On January 24th, the 2016 HALO Award awardees met for the last time as “Cohort 6” for their final peer convening at The California Endowment’s Center for Healthy Communities. The organizations reflected on their experience with the HALO Award program and how their volunteer management capacity has evolved since receiving the Award. All six organizations highlighted that formalizing their volunteer program with the creation and development of a volunteer management plan was instrumental in pushing their efforts to the next level, but perhaps what most notably echoed throughout the room during their last formal meeting together was gratitude for their new “HALO family.” In her reflection, Kim Goldberg-Roth, Executive Director of Strength United said, “Sometimes in nonprofit you feel alone in your struggles, but then you get in a room [at a HALO Award peer convening] and you realize that you are not alone.”
It was obvious from their first meeting at the HALO Award Luncheon in February 2017 that this group would form a special bond. They exchanged ideas and supported one another not only during their four peer learning sessions, but also outside of the designated program time, taking full advantage of the HALO Award experience.
Alumni Panelists, Kate Berman, The People Concern (Cohort 5) &
Kristen McGuiness, CASA of Los Angeles (Cohort 4)
The convening also included a panel discussion represented by past HALO Award awardees including Kate Berman, Community & Corporate Relations Manager at The People Concern, and Kristen McGuiness, Corporate and Foundation Relations Manager at CASA of Los Angeles. Each program alum shared their own organization’s stories, including how they are managing to sustain the efforts developed during their HALO experiences.
While the last peer convening is always bittersweet, The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation wishes Cohort 6 great success and looks forward to staying in contact to hear of their progress – especially at the first-ever HALO Award Alumni Convening this April. Stay tuned!
Margaret Morrow, David Daniels, & Sandra Madera, Public Counsel
Hayk Tahmasian & Gabe Middleton, human-I-T