How WorkStream EA strengthens EA orgs, leaders and impact: our observations, programs and plans

By Deena Englander @ 2023-03-13T13:29 (+25)

Are you an EA leader struggling to find the right resources and support to maximize your organization’s impact?

We introduced Workstream EA organizational development back in October 2022 and have since been monitoring the effect of our programs. We’re pleased to report that participants have reported significant improvement in their effectiveness and confidence, and we look forward to expanding these results to more EA organizations in the coming months.

To recap, we’ve been offering two primary services:

• Operations and Leadership fellowship programs designed to help upskill core personnel as a lever for organizational strength
• General business coaching with leaders of all stages to help them identify and minimize their bottlenecks to maximize impact

We’ve also partnered with EASE to develop a consolidated resource directory for EA orgs (see our post about that here).

Observations
We designed our initial programs based on prior professional experience and initial audience understanding, but our observations along the way have revealed a number of changes we will make to provide maximum benefit to this community: 

• The gap in prior knowledge and skills between our two cohorts (operations and leadership) is wider than we expected; in our next fellowship cohorts we will provide extra support and training for ops members, and more application and peer support for our leaders. 
• Supplemental coaching alongside the fellowship has increased impact across the board, but especially so for entrepreneurs.
• A massive benefit of our programs has come from high-quality, supportive conversations with engaged peers. We will scale this independently of the fellowship with a new mastermind group.
• We’re learning how to balance the benefits of applied homework with our participants' busy schedules. We’ve reduced out-of-session homework to 1-2 hours/month instead of 1 hour/week, and are incorporating more hands-on application into our workshops.
• We’ve identified additional topics that are necessary for a comprehensive curriculum, including non-profit governance, branding and fundraising. These are optional for our ops cohort but critical for entrepreneurs and leaders. 
• Many would benefit from shorter training programs. While we don’t have the wherewithal to create those now, we hope to move in that direction as the organization grows. We are also offering the option to do an accelerated course that meets bi-weekly instead of monthly.

Feedback

For those who have participated in our programs so far, the qualitative data assessment suggests a substantial increase in organizational stability, impact and growth. Additionally, the participants (particularly those who paired it with coaching) displayed an increase in confidence, personal happiness, community connectedness, achievement, and a decrease in burnout and stress.

Next Steps

1. Applications for next cohorts:

We are opening applications for our May cohorts. Given sufficient demand, we will have 3 groups; ops, small-org entrepreneurs, and large-org leaders. If you would like to learn more about the program, or apply, please submit an application (operations / small orgs or leadership tracks). 
 

2 . Mastermind groups:

Based on the feedback we received and general observations, we feel the community would benefit from having mastermind groups that are geared for community support and working through issues with a supportive peer environment. As those require less coordination on our end, we can make those more available to people in distant time zones. It’s a low-cost way to gain value, although it lacks the upskilling and training component of the fellowship. Apply here.

3. Sponsorship:

We’re also looking for sponsors to subsidize the program for certain individuals. It is always disappointing when a younger org doesn’t have budget to take part in the program (especially since the infusion of support into young orgs has a significant effect on their development), and we’d really love for money not to be the barrier to entry. We did receive an FTX grant for scholarships, but are unable to use those funds, although OpenPhil did cover the scholarships for already enrolled participants. We’re currently seeking sponsors; please reach out with any interest or leads. 

Our goal is to strengthen our EA orgs by providing quality resources and support to infuse the support, education, expertise and direction they need to thrive. We look forward to continue helping our organizations to achieve their maximal impact.

Quick Links:

• Apply for operations / small org leadership track (view details)
• Apply for the larger org leadership track (view details)
• Apply to be part of a mastermind group (view details)
• Contact me to contribute to our scholarship fund
• Schedule a time to chat to see how we can help you and your org