Extract
Building community capacity with non-profit boards in the inner city.
Abstract
This article presents an adult education approach to community development with board members of non-profit childcare facilities, family resource and women's centres. Community organizations are important vehicles for development in terms of the degree to which they increase citizen participation and revitalize neighbourhoods through the creation of social capital (Gittell, Ortega-Bustamante, and Steffy 1999). Through workshop/focus groups we explored the learning and resource needs of 25 inner city board volunteers, a majority of whom were Aboriginal women. Utilizing an experiential model of learning (Kolb 1999), we used an interactive approach that validated cultural and gender-related differences in styles of governance and capitalized on and deepened existing networks. Findings include the unique strengths of and challenges experienced by this sample of inner city board members and the attributes of the capacity building approach deemed most helpful by participants. We conclude with policy recommendations for enhancing board development in non-profit organizations. Keywords: community capacity building, community development, adult learning, Aboriginal women and non-profit governance. Resume L'article porte sur une approche d'apprentissage axle sur le developpement communautaire destinee aux membres des conseils d'administration d'organismes sans but lucratif. Les organismes communautaires jouent un role important; ils augmentent la participation de la population et, en creant un capital social, revitalisent les quartiers (Gittell, Ortega-Bustamante, and Steffy 1999). Ateliers et groupes de discussion nous ont permis d'etudier les besoins (apprentissage et ressources) de 25 benevoles oeuvrant dans des centresvilles, des femmes autochtones en majorite. A partir d'un modele d'apprentissage experientiel (Kolb 1999), nous avons utilise une approche interactive pour valider les differences culturelles et sexospecifiques des styles de gouvernance et capitaliser ou agrandir les reseaux existants. Nous avons decrit les forces et les difficultes uniques a cet echantillon de benevoles et les elements de valorisation des potentiels les plus efficaces pour les participantes. Nous recommandons des politiques pouvant aider les benevoles a mieux gerer des organismes sans but lucratif. Mots cles: Apprentissage des adultes, valorisation des potentiels, femmes autochtones, gestion des organismes sans but lucratif, developpement communautaire. Introduction This article addresses the question of how to build community capacity in the...See the full content of this document
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