At last Wednesday’s Town Hall, I had the opportunity to share some exciting news. I announced the campus has been invited to participate in a very successful two-year program offered to eight past grantees of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. The program, ATLAS, is designed to strengthen and sustain the operating capacity of Trust-identified nonprofits who play important roles in Maricopa County’s human service, civic and cultural life.
ATLAS, symbolic of strength and endurance in Greek mythology, is a Piper Trust project, launched in 2012, designed to increase the operational capacity and organizational resilience of nonprofits, who are already successfully living out their missions through their strong foundation, leadership team, and culture of innovation and learning. Dr. Susan Kenny Stevens designed and developed ATLAS in partnership with Piper Trust and serves as the lead consultant for the project. Dr. Stevens is a renowned expert on nonprofit capacity building and pioneered the nonprofit lifecycle framework. She holds a doctorate in organizational behavior and is the author of five books, numerous journal articles and case studies. ATLAS draws heavily on the principles in Nonprofit Lifecycles, Dr. Stevens’ award-winning book first published in 2001.
The Campus ATLAS team, made up of members from our senior staff team and board of directors, will spend the first four months assessing organizational operating capacity, identifying current critical challenges, and facilitating the development of a plan to move forward. The remaining 20 months will be focused on addressing areas identified in the plan. Assisting our team is Jeri Royce, of 3-P Leadership, a trained organizational lifecycles consultant paid for by Piper Trust. Jeri will work closely with our team, not only through the assessment process, but through the two year odyssey of plan implementation. The Campus will also receive $50,000 in grant funds from Piper Trust to support the implementation of the capacity building plan!
Piper Trust has a history of proactively leading and developing programs intended to further strengthen nonprofit organizations so they can serve the community’s ever growing needs. We have been blessed with two grants from Piper Trust over the years. The first in 2002 to fund our initial redevelopment work, then again in 2011 to launch a new program in our organization, Beatitudes Home Health.
I am honored that the campus was selected to participate in the third cohort group of ATLAS. Our team joins seven other organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Foundation for Senior Living, in this round of the program and will have the opportunity to participate ongoing facilitated peer learning discussions. Past participants include our Duet: Partners in Health and Aging, UMOM, Adelante Healthcare, and Rosie’s House.
I look forward to sharing with you the progress of our participation in ATLAS, how it will play a role in our strategic and redevelopment plans, but most importantly, how it will continue to build upon our strong 51 year mission of service.