The Great Generation

CMPi Leadership Development Programme Brazil8 Feb - 15 Mar 2008

The CMPi Leadership Development Programme involved 5 groups of CMPi senior managers working within The Great Generation project framework to seek solutions to various organisational challenges which exist within the Brazilian NGO sector.

Employees of CMPi have collectively raised substantial funds to support the work of their colleagues and these funds will be donated to the NGOs to support their core funding needs. For two of these NGOs the donated funds will create their first microfinance funds enabling them to deliver livelihood opportunities to 17 & 18 year olds, thus playing a critical role in advancing their impact in the community.

CMPi Leadership Development Programme Group 1

The first group of business leaders from CMPi worked closely with the staff at ACER to evaluate, make recommendations and provide tools to help with their financial planning, management and processes.

The NGO leader, Jonathan Hannay, said that the project went fantastically well for ACER and repeated a number of times how impressed he was with the high quality of work the volunteers delivered and their commitment to ACER during the project. Jonathan was also very pleased that the volunteers managed to involve the ACER staff during the project, even though most had little financial experience or knowledge. The team successfully involved the ACER staff in the process of deciding how to spend the £500 which the volunteers had fundraised.

CMPi staff donated $9,000 towards the development of a new two year community economic development project - microfinance.

Feedback from staff at CMPi and ACER:

"I think we made a real connection with the staff at all levels while we were there, and we got some very positive feedback about this. Some of the things we did will make a real difference to how they are able to track and monitor their ongoing spending during the year… I think we all reflected that it has been an incredible experience and one we will mentally return to in future."
CMPi staff member

"All in all it has been an enormously rewarding experience."
CMPi staff member

“Personally, it was a lifetime highlight and a real epiphany. I learnt masses about myself - and felt very conscious (in my role as team leader) about the learnings from the LDP.”
CMPi staff member

"It is exciting for us to have these two consultancies and we are sure that they will bring new winds for organizational improvement."
Jonathan L. Hannay, Secretary General, ACER

CMPi Leadership Development Programme Group 2

The second group of volunteers worked with ACER helping them to develop a communications strategy for ACER. The team also drew up a job spec for a communications intern and have promised to go away and fundraise the £3000 needed to pay for the intern.

Jonathan Hannay said that the project exceeded his expectations. One of the volunteers, James, also attended a meeting Jonathan had previously arranged with BP. The aim of the meeting was to discuss whether BP would continue to sponsor elements of the ACER Programme. However James managed to bring a different perspective to the discussion and Jonathan said that a number of the concepts discussed are already being developed.

One of the impacts of this meeting is that BP has now proposed to approach their IT company, which is based near ACER in Diadema, and ask them to hire one of the ACER’s young people and train them up in IT. The company will then donate half a day of this young person’s time each week to work with ACER on much needed computer maintenance. This helps ACER with a real need around resources, while supporting one of their young people into employment - a win-win solution!

Feedback from CMPi:

"What … hits me, is the modesty with which the group’s achievements are viewed. This kind of life-changing work simply doesn’t compare to my daily “workload” of meetings, lunches and writing and from now on my perspective on life will be permanently altered.”
CMPi staff member

“… I genuinely don’t think anyone can visit Acer and not be changed by the experience. These are kids whose existence is hand-to-mouth. Many come from families where drug and alcohol abuse is the norm, and many will be shot and killed on the streets of this favela. Very few will ever live outside Eldorado, or have the opportunity to go to university or see the world. Yet they make the most of what they have, they dance, they sing, and most importantly they help each other.”
CMPi staff member

CMPi Leadership Development Programme Group 3

The third group of volunteers worked with PROATA, an organisation that is dedicated to the study and treatment of eating disorders. The team helped to develop a strategic plan for the organisation, helping them to define their vision, mission statement, objectives and priorities.

The team completed comprehensive action plans on different organisational needs including data capture, expanding their educational programme and developing their website. Thanks to a meeting the team had with the director of the Sao Paulo CMPi office, PROATA will now have free access to use the website content management system for their own website, meaning the PROATA team can now regularly update the PROATA website themselves.

The CMPi volunteers also helped PROATA staff to develop an action plan for the 2009 Annual Brazilian Conference of Eating Disorders and Obesity, which they are hosting, including identifying sponsorship opportunities.

Feedback from CMPi and Proata:

"I had no idea what impact our work would have on the PROATA team. We've already done some presentations to them of vision, mission and objectives and it was quite emotional to see them embracing our suggestions and getting enthusiastic about the future initiatives (one of the ladies nearly cried!)."
CMPi staff member

“It's not often that one comes across a group of people that are so passionate and focused on their task … their enthusiasm has proven to be highly infectious and we really want these projects to move forward and succeed”
CMPi staff member

“From our meeting yesterday we gained a huge amount of knowledge and understanding about the Proata team and the dilemmas they are facing. They all work so hard to make a difference and yet they are at a cross roads and need to make some hard decisions about how they change to become an organisation that will grow, develop and have an even greater impact on treating and providing education around eating disorders.”

“Thank you for giving us your time, for listening to us, for being able to understand what we do and the problems we have. Thank you for working to get donations for PROATA. But, most of all, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us and teaching us so much!!! We hope we can accomplish all you have envisioned for PROATA.”
The PROATA management team

“I’ve had a brief look at the material you've developed for PROATA and was just astonished! … More than a tremendous help for PROATA, it has been a real experience of developing skills in the team members in a field that they had never had the chance of investing before. I'm sure we will continue the work you have started there! I can only join my colleagues to tell you that I'm also very grateful for all this.”
Angelica Claudino, Director of PROTA

CMPi Leadership Development Programme group 4

The fourth group worked with Doutores da Alegria, based in Sao Paolo. Doutores da Alegria (Doctors of Joy) places professionally trained clowns in to hospitals to perform for children who are undergoing medical treatment with the intention of reducing the emotionally painful experience for them.

Doutores da Alegria's vision is to build a clown cultural centre / school in the middle of downtown Sao Paulo which will become a centre for clowning excellence and a cultural icon. The centre will provide a sustainable revenue, enabling them to train more clowns which in turn will strengthen their delivery in hospital. Businesses and corporations could also use this centre for their meetings and events, thus making it a place where clowns and public can interact and develop interpersonal relationships. Whilst out on the project volunteers helped to uncover the key processes, systems and structures needed to help them achieve this.

The team delivered a 20 slide presentation on the Three S’s of Clowning Successes, which is a framework for bringing the charity to a stage where a capital building project could realistically be considered. In feasibility terms, they focussed upon the organisational need, evidence of impact and building sustainability stage.

Feedback from CMPi and Doutores da Alegria:

"Wellington and his team were ecstatic and really moved by how much effort we had put in to this and they seemed to feel what we had done would really start to make their dream head towards reality."
CMPi staff member

"We have learnt so much about managing each other and about how to adapt in such challenging circumstances and deliver a great result in such a short timeline. We have also had a very humbling and life changing experience which we are very thankful for."
CMPi staff member

“Thank you so much for the opportunity, the learning and the experience. We are all decanting the intensity of it all and turning this knowledge into applicable action”
Wellington, Founder

“As someone whose job is to deliver increased revenues year on year, I felt humbled and proud to be doing something which will change lives if implemented….”
CMPi staff member

CMPi Leadership Development Programme group 5

The final group on the programme worked with O Pequeno Nazareno in Fortaleza. O Pequeno Nazareno runs an outreach programme for children living on the streets, which seeks to re house them in a supportive, educational and most importantly safe environment in the countryside surrounding Fortaleza. Whilst out on the project volunteers explored ways of developing a UK partnership for O Pequeno Nazareno which could help support and fundraise for the organization, in order for them to increase the number of children who can access their services. The project delivered a presentation and background documentation exploring three UK partnership options:

1) Volunteer base in the UK
2) Partnerships – both delivery and international funding
3) Registered charity route

Feedback from CMPi and O Pequeno Nazareno :

“We cannot express how much it means to us that a team of UK professionals can give us such insights into our work, and how we can develop.”
O Pequeno Nazareno staff

"The week feels as though it was a dream now I am back at my desk. With hindsight I think it was an amazing week and I don’t think I would have changed anything."
CMPi staff member

“We have enjoyed having professionals working with us and it showed us clearly how we need to use more structure with our activities and planning.”
O Pequeno Nazareno staff member