C06 Cultural Competency Post-Conference Workshop

Intensive Workshop on Cultural Competency for Capacity Builders: New Research and Implications for Practice

Saturday, August 5, 9:00am - 4:30pm

Price:  $135 Members; $180 Non-Members

Presenters

Patricia St.Onge, Seven Generations Consulting; Brigette Rouson, Alliance for Nonprofit Management

Description

This workshop will be the first public forum to share the early findings of the Alliance Cultural Competency Initiative and address implications for capacity-building practice. Topics will include the cultural and historical contexts of major cultural groups in the United States, including African, Asian, Latino, Native, and White/European ancestry groups, and the impact on nonprofit leadership and support.

The workshop will cover:

• Principles and framework for culturally competent capacity building with emphasis on racial equity as essential to nonprofit effectiveness;
• Establishing attention to culture as part of the fabric of the work at individual, organization and community levels;
• Creating shared definitions/shared vocabulary of key terms with communities;
• Moving beyond interpersonal relationships to look at systems of oppression and how they play out in organizations, communities and the field;
• Understanding the importance of privilege and power dynamics related to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability;
• How capacity builders can begin intervening and challenging institutionalized racism, including examples of approaches and language; and,
• What results can be achieved by paying greater attention to culture in capacity building.

The workshop will identify ways to foster maximum levels of trust and effectiveness across different identity groups, and will include a discussion of the impact and implications of making a commitment to cultural competency in your practice.

About the Presenters

Patricia St.Onge, Seven Generations Consulting

Patricia St.Onge is a partner in Seven Generations Consulting. She provides training, consulting and technical assistance in the areas of community organizing, social justice advocacy, organizational development, cross-cultural effectiveness, consensus building, spiritual & personal coaching.  She also performs ceremonies and rituals.  Formerly the Director of Education and Training at National Community Development Institute (NCDI), Patricia now serves as a project consultant and is on the core faculty for its Professional Development for Consultants program.  As a trainer, she provides thought provoking, interactive experiences that engage people in the learning process. She has worked in a wide range of settings, and with a broad mix of constituents. Her experience includes interim executive directorships through CompassPoint.

Patricia is an active member of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management’s People of Color Affinity Group, and served as Co-Leader in 2003-2004, playing a key role in the development of the Cultural Competency Initiative. For the Initiative, she is serving as lead writer with emphasis on the framing paper and also will bring in Native American perspectives on capacity building.

Previous experience includes Patricia’s work as an area director for Habitat for Humanity. She is an activist at the community, state and national levels.

Brigette Rouson, Alliance for Nonprofit Management

Brigette is Leader, Education Initiatives for the Alliance, serving as project director for the Cultural Competency Initiative and developing professional resources for the field. She co-founded the People of Color Affinity Group. Brigette brings more than 20 years' nonprofit experience as a public policy attorney, grantmaker, board member, and scholar-activist, paying close attention to cultural identity and inner/energy dynamics to create stronger organizations that contribute to social transformation.

Brigette is a training fellow for Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest. In addition, her consulting practice for social change, Rouson Associates/Paradigm Partners, provides short-term assistance on organizational capacity, with emphasis on board development. She co-chairs the Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s capacity fund grant review, and is a donor-organizer of the foundation’s African-American Women’s Giving Circle. Previously, she worked on the consulting staff of Management Assistance Group (MAG), and as senior program officer at Ms. Foundation for Women.  Brigette is active in the community, focusing on public school education, economic justice, and cultural equity.