NNH Invests in Their Future With Strategic Planning and Leadership Development
NNH Invests in Their Future With Strategic Planning and Leadership Development
Industry: Non-profit Social Services
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Tactic: The Exemplary Leaders Program & Strategic Planning
Results:
A refreshed strategic plan for the next three years
A greater understanding of exemplary leadership practices amongst the NNH core team and school coordinators
Greater synergy cultivated across the NNH and CommUNITY leadership team
About Northside Neighborhood House:
Northside Neighborhood House (NNH), an award-winning non-profit in the Chattanooga area, works to create thriving communities through holistic support for individuals and families in northern Hamilton County. From helping students in school reach academic success to ensuring individuals are effectively housed, NNH’s initiatives have been instrumental in creating thriving communities within Hamilton County. One primary NNH initiative is the CommUNITY School model in which coordinators assigned to schools in the area work alongside school administration to help ensure student success.
About the CommUNITY School Model:
Schools are often the central hub of a community, providing a collaborative and supportive space for student growth and family well-being. NNH’s CommUNITY School model seeks to create partnerships between schools, families, and community organizations by improving educational outcomes and enhancing the well-being of students. Through after-school programs, small group sessions, and community school coordinators, CommUNITY helps schools meet the physical, social, and emotional needs of students. Since it started in 2016, NNH has been able to expand the program from supporting five schools in the Hamilton County area between 2017-2022 to now supporting ten total schools. Their impact has been massive. In this year alone, as many as 384 students were served in five afterschool programs, supporting improved graduation rates and providing key support to students.
The Challenge
For over a decade, Bridge Innovate has partnered with NNH to help them form a sustainable 5-year strategic plan that would empower their innovation as a non-profit. With the help of Bridge, NNH has been able to deliver groundbreaking initiatives in the Chattanooga area.
But in 2023, after several years of success and effective work, NNH was given a new task. With a significant investment in their CommUNITY School program, NNH had to make a shift from supporting school coordinators in five schools to now supporting as many as fifteen community coordinators divided between ten schools.
With the addition of these new coordinators, NNH identified the need to develop a greater understanding of exemplary leadership practices within their team, provide practical tools and tactics for managing conflict, and build greater synergy across the CommUNITY leadership team. In addition, they also identified that the CommUNITY coordinators didn’t have a common way of setting goals for every school or how they might interact with the administrators. CommUNITY coordinators needed a blueprint, empowered collaboration and alignment, and best practices to move the program forward effectively. Lastly, NNH CEO Rachel Gammon wanted a refresh of their original strategic plan to set them up for success in the next three years. So, she turned to Bridge for help.
The Solution
First, Bridge Innovate Facilitates a Strategy Refresh Session:
NNH and Bridge Innovate met for two sessions overall. The first was with NNH leadership and board members to assess their strategic plan and look ahead to the next three years to ensure they worked effectively towards new innovative practices. Bridge Innovate facilitated a ½ day session for the NNH Leadership team to explore the current strategy and define pivots to maximize success. After spending some time reflecting on their strategy, the NNH team broke out into groups to focus on particular areas of the organization. They asked questions such as, “What progress has been made? What are the pain points of this initiative? What could improve? Where should we invest our energy next?”
Then, after looking at what they’re currently doing, they began to look ahead. The leadership team began brainstorming, considering where they could pursue funding and identifying ways they could be operationally efficient as a leadership team. Finally, after fruitful discussions and fresh ideas, the NNH team set to work on a plan. Bridge Innovate helped organize their ideas into actionable strategic initiatives with established owners and timelines for a path forward.
Second, Bridge Innovate Conducts Leadership Development Training for School Coordinators:
With a fresh strategy in hand, NNH continued their work with Bridge in a leadership development training for their CommUNITY school coordinators and their core team in the Bridge Innovate Studio. The full-day session focused on the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®. After a lesson on the five practices — Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Progress, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart — the group had time to reflect on each learned practice. Using journal prompts, the NNH team reflected on their values, assessing what they’re passionate about, and pondering how their individual leadership style could align with those values.
Next, shifting their focus from each individual’s leadership style to considering how they might work better as a team, the Bridge Innovate team walked the NNH team through the GRPI Model of Team Effectiveness. GRPI, which stands for goals, roles, processes, and interpersonal relations, helped the school coordinators ask key questions to establish consistent practices across every school they work in.
During this exercise, participants split into groups to identify goals for each school they served in. They then documented and discussed what needs to be done to achieve those goals and decided who holds the responsibility for pushing those goals forward. Following this, they looked at their communication processes, discussing standard practices for how coordinators should communicate within their school and what interpersonal and individual relationships should look like. Because participants were mixed between new and returning coordinators, they gained broader perspectives, collecting both seasoned and fresh perspectives as they worked.
The Results
In the end, NNH’s relationship with Bridge Innovate continues to bear fruit in their organization. On the strategy side, NNH aligned on a refreshed strategic plan for the next three years with key action items and a growth plan.
Of the experience, NNH CEO Rachel Gammon shared: “Bridge continues to push and motivate our team towards continuous improvement, improving efficiencies and maximizing performance.” With Bridge Innovate’s guidance, the NNH leadership team is now empowered to continue their good and efficient work to continue to help communities thrive in Chattanooga.
Through the leadership development training, CommUNITY school coordinators and the core NNH leadership team gained valuable insights into their personal and team leadership. Through exploring leadership in general and investigating specific principles of leadership, the team walked away with practical leadership skills to apply in their daily work. The leadership development workshop gave the team space to consider what their individual styles of leadership might look like so they can invest in work that aligns with their values. In effect, the team grew in their understanding of the principles but were also investing in their personal and professional development overall.
Through their team discussions and with the help of the GRPI model, the CommUNITY team established a common way to work across all ten schools they serve. One participant, school coordinator Keana Walker discussed her renewed confidence following the program, saying, “This was amazing and I feel confident going to my school and implementing these tools with my principal and other teams.”
Overall, the session empowered collaboration and alignment, giving the participants tools to press into difficult conversations and to manage conflict within each specific school. And, by mixing up the groups into new and veteran employees, the team built greater team synergy. Following their session with Bridge, the CommUNITY team now has the tools and a plan to walk towards common goals with consistent processes in each area of their work.
With the help and facilitation of Bridge Innovate, NNH continues to enhance its programs, equipping employees with new capabilities to do good work, and ultimately helping the Greater Chattanooga area to flourish.
Bridge Innovate can help enhance your leadership skills and team development so you can continue to support your mission. Browse our leadership program offerings here or contact us today.