157: Assuring Cross-Sector Collaboration as A Nonprofit Leader (Kate Markin Coleman)

SUMMARY

Are you creating unnecessary barriers for employment at your nonprofit?  Kate Markin Coleman suggests you’re narrowing your talent pool by relying too heavily on a college degree as a proxy for qualification.  In episode #157 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, she discusses how to construct a more equitable and effective workforce development system. Learn what it means to conduct a deep skills analysis to better identify needs and think more broadly about who is best qualified to fill them. Kate reveals how developing cross-sector collaborations improves the efficiency and effectiveness for addressing the issues facing our communities. She identifies the attributes of effective programs and makes the case for skill-based hiring and cross sector-collaboration. By working across organizational boundaries, you can change the trajectory of individuals struggling to make a living wage while expanding the quality and quantity of talent available to employers.

ABOUT KATE

Kate Markin Coleman directs ias advising, LLC, and is former Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy, and Advancement Officer of YMCA in the U.S.  She spent the first half of her career in the private sector, transferring to the social sector after she and her colleagues sold the fintech firm they ran. Coleman was a top official in one of the country’s largest nonprofits, the national YMCA, where she advanced innovation and effectiveness. She studied cross sector collaboration as a Harvard Advanced Leadership Fellow and is the co-author of two books that offer practical insights on how to design effective solutions to challenging urban problems.

EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCES 

• Growing Fairly: How to Bring Opportunity and Equity to Workforce Development by Stephen Goldsmith and Kate Markin Coleman

• Collaborative Cities: Mapping Solutions to Wicked Problems by Stephen Goldsmith and Kate Markin Coleman

• Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think and Do by Jennifer Eberhardt

• Check out Patton’s book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector