Joy Youth Club Elections

Yesterday was a historical day for The Joy Learning For Life After School Academy. Melvin Hollin's class, grades 4-5, started a new organization entitled "The Joy Youth Club" and held elections for the very first time. The Joy Youth Club focuses on four components: democracy, service learning, citizen journalism, and leadership. This is all coordinated by a leadership of six elected peers... President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Recreation Leader, and Reporter. In order to be placed on the ballot, candidates had to go through a rigorous process including a peer nomination, a 50 word nomination acceptance essay, one week of campaigning, and a speech in front of their peers... check out the excitement below!

Election Process Highlights

1. Candidates start campaigning 2. The candidates for treasurer get ready for their speeches (from left to right: Nick Wallis, Cherlyn Womack, Danisha Smith, Montreal Perry) 3. The official Joy Youth Club Ballot 4. The club members began voting and are ready for the winners to be announced.

The Winning Candidates
Congratulations to the winning candidates!

From left to right Donnetria Brown (Secretary), Demayia Jackson (President), Endonezia Spears (Vice President), Nicholas Wallis (Treasurer), Qua'Darius Green (Recreation Leader), Kierra Merkison (Reporter)

Winning Candidates Speeches
Check out the video below to hear why these candidates got the job!


Tierra Montgomery
VP of Training & IT Development

Regional Equity 2008

This year I was very excited to represent Joy Corporation of Baton Rouge at Regional Equity '08: The Third National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth on March 5-7, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans. The summit, by PolicyLink, brought together over 1500 people from all across the world to collaborate and share their ideas on topics ranging from Using Research for Community-Driving Policy Change to Building an Inclusive Regional Equity Movement.

Here are some of my personal highlights from the conference:

1. Site Visit: Crescent City Connections: Creating Careers, Jobs, and a New Middle Class
I arrived at the Regional Equity '08 a day early to get involved in some pre-summit activities. The focus of Crescent City Connections was to introduce ways to combine low income residents with opportunities focusing on job readiness, career achievement, and entrance into a new middle class. For years economist have been warning that the middle class is declining. The social class ratio in New Orleans is a case study to consider. Normally, the middle class makes up the largest economic group in society, however, in New Orleans, low-income residents are the largest population. To show how this problem is being combated, our host, Marie Lee, from Gulf Coast Career Centers (GCCC) showed us how GCCC was combating this problem using the booming construction trade in New Orleans. To end the site visit Marie Lee showed new "green" housing that was being built that provided healthier living conditions for residents moving back home. The 1st picture below shows a two story condo across the street from New Orleans Festival Grounds. The frame of the condo is made of steel and all appliances are energy efficient. Additionally, the structure and ornaments will also be environmentally friendly. The second picture shows rebuilt houses in the upper 9th ward.



2. Welcome and Opening Remarks & Building Bridges for Infrastructure Equity
My favorite activist for social change, Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder & CEO of PolicyLink, opened the summit by welcoming everyone to New Orleans and kicking off the first important topic of the conference, Building Bridges for Infrastructure Equity. Joining her were Ronald C. Sims (Executive, King County, Washington), Richard D. Baron, (Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO, McCormak Baron Salazar, Inc.), and The Honorable Victor Lopez (Mayor, City of Orange Cove, California). I was disappointed not to see our state senator, Mary Landrieu, absent from the panel. The panel focused on how important bridges, tunnels, sewer and other infrastructure developments are to advancing social equity in low-income communities. On video, The Honorable Cory Booker, Mayor, City of Newark, New Jersey, talked about the devastation of the bridge collapse in their city and how important infrastructure was to the safety of all humans.


3. Take The Noose Off Of Affordable Housing
One of the more interesting points of the conference was the protests going on throughout the city of New Orleans. The protest captured below shows community leaders and their disgust with the slow response to public housing agendas post Hurricane Katrina. This particular protest attracted a large group of onlookers as well as media attention.


The conference was a great opportunity for community organizers, community based organizations, community colleges, educators, activist, and students to come together and combine resources to create a better America, a better community, and a better home. For more information on how you can make a difference or more about the conference visit the Equity Blog at www.equityblog.org. Also below is a video from Angela Glover Blackwell where she talks about the summit and encourages all of us to get involved.

Tierra Montgomery
VP of Training & IT Development

The Journey--Girls to Empowered Women

A testimony can only be derived if and only if you encountered a test. To be able to discuss what you have been through one would have to go through trials and tribulations. So in this blog I would like to discuss the journey. The road in to womanhood is a rough one, but with determination and drive, as well as God’s helpful hand there will be a victory at the end. At Joy Corporation we have a Saturday program, GURL (Girls Understanding Real Life) for the girls of our community. In this program we combine real world situations with fun activities to drive home our message. This is to FOCUS on your short-term goals and WORK toward your long-term goals. As a mentoring leader of the program I try to relate my experiences to the ones that come up in our program. As a college graduate I have realized that being an empowered woman is not just about the status you hold, but about the decisions you made to get to that status. A Senior VP of a large company holds a prestigious status, although if she cheated her way to the top and stepped on others to get there, she might make it financially but will never be satisfied because of her decisions. A true model of an empowered woman is not that she won’t face adversities but that when she does she picks herself up and tries again. Failure is apart of life and through the journey there will be many; however it only takes one success to make your dreams come true.


Kimberly Logan

Community Technology Centers

“Bridging The Digital Divide”

When most people hear me say that Joy Corporation is a computer technology center (CTC) the first thing they ask is, “A what?”.

CTC’s allow the community, usually low-income communities, to have free access to computer technologies through public computer labs, free training, as well as technology seminars and resources. In essence, a CTC is a place where technology is available to those who may have little or no opportunity to use or learn to use these technologies. As fast as technology is growing today, CTC’s are a critical part of economic development in low income areas.

Unfortunately, Louisiana as a state is behind in technology in comparison with the rest of the nation. Our technologically challenged status combined with being one of the poorest states, the need to bridge the digital divide in Louisiana becomes clearer than you could ever imagine. Many people don’t understand the importance of technology; especially those that are fortunate to be able to use it every day.

For example, let’s say that a low income resident, with no computer skills and no computer in the home wants to find a job. She dreads putting together her resume because she knows that under the skills section, she cannot honestly say “I have computer skills”. What job would hire her under those circumstances? What job does not use technology skills or computer knowledge to some extent? CTC’s help people that don’t have computer skills and still want to get a job. Through free training and exposure to technology, they will no longer be afraid of the skills section of their resumes… and that truly is bridging the digital divide.

To learn more about JoyTech and the free resources we offer, visit @ http://www.joycorp.org/JoyTech-home.html .
To learn more about CTCs visit www.ctcnet.org .

Developing a Balanced Funding Portfolio

Developing a Balanced Funding Portfolio for Your
Nonprofit Organization

John Al Miles, Chief Executive Officer
Joy Corporation


Many of the nonprofit organizations we come in contact with think that the answer to their funding issues is to get government grants. We quickly inform them that the path to financial stability within your organization is to have a balanced funding portfolio comprised of government grants, foundation grants, corporate sponsors, individual and family donations, and business ventures. An over-reliance on government grants can be disastrous to your organization for several reasons:

Shifting Funding Priorities. Local, state, and federal agencies have funding priorities which change as the agencies shift their agendas. Consequently, an agency may fund your program for 2-3 funding cycles if it is the “flavor of the month” within their organization and move on to another cause, leaving your organization with clients in need of ongoing services with no or limited funding. Individual donors and business ventures allow you to continue your programming when your cause is no longer in the public eye.

Working Capital Gaps. Government grants require significant working capital in order to ensure efficient operations. It is quite common for local and state agencies to have a three month gap or longer between the initiation of the program and the receipt of a signed contract and first reimbursement check from the agency. Additionally, agencies work within different budget cycles (calendar—January to December, state fiscal—July to June, or federal fiscal—October to September) which can wreck further havoc in terms of working capital for a program with multiple government funding streams. Nonprofits without three months or more of working capital are in financial crisis as they need to start their program on time in order to meet the agency’s requirements and place themselves in position for future agency funding while fending off vendors and employees who expect to be paid on time regardless of your funding source. In extremely rare instances, local and state agencies will provide an advance to assist nonprofits in program initiation. Surprisingly, federal grants have less bureaucracy and service gaps than local and state grants. Federal grants have an electronic grants management system which provides nonprofits with a signed contract as well as access to a portion of their funds at program initiation, which alleviates working capital issues. Individual donors and business ventures can provide you with the working capital necessary to smoothen operations.

Agency Cash Flow Issues. While not typically an issue within federal grants, local and state agencies can run into cash flow issues created by budget shortfalls toward the end of the fiscal year which cause them to slow or suspend reimbursement to nonprofits for two to three months or longer based on the circumstance. This issue further demonstrates the need for nonprofits to engage in other activities to maintain a certain level of working capital in case such issues arise to maintain efficient operations.
Purchasing Restrictions. Government grants place specific restrictions on the use of agency funds. Most government agencies and foundations do not fund the purchase, construction, or renovation of buildings, and have limits on the purchase of computers, software, office equipment, and vehicles. Most government agencies and foundations do not fund legal and financial services, such as the use of attorneys, accountants, and banking services. Individual donors and business ventures can provide you with the capital needed to cover such gaps within your organization.

In summary, government grants provide much needed access to resources for faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, and other nonprofit organizations. The key to making government grants work is to develop a diverse funding portfolio to stabilize operations and avoid the pitfalls mentioned above. Just as we are told in the old adage not to “put all of our eggs in one basket” and no investor puts all of his money on one hot stock tip, so must we as nonprofit organizations spread the financial risk of operating a nonprofit in today’s turbulent, fast-paced world. In the next installment, we will discuss current gift giving patterns in the United States to gain a better understanding of how to develop a diverse funding portfolio.

Dr. Ron’s Leadership Lessons: Lesson 1-Are Leaders Born or Made?

For centuries people have debated whether leaders are born or made or perhaps is leadership learned or innate? What do you think?

Related Article:
http://www.impactfactory.com/gate/preview/leadership_skills_training/registeredgate_1619-9103-73572.html

Welcome!

Joy Corporation, a non-profit 501(c)3 community based organization, is proud to join the Web 2.0 revolution and begin our first blog.

Each week I will be posting information relating to the activities we oversee each day at Joy Corporation. We look forward to sharing this information with you!

Thanks,

Tierra Montgomery

Director of Training & IT Development