Dear White House Forum on Nonprofit Leadership participants;
We are so pleased that focus on the talent and leadership development process for nonprofit organizations is coming to the fore! Our Colorado-based team at Pathfinder Solutions has been beating this drum for the better part of three years now, during which time we have built both a substantial research base as well as concrete implementation strategies that are grounded at the community level. We advocate for both top-down and bottom-up approaches to professionalizing and enhancing the impact of the nonprofit sector.
Most recently, we conducted an extensive multi-state survey with nonprofit leaders across two states,ColoradoandLouisiana. Responses came from a broad spectrum of types and sizes of organizations from 75 counties and parishes with respondents numbering nearly 1800, allowing for robust statistical analysis including categorical breakdowns, e.g., by age, race/ethnicity, type of community (urban/rural/suburban), position (board/execs), and sub-sector foci such as health and education.
Importantly, our findings clearly indicate statistically significant correlations between talent development of individuals and their job satisfaction, performance and retention. We also were able to draw statistically significant correlations between organizational capacity to cultivate talent and organizational sustainability, evaluation capacity, and impact (in so far as it is perceived by respondents).
We are now actively translating these findings into on-the-ground, community-based strategies and are working with numerous communities and organizations to strengthen their nonprofit talent development process. Our models and grounded efforts include strategies for state nonprofit associations, regional and cause-based associations, cross-sector community-based groups, K-12 service learning programs, diversity/inclusiveness efforts, academic degree programs, and philanthropy.
As our team at Pathfinder Solutions is working towards the same important goals of the White House Forum on Nonprofit Leadership—to raise the real and perceived value and tangible outcomes of the nonprofit sector—we believe we can be value added to your efforts. Please contact us at 303.478.0048 or Jeff@pathfindersolutions.org if you are interested in more information or to explore collaborative opportunities. We look forward to furthering this discussion!
Dr. Jeffrey W. Pryor and Alexandra Mitchell
Background on our work: Pathfinder Solutions is a nonprofit advisory group specializing in the cultivation of talent, leadership development and organizational capacity building for nonprofits, foundations and corporate citizenship programs (www.pathfindersolutions.org). Our research on talent development and pragmatic on-the-ground experience in both urban and rural settings provides a powerful platform upon which to build further effort. Our research findings provide significant insights on a number of specific human development factors, including service learning, nonprofit related education, professional development, diversity and inclusiveness, job satisfaction and performance, succession planning and transition management, compensation, board engagement, organizational effectiveness, sustainability and impact.
Over the past several years, we have presented on the topic of cross-sector nonprofit talent development for numerous groups and national conferences, including the Council on Foundations, CC1 Forum of the Conference Board, Independent Sector, Emerging Professionals in Philanthropy, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, American Humanics, Americorps, Volunteers of America, the Society for Fundraising Professionals, Boys and Girls Club of America, and many others. We have also conducted over 300 in-depth interviews with an array of people including Jane Goodall, Wendy Kopp, Dave Mathews, Carlos Santana, Hans Blix, Sandra Day O’Conner, President Bill Clinton, Oscar Arias, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the CEOs of many of the world’s most recognized nonprofits/NGOs such as Habitat for Humanity, Heifer International, National Public Radio, American Red Cross and the Nature Conservancy, scores of mid-career transfers in from both military and corporate sectors, and many young people who are just starting their careers. In addition, we have conducted over 35 focus groups across the nation with about 700 leaders of nonprofits, foundations and CSR programs using Audience Response Technology, allowing us to capture individual opinions and aggregate those responses. Furthermore, as we teach at various universities, we’ve engaged over 100 graduate and undergraduate students to conduct both primary and secondary research to add to our data collection efforts. Graduate students have conducted analysis of nonprofit management issues across 44 countries.
