David's Corner

Last week, I talked about the Start, Stop, Continue exercise as a way to focus our time and resources on the right projects and activities. Part 2: What should we stop doing? Is there something that is taking a lot of your time and not adding value? Looking for activities that get in the way of your core purpose and then stopping them can open up time and energy. Look at your calendar or your To-Do List to remind yourself of what you did--all the tasks, meetings, and phone calls. Did you move anything forward through those activities? If you find that a process has run its course or that a particular activity is not tied to a goal, it’s probably an item you should put on your NOT-To-Do List. Just remember though that if you stop something, you need to consider who else it may impact and talk to them before you eliminate it all together. Some questions to kickstart this include: Are there activities that you consistently roll over to the next day or next week? If it can wait until late...

We’re all engaged in a variety of activities, projects and relationships. There isn’t a lot of time left over, mainly because we’re already over-committed. If only we had a little more time, energy, and resources. The Start, Stop, Continue exercise might help. In this three-part Friday Note, I’m going to talk about an exercise I’m doing now with the executive team.  We are asking ourselves three questions: What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? and What should we continue doing? We’re using this simple exercise to talk about action-oriented ideas for improvement that can be implemented right away. You can be doing this too, as you set goals for your market. [Tip: This works in your personal life too.] Part 1: Start . These are things that would have a positive impact on our organization that we should be moving on now. One example, I believe we need to start planning for growth in our Immigration and Refugee Services given President Biden’s U.S. Citizenship Act...

Monday is Martin Luther King Day and our operations will be closed. There has never been a more stark reminder of both the struggle that shaped MLK’s life and the ways he chose to pursue change than the events of the past week. Both are as relevant today as they were in his time.    Blessings to all of you.  May you be healthy and safe. David Health, Justice and Hope

I cannot turn out the lights on this week without reflecting on the events that took place in D.C.  You had to see it to believe it as thousands of rioters took over America’s Capital on Wednesday. It was hard to watch because it was chaotic, lawless, and an assault on our democracy. It looked like our nation was on the brink of going somewhere we didn't want it to go. And then this thought almost everyone has had: Had the rioters been of color there is no doubt they would have faced a different force and been treated differently. It was a shameful day in so many ways--including racist symbols that further traumatize our communities of color.   Freedom, justice, safety , and stability are words we use every day in our work and to see it taken down this week was hard. Still, I have hope , which is another word we use frequently. Lawmakers did not let the rioters stop the democratic process. They got back to work counting electoral votes and certified President-elect Biden...