Consultation with a community-based organization serving urban youth: A case study.

Abstract

Community-based organizations (CBOs), part of a class of small-scale nonprofits deriving their membership and much of their contributions from the local community, are often led by individuals with expertise in a particular field and passion for the service their organizations provide to program recipients. This leadership provides great strength for CBOs, but the lack of management and other skills can often hinder efforts to design and implement expanded programs that maximize good and ensure organizational sustainability. This instrumental case study describes a 6-month consultation with a CBO in New York that provided access to sports for underserved high school students. It details the consultant's attempts to apply theory to practice and respond to the shifting contexts of the CBO and community through a flexible, recursive consultation approach. Through application of utilization-focused evaluation methods and a modified program planning and evaluation framework, the consultant provides insights for other consultants of CBOs, specifically related to questioning organizational assumptions, cocreating and iteratively assessing the aims of a consultation, and balancing the need to respect CBO leadership and challenge assumptions-based thinking that impedes sustainability and growth. The article also highlights the key similarities and differences between CBOs and start-ups in terms of the organizational life cycle and problems they are likely to encounter. What's It Mean? Implications for Consulting PsychologyCommunity-based organizations (CBOs) provide integral services and manage multiple stakeholder and participant groups in a complex system. Leadership, often driven by passion but without specific management expertise, may struggle to manage this complexity when designing programs and attempting to achieve growth and sustainability. This instrumental case study describes the application of theorybased consulting methods to address needs for one such CBO, with insights that could be applied to consultation with similar organizations. I thank Dr. Charles Maher for his mentorship and support with this project.

When voices are left unheard: BIPOC doctoral student feedback toward a decolonized curriculum.

“…Issues of racism can be addressed in specific ways so as not to decenter the BIPOC individuals who are most affected by racism. BIPOC students and faculty should not be expected to shoulder the burden of repairing the systems and effects of White centrality within their institutions, instead White students and faculty must resist the lure of White saviorism (Kuehl, 2021; Wycoff, 2021).…”

“…Wycoff (2021) referenced White saviorism as the drive of individuals and agencies, community-based organizations, to “save” identified deficient populations. White actors save members of the othered group by purporting to give them something that they apparently lack.…”