Start:Empowerment Sail+Anchor Chart by Kifah Shah

Focus area: Speaking for all of S:E work

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 02:54:51 UTC

Doing programs that mean something to folks and they're memorable; positive feedback from folks we meet makes it feel really worthwhile +1

Programs

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 03:00:57 UTC

When we got our 501(c)3 status, we knew connection to community is what made our work thrive. Our interchangeability between team/family is really powerful, even if we aren't formalized in certain ways or are waiting for funding.

Curriculum Development

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 03:01:00 UTC

We had trust and working on it virtually with G allowed for us to get it done and do it well even if virtually

TEAM MEMBER: KIER

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 03:01:34 UTC

Focus area: Speaking overall

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 03:01:48 UTC

The trust that I have built and others have in us

Program: SYEP

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 03:01:51 UTC

Having Destiny really put wind in my sails for this program and as a collaborator who is flexible and made it as good as we could make it

TEAM MEMBER: Kianna

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 03:01:55 UTC

+1 on impact and +1 on trust

TEAM MEMBER: Kier

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 03:02:06 UTC

TEAM MEMBER: G

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:05:19 UTC

+1 that when we get that positive feedback from folks it makes me want to carry on the work

Overall

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:16:08 UTC

Encouragement and affirmations and getting feedback from folks who ask questions with interest; having people genuinely care in a work setting

Being trusted by community

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:16:48 UTC

When folks want to work with us and students/educators name us/wanting us to be there

TEAM MEMBER: Alexia

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:17:11 UTC

+1 to all of the above!

Check ins

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:18:00 UTC

With G and Noe, who both joined this year and has really been huge for our education programs, working with them has been really cool and seeing them lead and shape programs has felt like we have folks to think through with and not just have thoughts in my head

Best team

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:18:24 UTC

Not to brag but... it's special everyone on our team is really badass and genuinely does great work

Chatting with Alicia (Comms Director)

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:18:47 UTC

She always is there to support and fun to work with

Spaces we get to be in

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:19:17 UTC

We get to speak to teachers around the country and get to know/build with them and hear about their work and how to collaborate better and build more trust

Website

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:19:30 UTC

Shout out to not having the old website ++

TEAM MEMBER: Destiny

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:20:10 UTC

+1 all of the above and doing work I feel is important and meaningful and impactful

Meetings and check ins with G

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:21:06 UTC

At times if things got overwhelming, G made things easier and we have a similar working style and I felt understood and felt aligned and it made it easier to reach out

Kids we work with

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:22:16 UTC

They're really funny and even if they're quiet on Zoom or super active; I knew folks were getting something out of the programs, asking questions and having depth

TEAM MEMBER: Noe

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:22:38 UTC

Teacher cohort

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:23:08 UTC

+1 to meetings with G and Alexia and having a respectfulness and equableness in work and trust and meeting new people

Ideas generation

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:23:38 UTC

We can throw out ideas and connect each other to folks to move work forward and feeling comfortable in doing that

+1 to trust - "Organizing happens at the speed of trust" - Kier

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:24:33 UTC

+1s

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:24:53 UTC

+1 to multiple lives comment

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:25:58 UTC

Each one of our team members like G and Kianna and everyone is so multifaceted and we bring in so many perspectives

Growing together

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:27:07 UTC

Alexia and Alicia have seen the org expand and we went through conflict mediation and rigorous work for the past 4/5 years -- so we're growing together professionally and personally and that is commendable because it took a lot of trust, vulnerability, and pain too.

Difficulty achieving program goals

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:35:11 UTC

Before last year, Alicia, Alexia, and I talked about how we need to streamline and not have mission creep/streamline our work before we hired all the team. While we were revamping the website, we had to figure out how to define ourselves - who are we? Through experimentation over the past 2 years we were able to concretize what we feel strongly about and actually align. The Earth Month convergence, what made the second year phenomenal was the community organizing component which we had to cut. That was difficult for me but by cutting it we were able to enhance the education work. Alexia and I still do community organizing outside S:E work but we also have to figure out how to carry on the S:E work especially as it grows.

How can we bring our organizing selves more into the work? That bi-directional flow and incorporate it into S:E more and when we write grants, to me, that's how we were able to get the grants.

Turnover

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:37:28 UTC

We tried to invest in people on our team and everyone has the autonomy to leave but on such a small team, it takes a lot of labor to train someone and orient them to the work and integrated into the team and the work. The turnover for a long time made it difficult to achieve the program goals and for example, having volunteers was hard because we'd have to train and re-train them rather than focusing on the objectives sometimes.

The difficulty in holding this work

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:41:06 UTC

This past year, I've been doing all of the books since we started S:E and it took over 9 months and it's something that needed to be done and it feels like there's no way to delegate that type of work if it wasn't me and Alexia doing it. I've been doing a lot of legal/operations stuff and fixing things and filing/refiling and it's been a whole year of that. I've been kind of sad seeing the amount of joy and passion and feeling like I'm not in the fun stuff and doing the boring stuff. We don't have an HR person so the work I do is lacking creativity and my spirit feels like it's being drained and makes me want to leave sometimes because I felt like 5 years of doing this work is really hard.

+1 to everything Kier said

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:43:08 UTC

We're in an exciting place and it did take so much burnout to be here/get here - Alexia

It feels like a lot

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:44:48 UTC

It's not fair to put that stress onto other folks in a team; yes and there's a balance; you don't want to stress folks out and the work we do is a lot

+++Kianna and Destiny and Noe

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:58:41 UTC

all spoke to how / affirm that if there is stress that's held and if you need support Alexia and Kier, please let us know. It is felt even if it is not spoken (G named).

Culture Re-set

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 15:59:22 UTC

Learning how to ask for help

TEAM MEMBER: Kianna

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:00:49 UTC

Approaching the question as someone who is intermittently on projects

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:02:04 UTC

Not wanting to overstep too much on what I'm doing. I really respect the work Kier and Alexia have done over the years and G as the new Director of Education. I don't want to push my narrative too much on what they've already worked on. I've been putting a boundary on where I can put my input and where I shouldn't and navigating where to go from there has been interesting. That's been the biggest one.

Response from Alexia: we want you to put in your thoughts and input! It doesn't matter how long you've been with S:E I want you to feel like you can add to what programs need to go/be kept and we want your insight.

Meeting virtually

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:02:51 UTC

Going to Kier's point and how we all come from organizing backgrounds and we work on the ground, and doing curriculum development and writing into a void and not being able to be in a classroom to test out lessons or talk to other folks about what I'm creating

Response from Alexia: I feel this, and Zoom life is hard. We don't have a physical office space and doing things on Zoom is hard.

Meeting in person

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:07:25 UTC

Doing 1x month in person meeting for folks who can gather in NYC, will help move work forward

TEAM MEMBER: G

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:18:27 UTC

Unclear priorities

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:21:13 UTC

A steady weight has been not having a clear idea of what the top 3 priorities are. That causes some anxiety for me and makes me feel like we should/shouldn't do things and makes me feel like I'm not doing a good job and leads to burnout. And I feel like I'm thinking of doing new things, being all over the place, not being sure. Feeling a sense of sadness with organizing not being part of the work. Having the organizing connections would make doing programming easier because during SYEP we were able to invite folks do talks with students and build foundational knowledge of what organizing is. But being out on the streets with them and maybe reconfiguring civic readiness / CDOS would lend itself to that.

Feeding healthy minds

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:22:18 UTC

Feels a little directionless and maybe uninspired. I need collaborative energy and throwing out ideas to figure out how to move forward in the best way. Feels unending potential and I feel the weight of it and without the objective for it (not necessarily tactics), it's hard to move forward.

+1 Kianna's last point

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:23:30 UTC

Not wanting to overstep and feeling like Alexia and Kier had a very specific vision and not knowing where those boundaries lie. I feel like I can share ideas and hopes but don't want to feel like I'm saying we should do this or that, and want to feel collaborative.

TEAM MEMBER: Alexia

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:23:55 UTC

Strategic vision

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:24:56 UTC

Sometimes I also struggle with ideas I have and not wanting to impose them on everyone else. I wonder how much we can switch it up or add to programs we have. I don't know if I have an answer either and collectively determine that so we have a clearer idea at least for the next year.

Lonely

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:25:56 UTC

Sometimes I felt very alone doing work in Texas and now that Noe is on and other folks it feels less so. Being able to meet everyone in person has been nice too and working closely with folks now. But not being in person is hard because I do thrive a lot on collaborating.

PM Platform

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:26:43 UTC

We have a work flow but wondering if we should be using Trello or commit to a tool/style.

Money/Funding

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:27:34 UTC

Huge barrier and would solve a lot of problems. Just imagining if we had 3-5 people as FTE and not stretching ourselves as much as we are. Teaching myself how to write grants and do fund development has been difficult and not necessarily enjoyable. Developing relationships with funders takes so much time and is full of unknowns and discouragement because it doesn't always lead to funding.

Sustainability

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:29:21 UTC

How do we meet our funding goals, how do we get people full time employment, how do we get people health insurance, it's definitely top of mind always.

Grief

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:30:33 UTC

We're all holding a lot and juggling a lot and holding many roles and jobs and the world feels like a lot and all we're holding makes me sad and we deserve different futures. I don't have a lot of examples of folks doing this work and not being burnt out. A lot of people I look up to seem burnt out and I don't see a lot of practice of balance, it's spoken about more, but the practice isn't necessarily there.

+1 Grant hardships

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:31:44 UTC

I know it's been hard on Alexia and others and ultimately it feels maybe it'll be easier since we have a mission and we're fully formed and instead of what the objective of the grant is, we have our own mission and goals (more than before) - Kier

TEAM MEMBER: Destiny

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:34:16 UTC

Technical difficulties

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:34:39 UTC

I had issues with my laptop and wifi at first!

Stressed sometimes

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:35:11 UTC

Lacking discipline sometimes and feel a little overwhelmed because I don't feel prepared enough sometimes and have sometimes a bad memory

Specificity

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:36:14 UTC

Having a lot of freedom and not necessarily specific instructions is hard. I struggle asking for help, too, and doing a lot to just make the mark means I'm overthinking. I should maybe be more direct and ask questions.

Ask!

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:40:38 UTC

Where is the folder? Can you help?

TEAM MEMBER: Noe

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:41:05 UTC

What should I prioritize?

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:41:34 UTC

What do I prioritize? I have all these ideas and jumping around from organizing to work definitely resonates

Free flow

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:42:04 UTC

I used to have every hour planned previously and now it's a lot of open ended culture/work

Let me know

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:42:33 UTC

If something needs to be done/taking it off someone's plate, I'd love it to be directly stated with deadlines

Teacher cohort

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:43:18 UTC

Trying to work around teachers' schedules, staying flexible, sometimes I have to stop everything and think about what I have to get accomplished for the day

Startegic Plan

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:47:18 UTC

Making one and sticking to it

HOW we work together

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:49:17 UTC

Monthly team meetings (sometimes are rescheduled)

Mostly 1:1s

Idea: having a weekly comms check in, having a weekly education team check in, having a weekly grants team check in

Scheduling

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 16:54:49 UTC

Folks are giving time after work and typically want to feed folks and doesn't always feel like critical mass; pushes us to reschedule and loses momentum

--> Rotating agenda planning/setting?

--> Creating a NY specific chat

--> Imposing a baseline: we have a standing check in for XYZ calls, expecting folks to show up!

Monthly all hands in person

Weekly team/program standing check ins

Structure of agenda: G will create a template

Follow ups:

Agenda template
Calendar invites across configurations
Monthly meetings have report backs from weekly meetings
Pre-setting the chair of the meeting, the note taker, time keeper, agenda creator

Project Management

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 18:16:48 UTC

Tracking progress across programs and tasks and thinking of the best way to do it. A way to track my own progress and seeing generally other folks' work. (Alexia)

Trello: wasn't sure / clear which tasks were tied to which project (Kier); we are no longer going to use Trello

Creating a template for Google Docs - Alexia (lead) G (support)
- A master Google Doc with all the projects, which will link to other project docs
- Each project doc will have a front page of the description of the project, a POP, MOCHA, etc.
- Within that doc, there will be tasks and items to accomplish for each week, tied to each projects

Reserving the last 5 mins for meetings for follow ups

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 18:24:52 UTC

Embedding that into the template for follow ups/task assignments (tag names and make sure to have a deadline)

Google Drive

kifahshah — 2024-09-29 18:27:19 UTC

Clean up the drive in a way that makes sense to everyone; maybe doing it collectively in a meeting together