Where: The Cosmosphere | 1100 N. Plum Hutchinson KS, 67501
Contact: Sarah Blake (620) 663-5293

Please join us for a professional development workshop featuring Kathy Zurcher.

This free annual workshop is intended for teams of nonprofit or community-benefit organization staff, board members, and volunteers, as well as engaged citizens who wish to make progress on community challenges and opportunities.

We encourage teams of two or more from each organization to promote institutional knowledge and conversation. Each attendee from an organization must RSVP separately. In the case of community members, they are not required to attend on behalf of a specific organization.

Workshop: Achieving Your Vision Through Systems Thinking
Presenter: Kathy Zurcher

The world seems to be changing faster and faster–from the technologies available to us, to the increasing scope of our interactions. Moreover, the issues facing our communities are growing ever more complex. In these circumstances, good intentions and popular programs are not enough. How do we navigate such change and address these issues–not only in our work lives but also in our communities, schools, and families?

Relationships among people–in organizations and communities–who come together to accomplish a purpose are central to achieving policy, systems, and environmental changes. Developing systems thinking capacities and applying them to community work enhances our abilities to realize our vision for our community and to assure programs and activities are aligned to achieve significant results.

This workshop will develop your systems thinking capacities to enhance your relationships and partnerships, maintain focus on intended results, and align work of partners. Through a combination of learning new approaches and applying those to your own work, you will leave with new ways of thinking and engaging the passion and talents of others, and practical tools to help you do both.

Agenda:

• 8am – Check-in & Breakfast
• 8:30 – The Core Theory of Success
• 9:30 – The Creative Tension Model
• 10:30 – Break
• 10:45 – The Hierarchy of Choices
• 11:45 – Questions/Wrap-up
• 12:00 – Lunch (free on site, if requested)
• 1:00-3:00 – Optional Deep Dive: Participants may choose to stay for this afternoon session with Kathy in order to further determine how           to apply systems thinking to their own organizations and create the structure to do so

About Kathy Zurcher

Kathy works with communities around the country on applying systems thinking to transform systems and create the future they truly want for children and families. She is the former Director of Program and Organizational learning for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Before joining the Foundation, Kathy worked in health care, at University of Minnesota Extension, and as a high school teacher.

Kathy uses active, engaging, practical methods to teach applied systems thinking to diverse community members and people in every role in organizations, from the United States, southern Africa, Latin America, and South America. From rural Iowa, California, Montana, and Kentucky to urban neighborhoods in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Oakland, she has facilitated communities as they sought to improve their local food system, create communities that support healthy eating and active living, develop a more sustainable local economy, improve education, develop community systems that support educational and life success for all children, and assure health equity. What all of these have in common is their use of community engagement and a systems thinking approach to creating their future.

[captainform id=”840857″]