As changemakers, many of us struggle with the most complex issues of our time. Systems of oppression are not only entrenched but interconnected. And even as we work to solve problems on the daily, a paralyzing thought can creep in … are we even solving the right problem?

Greater Good Studio has been working with social sector clients to reframe problems for the past 13 years. We have found that the original problem statement often has one or more of the following issues:

Whether you’re a leader planning organizational strategy, or a mentor looking to better support your mentees, this workshop will give you concrete tools for tackling challenges in a more strategic, action-oriented, and equitable way. You will learn and practice methods for:

These methods build on concepts, such as appreciative inquiry, positive deviance, and human-centered design, which Greater Good Studio has practiced with hundreds of clients across the social and public sectors.

Each participant will start with a challenge or issue that has them stuck. They will end the workshop with an ambitious-yet-achievable “positive goal,” as well as a plan to achieve that goal.

Organizational teams are encouraged to participate, as this experience is ideal for building alignment within groups.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Sara Cantor
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director
Greater Good Studio

George Aye
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director
Greater Good Studio

Related COA Accreditation standards: Service Standards

This workshop will equip participants with the knowledge and tools to create trauma-responsive organizations and programs by integrating SAMHSA’s guiding principles for a trauma-informed approach, Bruce Perry’s neuroscience framework, and effective evaluation strategies. Through hands-on activities, group discussions, and case study analyses, participants will learn how to enhance safety, trust, collaboration, and cultural competence in their practices while addressing systemic inequities and promoting healing.

Key components of this session include:

Participants will leave with practical tools, including:

This session will offer an engaging, application-focused approach to strengthening trauma responsiveness and advancing equity in organizations and programs.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Rebecca Moore
Residential Clinical Director
Thornwell

Jeffrey Moore
Professor
Anderson University

In today’s rapidly evolving social services landscape, integrating data-informed decision making is no longer optional—it’s essential. This session will explore ways to examine and answer the key questions asked in operationalizing COA Accreditation standards for improved service delivery. We’ll show how data can empower social workers and leaders, ultimately improving outcomes for children and families.

Participants will gain insights from a COA Accreditation volunteer peer reviewer and leader of a COA-accredited organization and be introduced to practical tools and techniques for accessing and leveraging data, including cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) technologies. These innovations can convert qualitative data, such as case notes, into actionable insights, driving more informed decision-making processes.

This session aims to equip participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to achieve measurable continuous quality improvement results by integrating data insights on the health, safety, rights, and inclusion of people served in their daily operations. Participants will learn the value of asking and expeditiously being able to use data to answer their most persistent questions, which can maximize achieving and maintaining COA Accreditation and yield actionable steps to effectively leverage data in their roles.

Whether you are a front-line worker or an organizational leader, this presentation offers valuable, practical insights that can be applied to enhance service outcomes.

Join us to discover how asking the right questions and embracing data can enhance your organization’s service delivery, meet accreditation standards, and, most importantly, provide better support for the children and families you serve.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

LaTasha Roberson-Guifarro
Vice President, Chief Strategy & Innovations
Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois

Tracy Rohrdanz
Director of Customer Success
Augintel

The financial challenges of being a human service nonprofit in the U.S. come as no surprise to leaders in the field. (See Social Current’s 2018 report, A National Imperative: Joining Forces to Strengthen Human Services in America, for a refresher of the harrowing statistics.) Human service organizations scrape by on government contracts that, in many cases, fail to cover the direct cost of delivering the service, let alone the indirect costs required to run a high-quality organization. Staff at all levels are underpaid, which leads to burnout and turnover, and, in the, end the organization’s beneficiaries suffer.

This situation is not new. We at Bridgespan have seen it in hundreds of human service organizations that we have advised over the last 25 years. And it surely started long before that. So why does this persist? Why don’t human service organizations walk away from bad contracts? Our experience suggests that the biggest reason is a good one—the desire to help people in need. There is also a bit of inertia that factors in, as well as the desire to not lay off staff and not see the budget decrease, but the biggest reason is mission.

However, in recent years we have seen an increasing number of nonprofit leaders question whether continuing to execute government contracts is really the best way to advance their mission. These leaders have found it helpful to think about two different ways of achieving their mission—”serving” and “solving.” “Serving” refers to providing direct service, typically funded by government contracts, following program models prescribed by those contracts, and doing so within the financial resources those contracts provide. “Solving” refers to trying to change the status quo approaches to human services, often through innovation and advocating for systems change. While it might be tempting to say you want your organization to focus on “solving,” it is not an easy shift to make. There are valid reasons to continue “serving,” and ways to optimize it for impact and sustainability.

This session will explain the differences between “serving” and “solving” and share what it takes to do each well. Participants will leave with a framework they can apply to their organization, have a chance to reflect on their ambitions for their organization, and learn from examples of other organizations that have used this framework. In this interactive session, we hope to share what we have learned from our work and gather your feedback and learn from your experience navigating this dilemma.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Alex Neuhoff
Partner
The Bridgespan Group

Rohit Menezes
Partner
The Bridgespan Group

Human services organizations and their workforces are facing an unprecedented crisis. Burnout, turnover, and departures from direct services roles are at historic levels, just as the mental health needs of children, youth, and families have dramatically increased. The human and financial costs of these converging dynamics are impacting access and quality of preventative and interventional services across the country and forcing organizations to end or scale back much needed programs.

Research has shown there’s a strong connection between the culture and climate of child and family serving organizations and the implementation and impact of evidence-based practices and therapies. To address this crisis of need and the workforce, it’s time to consider a new frontier for promoting the health and well-being of clinicians, supervisors, and managers, as well as the possibilities of new therapies with children and families.

Evidence on the health benefits of nature connected wellness practices is growing rapidly. There’s a worldwide movement to connect people with nature through organized practices, such as forest and ecotherapy. In Asia, Europe, and Canada health insurers and physicians are prescribing time in nature in place of or prior to medication and talk therapy. The positive results on health and well-being have been profound and wide ranging. Practices such as Forest Therapy have been shown to boost the immune system, balance the heart rate, and lower cortisol levels, while also reducing anxiety and depression. Additionally, participants have reported increased levels of executive functioning, improved social emotional communication, and an enhanced ability to focus and manage conflict.

Birchwalking is a social impact organization founded and led by clinicians and leaders in the field of trauma-informed child and family services. In their work with nonprofit organizations and their government partners, they’re bringing evidence-based nature connected practices to human services professionals to promote workforce well-being, reduce burnout, and improve clinical service delivery. Results indicate staffs’ feel empowered by learning and experiencing these practices and report an improved attitude towards their work, colleagues, organizations, and clients. In one organization, the response from staff was so positive that its leadership invested in training a staff member to become a certified Forest Bathing Guide so that nature connected experiences can be regularly offered for staff and clients.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Amy Moore
Director of In-Home Care
Ascentria Care Alliance

Christine Tappan
Founder, Lead Guide
Birchwalking

This session will begin with an overview of key elements of inclusive data-informed decision making and move quickly into an assessment of participants’ own organizational practice.

Then participants will dive into the three stages within a data cycle and discuss how to make your practice more inclusive within each stage. The presenter will cover common pitfalls, opportunities, and examples to bring those opportunities to life. Participants will gain tools and frameworks to listen and engage individuals, families, and communities. They’ll leave ready create an action plan, turning the learnings and ideas shared from this session into next steps.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Cindy Eby
Founder + CEO
ResultsLab

In this session, Children’s Institute will share how fathers, advocacy staff, and program leaders partnered to change the narrative of father involvement and well-being through state and local policy change focused on racial, social, and economic justice. Participants will gain advocacy strategies to create community-driven policy change in their own communities.

For over 20 years, Children’s Institute’s Project Fatherhood has provided parenting support to 15,000 men in caregiving roles in Los Angeles. The organization does this through an integrated network of activities that promote effective and nurturing parenting, relationship-building skills, and economic stability. Fathers are integral to families and provide a strong foundation for educational success and emotional well-being, which builds pathways to economic mobility and lifelong health. Healthy fathers can be an encouraging presence in their children’s lives and lead to increased positive childhood and family outcomes. However, the disparities and systemic inequities that fathers of color experience require meaningful and targeted investments.

In understanding that community-centered solutions are the best policies, Children’s Institute’s Government Relations & Advocacy and Project Fatherhood teams cultivated a network of elected officials to champion father well-being and amplify a new narrative about fathers. The effort declared June Fatherhood Well-Being Month through House Resolution 36 and included local advocacy that engaged over 100 fathers, community partners, and government agencies.

In this workshop, Children’s Institute will share how centering and organizing power through lived experience creates meaningful community-driven policy change. We will share our advocacy journey and facilitate participants through a strategizing exercise for their own work.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Terry Kim
Director of Government Relations & Advocacy
Children’s Institute

Keith Parker
Community Innovations Program Manager
Children’s Institute

Kelsey Gordon
Government Relations & Advocacy Associate
Children’s Institute

Jonathan Vasquez
Government Relations & Advocacy Assistant
Children’s Institute

Hope is a cognitive process that can be enhanced, modeled, and, more importantly, restored during a crisis. It also may be one of the most critical factors to psychological well-being. This session will share insight from a project funded by the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime that extends hope science into law enforcement organizations.

Participants will learn how hope science can be applied to support staff at community-based organizations because, like law enforcement, they respond in crisis situations, work with people experiencing adversity, and endure secondhand trauma. This presentation will provide specific methods that can immediately be implemented to increase hopeful thinking and improve essential employee outcomes, as well as share strategies that can be used across the organizations as a framework for action for employee well-being. Recognizing the importance of community connection, presenters will highlight trust building and well-being work with systems, along with Social Current’s approach to equity, diversity, and inclusion, which emphasizes psychological safety in the workforce.

This workshop will encourage participant engagement and interaction. Participants will be able to assess their own hope and examine how the loss of hope may impact workforce, client, and community outcomes. Additionally, participants will have an opportunity to build strategies for nurturing hope that foster positive and strengths-based practices that value community connection.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Katie Carlson
Director of Wellness Initiatives
Marion County Sheriff’s Office

Romero Davis
Director of Practice Excellence
Social Current

Josh Friedman
CEO
Ten Eight Innovations

Laura Pinsoneault
CEO
Evaluation Plus

This session will provide a holistic approach to help organizations undergoing COA Accreditation. It will cover strategies for motivating staff, implementing effective systems to meet COA Accreditation standards, sustaining momentum beyond accreditation completion, creating visually compelling data presentations for continuous quality improvement (CQI), and mobilizing staff through dynamic and enjoyable trainings. Participants will gain actionable insights into fostering a positive organizational culture, ensuring adherence to standards, capitalizing on accreditation success for continuous improvement, and making CQI an achievable and accessible aspect of their operations.

This informative presentation will delve into many aspects of COA Accreditation process. Participants will gain practical strategies for enhancing their workforce engagement, implementing robust systems, and sustaining momentum throughout the accreditation journey and beyond. This session will provide insightful content, interactive discussions, and practical takeaways, ensuring that participants are well-equipped to navigate the COA Accreditation process with confidence and enthusiasm.

Participants will leave the presentation with practical strategies to:

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Kana Brubaker
Director of Research and Evaluation
Children’s Bureau

Dipika Bisht
Programs Project Coordinator
Children’s Bureau

There is a powerful African proverb that says, “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.” But what does this actually look like in practice? Sector leaders are searching for effective strategies for organizational development, funding, and community justice. More than ever, leaders in the sector are understaffed and challenged by pay, an even heavier burden for smaller community-based organizations. Do past management styles hold value in today’s environment? What changes should leaders make?

A phenomenal cast of experts, ranging from leaders of a small community-based organization to a large state-based agency, will discuss sector-wide challenges that need to be addressed. Leaders want practical methods for diversity and inclusion development within their teams. They must also acknowledge all partnerships as equal to build a community that values safety, justice, and voice. Systemic change is always the call, but there are many power dynamics leaders must recognize in collaborations that can serve as a catalyst to change. The leaders in this workshop will share examples of the successful strategies their organizations have implemented as well as challenges they’ve experienced.

Learning Objectives

Presenters

Romero Davis
Senior Program Manager
Social Current

Crystal Bennett, LMSW
DEI Specialist, CEO
Thryves

Joseph Alonzo
CEO
Cocoon House

Undraye Howard
Vice President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement
Social Current

Marlena Torres
COO
Children’s Home Society of Washington

Taneshia Miller
CEO
Ladies In Power