What is Conscious Leadership?

Come experience and learn tools to create a healthy team culture and elevate your self-leadership.

This is an intro session making its Richmond debut, bringing this unique professional development opportunity to you. TSM clients have gotten a chance to experience this in recent change engagements, and now you can, too.

TSM is excited to be in a partnership with our friends from The Conscious Leadership Group in hosting this session for only $200 for a 4 hour session.

Conscious Leadership is about leading from presence. During these four hours, we will explore claiming your agency and personal power, learning to speak candidly (and how to listen consciously), and engage with your team members.

Testimonials:

“The Conscious Leadership workshop that The Spark Mill facilitated for Campfire & Co. was enjoyable, enlightening, and valuable. Our team was able to talk through deeper aspects of how we each process information - challenging and joyful - helping us relate to one another better and learn how to support each other. We’ve been using the language of above and below the line to be more honest with one another and with ourselves, which has helped mitigate conflict and provide more opportunities for understanding.”

- Campfire & Co.

“Conscious Leadership has given me tools to become more aware of how I am responding to a situation whether in the workplace or in my personal life. By being aware of how to separate the situation from how I am feeling gives me more control to treat others better. Conscious Leadership has also given me “permission” to feel all the feelings without guilt. Everyone no matter what season of life benefits from the tools of Conscious Leadership!”

- Rebecca Mabe - Discipleship Director at New Life

Presented By:
Chris Bennett of TSM and Grace Clayton

Session Description & Learning Objectives:

This four-hour session aims to help organizations lay the essential groundwork for a strategic planning process. The session will walk through the foundational elements necessary for successful planning. Participants will explore key concepts, assess their organization's readiness, and identify critical areas that need attention before embarking on the strategic planning process. Through interactive discussions and practical exercises, attendees will gain insights into setting the stage for an effective and impactful strategic plan.

Learning Objectives:

Understand strategic planning fundamentals
Assess organizational readiness for embarking on a strategic planning process
Identify key stakeholders
Explore tools to analyze internal and external environments influencing your organization
Understand the difference between and significance of goals, strategies, and tactics

Generations in the Workforce - Generations in the Workforce explores the realities of 5 generations present at one time in nonprofit organizations. From Alpha youth volunteers to Silent Generations employees and retirees - what does this mean for employers, managers, leaders and decision makers? How can we increase empathy for the natural tendencies of each group to make your mission possible.

Presented by: Virginia Housing Alliance, Housing Virginia's Most Vulnerable

This is a free, private event for a client.

Exploring tools, principles, and practices to create a conscious organizational culture free of blame, criticism, and defensiveness.

Private Class.

Presented By:
New Life UMC

This course is designed for nonprofit leaders who want to engage in creating a deeply rooted, sustainable culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Participants will explore the current DEI landscape, analyze case studies of success and stagnation, and engage in interactive discussions to identify barriers and implement actionable strategies. Emphasizing the importance of culture over training alone, the course provides practical tools for fostering inclusive policies and leadership accountability.

Through hands-on activities and reflection, participants will develop concrete action plans for nurturing DEI within their organizations. This course is ideal for leaders committed to long-term, systemic change, empowering their teams to embrace meaningful DEI practices at every level.

Private event, only open to the Schaberg Executive Director Roundtable members.

Presented By: Bob and Anna Lou Schaberg Foundation

Join Victoria Jackson alongside members of the the 2023 cohort of the AFP Inclusive Fundraising Fellowship (Josh Leidy, VCU; Brittany Clayborne, The Haven Shelter & Services, Inc.; Margaret Dodson-Cordrey, Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia; & Dylan Jones, Side by Side, VA Inc.) as they describe Community-Centric Fundraising and demonstrate how CCF has been used as a framework in their organizations. Their activity will get you thinking about how this framework could be used in your fundraising efforts or across your organizational practices. This presentation has been updated from their presentation to AFP Central Virginia Chapter in December of 2023.

This session is apart of 2024 Virginia Fund Raising Institute. There is a fee to attend the conference. Conference registration can be found here.

Presented By: The Spark Mill’s Victoria Jackson, MBA and the 2023 AFP Inclusive Fundraising Fellowship Cohort

This session was designed for a team of residential service providers who have begun working alongside their resident board to support the communities they serve. This training session focuses on how different groups can collaborate to create and execute shared goals through tools, clarifying questions, and frameworks.

Presented By:
Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing

Developing a pipeline of leadership for a resident-centered organization.

Presented by The Spark Mill.

Not open to the public

What makes exceptional organizations exceptional?  One of the key ingredients is a constructive partnership between the board chair and the executive director. But, just like any relationship, building and maintaining the board chair/executive director partnership involves intentional work by both parties. Understanding the basic tenets of the relationship can make a big difference in enabling a strong board chair/executive director partnership. Attendees will learn key elements of shared leadership and how to establish and maintain effective communication between the executive director and board chair.

Presented at: NWA Nonprofit Conference at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, by CNE, in partnership with Excellerate Foundation, Walmart Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.

High-impact boards start with board members who understand their role and how best to bring their skills to the board table. Board members ensure the sustainability of the organization when they understand the unique nonprofit business model and how board responsibilities are impacted by an organization’s strategy, lifecycle, and staff/volunteers. Attendees will explore the essentials of nonprofit board service and hear the experiences, challenges, and successes of board engagement from peers.

Presented at: NWA Nonprofit Conference at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, by CNE, in partnership with Excellerate Foundation, Walmart Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.

Embark on a transformative journey with this interactive workshop, "Your Equity Journey." Designed specifically for individuals and organizations at the onset of their equity journey, this session promises to be a cornerstone for those seeking to begin their equity journey and discover an organizational framework to embed equity.

In today's world, personally adopting more equitable practices and implementing equity within organizations is not just beneficial; it's imperative. Yet, beginning this journey can often seem daunting. This workshop aims to demystify the process, offering practical strategies and guidance to ensure that equity becomes a lived reality.

Resident council leaders and staff who support the council will have a clear understanding of communication tools and strategies as they communicate within the council and as they communicate the work of the council to residents and other stakeholders.

Webinar Links:

• APAH Resident Services Staff 1:30pm-3:00pm

• APAH Resident Council 6:30pm-8:00pm

Generations in the Workforce explores the realities of 5 generations present at one time in nonprofit organizations. From Alpha youth volunteers to Silent Generations employees and retirees - what does this mean for employers, managers, leaders and decision makers? How can we increase empathy for the natural tendencies of each group to make your mission possible.

Presented by ED Roundtable.
This is a free, private event for a client.

Learn how to incorporate succession planning into your strategic planning process with an eye toward the funding opportunities provided by Virginia Housing.

Presented at VAHCDO Conference.

Collaborative work can be challenging. Starting a collaborative effort with a solid foundation can help the work go further faster. In this session, we'll talk about and share tools to help build clarity, trust, and shared agreements for your collaborative efforts.

Presented by Community Foundation of the Rappahanock River Region & CNE

Overview: Initiatives focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion are a part of the new normal in the workplace; however, where to start and how to keep the work going continue to be a challenge as organizations embrace a DEI journey. In this session, participants will receive tools and strategies that will help move DEI initiatives along and achieve successful outcomes.

Objectives for the class:

• Reflect on how DEI initiatives are important to their organization or team

• Learn of common challenges to implementing strategies

• Tools to overcome implementation challenges

Presented by Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth.
This is a free, open event.

Consultant Sarah Choi will work with a cohort of organizations to help them build stories to convey their missions and work effectively to their stakeholders.

This is a private event for a client

Assistant consultant Angela Fontaine will facilitate a workshop that guides participants through best practices in building, supporting, and sustaining community-based coalitions, looking closely at how to assess for mission alignment and foresee and navigate challenges.

This is a private event for a client.

The Spark Mill’s lead consultant Lindsey O-Pries will be training members of The Virginia Association of Housing and Community Development Officials at their Annual Conference held in Norfolk, VA. We will review our strategic planning process customized specifically for Redevelopment and Housing Authorities, including examples from recent clients.

Equity is integral to the success of nonprofits and is required to achieve a more just society. Expand your understanding of equity and explore how to integrate it into your organization and communities. Join trainer, Avi Hopkins, to gain fresh perspectives while sharing common challenges and brainstorming solutions. In this workshop, participants will learn key strategies and components to successfully implement, monitor, and evaluate DEI initiatives within their organizations and communities.

To learn more, visit the Virginia Volunteerism Summit, hosted by Virginia Service Foundation.

Being a modern leader is different than it was three years ago. The flexibility and grace that are necessary to manage people and organizations are skills we haven't had to deal with before. Grace in the Workplace is a new model of leadership that calls for a deeper level of flexibility. This session will highlight emerging research on managing a multi-generational workforce, recovering from a pandemic, political polarity, and heightened awareness of equity's importance. Think of this as your toolbox for people management in 2023 and beyond. 

To learn more, visit the Virginia Volunteerism Summit, hosted by Virginia Service Foundation.

Angela will be guiding the client through a discussion about how unconscious bias may impact how we make decisions in providing services, and how cultural competency leads to servicing clients equitably.

(This is a closed event.)

Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia Presents NPO Series

Presenter: Sarah Milston 

Come learn about the role strategic planning plays in a nonprofit organization and why it is essential to your future. Review some best practices about the role of board, staff, and your stakeholders and how best to engage them. Participants will review the trifecta of strategic planning magic - the gathering of data, group processing and dreaming and landing a plan with solid implementation tools. 

The Spark Mill’s Sarah Milston will be speaking as part of the Racial Truth and Reconciliation Week 2022 Conference hosted by Voices for Virginia’s Children. Learn more about the subject in Sarah’s recent blog.

Presented by Network Peninsula, Join Sarah Milston for a class about change management.

An overview of change philosophies and the tools to support positive change and change motivated by crisis.

1. Overview of Change Management Philosophies
2. Tools to guide others through change
3. Importance of Stakeholder Voice in Change
4. Definitions of stakeholders to include community, staff, board, etc.