Recently, I attended the TEDx Manitoba event at the Park Theatre here in Winnipeg.
The first speaker, Robert Sawyer, who is a science fiction writer, gave an excellent presentation about the emergence of consciousness in humans and the projected emergence in non-human intelligence.
Sawyer’s presentation made me think about how the non-profit sector’s work is resulting in the emergence of consciousness in their target populations. After more than 12 years in the non-profit sector, I have personally witnessed this type of emerging consciousness.
Clients that I have worked with came to us with limited awareness of resources available to them and limited consciousness of external factors impacting their lives. Through their personal journeys of emergence, I saw them begin to identify their own personal goals and strive to educate themselves about resources available to them. Then they began to grow an internal confidence that allowed them to begin to tap into these resources.
Without this emergence of awareness, thirst for knowledge and faith in their own capabilities, capacity building would not be possible.
What kind of emergence have you witnessed in your capacity building efforts?
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For more resources, see our Library topic Nonprofit Capacity Building.
By Ingrid Zacharias, Managing Director, Envisioning the Future International, http://envisioningthefutureintl.ca/ Email: izacharias@envisioningthefutureintl.ca
Marion is a popular facilitator of workshops and Board retreats. Her expertise includes strategic planning, board development, governance and harnessing the power of technology.
Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organizational development, consultant training and Action Learning services, and is developer of the Free Management Library.