DAY OF PFE

Envision a day together amid 17 acres of natural woodlands along Mission Creek in Santa Barbara. We will gather both in the indoor auditorium and outdoor oak groves on the museum campus. Experience elements of nature, interaction, and PFE’s beloved small group Community Conversations in the company of others who share your passion for serving this community.

Join us and experience a dynamic speaker-facilitated learning exchange on proven frameworks to affect change, latest research data from the State of the Nonprofit Sector Report, and a facilitated audience panel discussion to share lessons learned. You will have opportunities for individual reflection and small group conversations to share personal stories, ideas, and experiences.

Time & Venue

Partnership for Excellence: Welcoming. Connecting. Wellness: What’s Possible?
Tuesday, May 23, 2023, 8:30AM – 4:00PM

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, South County

6:45 AM

PFE Free Bus Service
Santa Maria – 6:45AM gather, 7:00AM departure
Buellton – 7:30AM gather, 7:45AM departure 

8:15 AM

Museum courtyard

Welcoming and Networking
PFE busses and driving guests arrive
Coffee, tea, fruit, and breakfast bars offered
Registration and interpretation engagement

9:00 AM

Fleischmann Auditorium

Language Justice Opening
Lena Morán-Acereto and Regina Santos-Moreno, Uniendo Voces/Bridging Voices

Welcome to Partnership for Excellence
Jon Clark, The Foundation Roundtable
Judy Hawkins and Rosalyn Collins, Partnership for Excellence

9:30 AM

Welcoming, Connecting, Wellness: What’s Possible?
Alex Dorsey, Urban Collaboratives
Interactive session with keynote speaker/facilitator

This session will explore wellness as a strategic initiative for deepening engagement and advancing change within our organizations and community.

  • Experience welcome and new ways of connecting with fellow PFE participants
  • Discover a shared understanding of wellness that furthers possibilities for change
  • Explore the intersections of identity, capacity, and equity in advancing individual and organizational wellness
  • Learn a relational trust framework that fosters belonging and courageous conversations
11:15 AM

State of the Nonprofit Sector: Integrating and Engaging Data
Tarek Azzam, and Natalie Jones, UCSB Center for Evaluation and Assessment

This session will present data and findings from regional research.

  • How does wellness manifest at practical and organizational levels?
  • Voices from the sector: challenges faced by leaders and frontline workers
  • Eye on advancing equity: where nonprofits are serving and resourcing in Santa Barbara County
  • Taking action: using data to improve nonprofit performance and outcomes
12:00 PM

Outdoors at the museum campus along Mission Creek

Lunch and Networking

1:00 PM

Outdoor oak groves at the museum campus

Community Conversations
Peer-facilitated small groups to reflect, relate, and engage in further conversation on wellness and the morning session’s learnings – preparing together for Getting to Solutions. How are we considering wellness in our people, organization, and communities?

2:30 PMTransition
2:45 PMGetting to Solutions – Community Session
Alex Dorsey, keynote speaker/facilitator
4:00 PMAnnouncements & Closing
4:15 PMBusses depart for Santa Maria and Buellton guests

Tarek Azzam, PhD | he/his

Tarek is a Professor in the Department of Education. Tarek’s research focuses on developing new methods suited for real-world evaluations. These methods attempt to address some of the logistical, political, and technical challenges that evaluators commonly face in practice. His work aims to improve the rigor and credibility of evaluations and increase its potential impact on programs and policies. His research work involves studying the impact of politics on the evaluation process, and the integration of new technologies and resources, such as crowdsourcing, to develop new evaluation-specific methodologies.

Tarek has also been involved in multiple research and evaluation projects that have included the evaluation of student academic and retention programs at the K–12 and higher education levels, Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) education programs, children’s health programs, and international schools and development programs. He is also the director of the Center for Evaluation & Assessment (CEA) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an active member of the American Evaluation Association.

Alex Dorsey | she/her

Alex Dorsey is an inspiring leadership facilitator and executive coach. Her journey, and the journeys of her hundreds of clients, inform her calming presence and the adaptive, strategic, and insightful approach Alex uses to guide leaders and their organizations during times of transition.

In 2002, Alex left her first career developing communities and managing high-profile community revitalization projects for the City of Portland’s Development Commission and began consulting. Most of her consulting included leading nonprofit, social enterprise, and for-profit organizations through transition at various stages of development.

In 2011, Alex participated in Leading From Within’s Courage to Lead program in Santa Barbara, which resulted in her preparation as a facilitator by the Center for Courage & Renewal. Following this, Alex concentrated her gifts on leadership facilitation and executive coaching. In addition, she has designed leadership programs for organizations across the US. In 2018, Alex founded Platform Impact Leaders Fellowship, a year-long restorative program for mid-career social change leaders of color in transition, now in their third cohort.

Natalie D. Jones, MA | she/her

Natalie is the Associate Director of the Center for Evaluation & Assessment (CEA) at the University of California Santa Barbara. She holds a master’s degree in Organizational Behavior and Evaluation and is finalizing her PhD in Evaluation and Applied Research Methods at Claremont Graduate University. Natalie has over a decade of experience in research and evaluation, specializing in methodology and assessments. She has worked with multiple organizations and programs in both the private and non-profit sectors, including evaluations of STEM education and community outreach programs. Natalie’s research focuses on effective data visualization, evaluation communication, and mixed-methods in evaluation.

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