We are 15 years old! And, check out our new team members

Hello friend,

In 2017, the 15th anniversary of Blue Garnet, our team has already experienced exciting changes and additions. We will soon share more about how we are celebrating this milestone as well as our latest strategic direction -- stay tuned! For now, read below to learn more about what's new with Blue Garnet and some resources that we have enjoyed lately. As always, feel free to pass along the news to your friends and colleagues.

Sincerely,

Jenni, Way-Ting, and the Blue Garnet team

New team members >> We have two new additions to our team: Karen Shang, Senior Associate, and Jessica Wong, Associate!

Karen is a former CPA with a keen interest in social change, and finds tremendous fulfillment working with nonprofit organizations of all kinds. Tapping her diverse business background, she supports organizations on business development, strategic planning, and capacity building to create lasting social impact. Karen earned her bachelor's degree in Business Economics from the University of California – Los Angeles. She is currently completing her MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. In her spare time, Karen enjoys chasing after her two little ones and taking them on beautiful hikes.

Jessica is devoted to empowering social change organizations to develop effective, sustainable outcomes focused on increasing impact. As an Associate, she integrates her for-profit consulting experience and on-the-ground non-profit experience to help clients create structure out of ambiguity. A Deloitte Consulting alumna, Jessica holds a BA from the University of California – Irvine in Business Economics with an emphasis in international relations. A southern California native, Jessica loves to spend as much time outdoors as possible and find hidden delectable taco shops around LA.

Another new team member (sort of) >> Marcelo Pinell, formerly our intern extraordinaire, has recently been promoted to coordinator and now focuses on client engagements, business development/marketing, and office coordination. Marcelo originally hails from San Francisco and he and his wife just welcomed a new baby girl.

Advances in Design Thinking >> Due to the growth of behavioral science and impact evaluation, a new way for engineering programs and human interactions has emerged: behavioral design. To learn more, read "The New Science of Designing for Humans" in the most recent issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Examining Foundation capacity >> Historically, the social sector has paid more attention to nonprofit effectiveness than the capacities that foundations need to make an impact. "Foundations Need Capacity, Too" reveals initial findings from the Foundation Core Capacity Assessment Tool (FCCAT), which measures five core capacity dimensions: leadership capacity, adaptive capacity, management capacity, technical capacity, and organizational culture.

In Spring 2016, 58 foundations took the FCCAT. The National Network of Consultants to Foundations (NNCF) will be presenting a webinar on March 14, 2017 from 1-2 pm ET that shares aggregate results, learnings, and challenges across the foundation sample. To sign up for the webinar "Exploring Foundation Capacity: Why Does it Matter and What Do We Know: Preliminary Results from the Foundation Core Capacity Assessment Tool," click here.

Exploring LA homelessness >> During the upcoming election on March 7, Angelenos will have the opportunity to vote on Measure H, which would generate a projected $3.55 billion for homeless programs over 10 years. Listen to this episode of KCRW's Press Play with Madeline Brand called "Gimme Shelter: Housing the Homeless in LA" to get educated on the chronic homelessness crisis in LA, including how this issue arose, what at-risk people are doing to stay off the street, and potential ways to solve the problem.