busy schedules.
As a registered Public Benefit Corporation with the State of Minnesota, we report on our impact each year. Our recently filed 2020 report describes how we pursued our public benefit mission, the public benefit we saw from our clients, the factors that helped our work or got in our way, and our plans for the future.