Alejandra Kennedy: Profile of a NYC Nonprofit Trainer
In love with educating educators
Alejandra Kennedy is a National Training Specialist at BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life). I decided to profile her first because I know that Alex is an excellent trainer, having worked together for four years at my prior job, and she absolutely loves training. We co-facilitated a workshop together for YNPN a couple weeks ago, and it was a pleasure to see her train both because she’s so good and because she actually lights up from the joy of giving workshops.
Alex’s path to becoming a trainer
Alex originally wanted to be a teacher, and she began her work at BELL as an academic tutor while she was in college. Soon after starting this job, she began to work with the training department as well, and she eventually had her first opportunity to train.
“I fell in love with educating educators,” she says. “I felt like I was changing lives by helping develop teachers and tutors to work with underprivileged scholars. I also love how engaged people are in BELL’s mission and goals, and how the structure of training here supports that.” BELL is a nonprofit whose mission is to enhance the educational achievements, self-esteem, and life opportunities of elementary school children living in low-income, urban communities, and the children served are called scholars.
What it means to be a trainer at her organization
Alex is based in BELL’s Bronx office, but she travels to all BELL regions to deliver training to the educators and leaders who run BELL’s academic summer and after school programs. She also facilitates live virtual webinars, and she has contributed to the development of BELL’s e-learning training. She writes workshops and creates training materials, including participant workbooks, leader’s guides, and workshop slides. On the logistical side, she has project managed training nationally, and she has run training events with up to 200 participants in eight classrooms.
At BELL, the training team is organized under the program department, along with the education and assessment/evaluation teams. The focus is on making sure that BELL scholars receive the best possible service, and training topics include general topics such as behavior management, child development, cultural awareness, and team building, and organization-sp ecific topics such as how to implement the literacy and math curricula.
Any educator who has worked with the organization is eligible to apply as a per diem trainer. Alex then screens resumes, interviews candidates, rates their sample presentations, and conducts an eight-hour train-the-train er for candidates who make it through the rigorous process. She provides ongoing feedback and coaching as well.
The future
“One project I'm excited about is the launch of a new training series to provide extra support to struggling staff through shorter, more intense in-service options.”
As for the future of training, Alex predicts that technology is going to become even more important, with virtual classrooms and e-learning bringing training to more people, using fewer resources. “Bottom line: even in difficult economic times, the field of training is safe!”
Showing posts with label profile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label profile. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
NYNP blog post 10-22-09
Sam Quiah, MSSW: Profile of a NYC Nonprofit Trainer
Changing a culture and being part of a movement
Sam Quiah is a Senior Consultant at Development Without Limits. He agreed to an interview after we met via the Johns Hopkins University National Center for Summer Learning's virtual conference. (See my prior blog post "An experiment in live online training" for more info about that conference.) We facilitated back-to-back virtual workshops, and after seeing the great job he did leading his workshop “Go Global! Building Global Literacy During Afterschool and Summer,” I was interested in learning more about his experiences as a trainer. When we talked, it turned out that we’d gone through the same social work program at Columbia University – it can be a small world in NYC nonprofits.
Sam’s path to becoming a trainer
Sam got into training after graduate school, when he began running Global Kids programs in high schools. While working as a Site Coordinator, he facilitated trainings on global literacy, community service, and other general topics, and he discovered that he enjoyed training. So, he took on a Saturday consulting job with Development Without Limits, training both educators and older youth working with younger youth. After two years working two jobs, Sam decided to take the leap to freelancing full time, and so he started his current role as Senior Consultant.
Sam was drawn to a career in training and consulting because he likes the challenge of working with a diverse mix of agencies. He’s motivated by the big picture impact of being able to strengthen the field of youth development by strengthening its organizations. “I like the idea of changing a culture and being a part of a movement,” he says.
He also enjoys the opportunity to bolster organizations by applying the expertise developed over his career, which has included roles with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Youth Unit of the United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development, and South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!).
What it means to be a trainer at his organization
Sam has a varied schedule, primarily working from home or at a client site, and sometimes going to the Development Without Limits office for meetings or collaborative work. The clients he serves are both NYC-based and located around the country. In addition to leading trainings, Sam provides technical assistance to clients. His work is project-based, and he likes the satisfaction of making targeted measurable contributions on a limited time frame.
Development Without Limits’s mission is to provide dynamic and challenging learning experiences for young people and adults. The organization facilitates ready-made workshops, creates customized trainings, writes curricula, and partners with organizations on special projects. This means that Sam’s job is never the same from project to project.
New consultant trainers generally join the team via referrals rather than via resume submissions; because the organization has specific values and high standards, they prefer it when someone they trust can vouch that a potential trainer will be a good fit.
The future
One project Sam's excited about is producing afterschool curricula for various youth organizations to implement with their staff and participants.
Changing a culture and being part of a movement
Sam Quiah is a Senior Consultant at Development Without Limits. He agreed to an interview after we met via the Johns Hopkins University National Center for Summer Learning's virtual conference. (See my prior blog post "An experiment in live online training" for more info about that conference.) We facilitated back-to-back virtual workshops, and after seeing the great job he did leading his workshop “Go Global! Building Global Literacy During Afterschool and Summer,” I was interested in learning more about his experiences as a trainer. When we talked, it turned out that we’d gone through the same social work program at Columbia University – it can be a small world in NYC nonprofits.
Sam’s path to becoming a trainer
Sam got into training after graduate school, when he began running Global Kids programs in high schools. While working as a Site Coordinator, he facilitated trainings on global literacy, community service, and other general topics, and he discovered that he enjoyed training. So, he took on a Saturday consulting job with Development Without Limits, training both educators and older youth working with younger youth. After two years working two jobs, Sam decided to take the leap to freelancing full time, and so he started his current role as Senior Consultant.
Sam was drawn to a career in training and consulting because he likes the challenge of working with a diverse mix of agencies. He’s motivated by the big picture impact of being able to strengthen the field of youth development by strengthening its organizations. “I like the idea of changing a culture and being a part of a movement,” he says.
He also enjoys the opportunity to bolster organizations by applying the expertise developed over his career, which has included roles with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Youth Unit of the United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development, and South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!).
What it means to be a trainer at his organization
Sam has a varied schedule, primarily working from home or at a client site, and sometimes going to the Development Without Limits office for meetings or collaborative work. The clients he serves are both NYC-based and located around the country. In addition to leading trainings, Sam provides technical assistance to clients. His work is project-based, and he likes the satisfaction of making targeted measurable contributions on a limited time frame.
Development Without Limits’s mission is to provide dynamic and challenging learning experiences for young people and adults. The organization facilitates ready-made workshops, creates customized trainings, writes curricula, and partners with organizations on special projects. This means that Sam’s job is never the same from project to project.
New consultant trainers generally join the team via referrals rather than via resume submissions; because the organization has specific values and high standards, they prefer it when someone they trust can vouch that a potential trainer will be a good fit.
The future
One project Sam's excited about is producing afterschool curricula for various youth organizations to implement with their staff and participants.
NYNP blog post 10-11-09
Sharing NYC nonprofit trainers’ stories
A new feature of this blog
Nonprofit trainers come from such different backgrounds and do such different day-to-day work that I thought it would be fascinating to learn about the stories of some of our NYC colleagues.
So, this will be a new topic that I’ll include on this blog from time to time – I’ll profile trainers from a range of backgrounds who serve a range of clients. I hope this will be an interesting exploration of what it means to be a trainer, and a nice recognition of our peers’ hard work.
A new feature of this blog
Nonprofit trainers come from such different backgrounds and do such different day-to-day work that I thought it would be fascinating to learn about the stories of some of our NYC colleagues.
So, this will be a new topic that I’ll include on this blog from time to time – I’ll profile trainers from a range of backgrounds who serve a range of clients. I hope this will be an interesting exploration of what it means to be a trainer, and a nice recognition of our peers’ hard work.
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