Category Archives: Collective Impact

Understanding “Ban the Box”: Creating a Fair Chance

by

0

Friday, 3/10/17BAN-THE-BOX-employee-application-monitor 9:30 am – 11:30 am

Free & Open to All

Register online at www.hsctc.org/workshops
Borg Warner Conference Room, Tompkins County Public Library,
101 E. Green St. at S. Cayuga St., Ithaca, NY
Presented by the Diversity Consortium of Tompkins County in cooperation with the Human Services Coalition 
Co-sponsored by the Tompkins County Public Library
 
A NEW PANEL DISCUSSION FOR ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT REMOVING THE “CHECK BOX” REGARDING CRIMINAL RECORDS AND DELAYING THE BACKGROUND CHECK INQUIRY UNTIL LATER IN THE HIRING PROCESS.
 

The forum will bring together panelists from a cross-section of professions, including government, academia, law, and small business to discuss the ramifications of prematurely or illegally considering conviction information, and the role it may play in preventing people with past convictions from receiving a fair chance.

Questions will be addressed by panel members who have had experience with implementing ban the box in their work places; who have had experience with the criminal justice system; or who are working to support those who are re-entering the community and seeking to be productive citizens.
As a number of local employers are implementing “ban the box,” others are looking for more direction. Additionally, many community members are seeking guidance on how they can be part of a movement to welcome back those who have been formerly involved in the criminal justice system and to ensure that they have a fair chance to work. The Diversity Consortium of Tompkins County is sponsoring this forum to support this effort.
George Ferrari, Director, Community Foundation of Tompkins County will moderate this session.
Panelists include:
Khalil Bey, Ultimate Re-entry Opportunity Mentor Coordinator, Multicultural Resource Center
Laura Branca, Managing Partner, TFC Associates and Co-Owner of Moosewood, Inc.
Phoebe Brown, Ultimate Re-entry Opportunity Community Outreach Coordinator, Multicultural Resource Center
Amy Guererri, Commissioner of Personnel, Tompkins County Government
Jason M. Leifer, Attorney and Dryden Town Supervisor
Schelley Michell- Nunn, Director Human Services, City of Ithaca
Allan Bishop,  Associate Vice President Human Resources, Cornell University

Return of the Tamarack 8

by

0

CI Team cropped

bottom row: Randi Quakenbush, Leslie Ackerman; middle row: Schelley Nunn, Kirby Edmonds; top row: Karim Beers, Brigid Hubberman, Natasha Thompson and Phoebe Brown

Eight representatives from Tompkins County spent 5 inspiring days in October at the recent Tamarack Institute Collective Impact Summit in Toronto, Canada. Among the 300 participants were people from Canada and the Northwest Territories, USA, Kenya, New Zealand, Australia, and Denmark. The purpose of the summit was to help participants learn how to use Collective Impact to solve complex problems in their communities.

The team returned excited to share their insights about how to use Collective Impact. Each of the “Toronto 8” spoke to a big gathering at last week’s Building Bridges Brown Bag Lunch at the Tompkins County Library. They made the case for working together to create a “community-wide aspiration”–a big, hairy, audacious goal that can encompass all of the collective working groups that are underway:

  • Food Security & Justice
  • Renewable Energy
  • Kindergarten Readiness
  • College&  Career Readiness
  • Jobs Pipeline
  • Re-Entry
  • Entrepreneurship

They emphasized that Collective Impact requires a new mindset and way of operating, and widening our focus beyond the success of individual programs to the effectiveness of the systems that impact us all. No, we don’t have to quit our jobs or shut down our organizations. But the process of weaving all of our efforts together will require a shift in our thinking. One big lesson emerged from the success or failure of Collective Impact initiatives in other places: it is crucial to include a really significant percentage of people who are most directly affected in the work of planning and decision making.

Huge Success–the Building Bridges Community Forum

by

0

On May 13, 202 people attended a Community Forum to learn about Collective Impact processes creating big successes in various communities, and possible “big results” we might want to work on in Tompkins County.

Here is a link to the presentation slides:

Building Bridges Forum CI presentation

Highlights from the feedback include:

Of the 119 evaluations we received:
41 organizations asked to be added to the Building Bridges Coalition list *
100+ new people have joined the Building Bridges Network listserve
96% of you said you learned more about Collective Impact
96% of you said that CI is a direction that we should pursue as a community
97% of you said the time was worthwhile
89% of you said you would do your work differently as a result of the time we spent together.

Once again, a big THANK-YOU to
  • GreenStar staff support, use of The Space and coffee, tea, fruit salad, yogurt and  pastries
  • MRC for the mini-bagels
  • GIAC for the cheese, crackers and cookies
  • Ithaca Bakery for the pastries
  • Moosewood Restaurant for the Brownies and Vegan Chocolate Cake
  • CCE staff for stuffing packets
  • Park Foundation for supporting this intro to Collective Impact

*If you would like your organization added, please contact Kirby Edmonds at 607/277-3401