Building Coach House
The first 6 months at Coach House have been a path of discovery, planning and building. Very early on we discovered that there are far more people interested in working with us than we could possibly serve. The demand for services was confirmed!
The clarification needed in starting this new venture has been “who” are the right clients for Coach House, “why” are they the right clients, and “how” can our experience be used to create the ideal impact? We are learning the answers to these questions from our clients.
Our first client, Strides for Peace, has been an incredible opportunity to strengthen Strides as an organization, but also to engage dozens of others that are doing grassroots gun violence prevention work throughout the city. Most of this year has been spent developing Strides internal structure while preparing and hosting the Race Against Gun Violence.
We were able to double almost all the metrics from last year: runners, volunteers, sponsors, donations and organizational fundraising. We directly engaged more than 140 organization leaders and supported 80 organizations that ultimately participated.
Throughout this time we have slowly realized that among the many elements of organizational leadership that Coach House can bring to our clients, perhaps the most unique is helping leaders think through their own leadership through a three-fold approach.
Let me illustrate.
Recently, during a conversation with a client who is working to move an organization from being led solely by volunteers, into one through which the client will be employed, we used our Strategic Thinking Outline process to chart the desired impact of the client and her organization.
The conversation ranged widely but settled upon working to uncover her personal purpose, and the aspects of the work that were especially meaningful to her. We broke down the conversation by helping her think about the work itself (supporting mothers who have lost children to gun violence), what it takes to build her particular organization (accounting, communication, fundraising, staff, etc.) and finally that of advancing the work across Chicago.
This last aspect -- working to see the eco-system of supports for mothers who have lost children to gun violence become stronger and more effective -- led to an epiphany of sorts. This mature leader realized she is in a place to convene many others (funders, practitioners, academics, community members, civic leaders) and engage in a conversation that seeks to strengthen everyone.
In addition to being an epiphany for this leader, Coach House leadership gained perspective as well. Our solution-oriented advising is designed to help at all three levels, but our Coach House conversations are especially applicable in this third phase: strengthening eco-systems through collaboration, mutual learning and advocacy.
We are excited to advance the work and grateful for your support.
