During the past months, we have not only had feet on the ground at the Learning Pods and Tribune Building but have been building organizational capacity, as well. Through the support of PMI Pittsburgh and the Forbes Funds, Neighborhood North has been able to take advantage of capacity building processes, skills, and knowledge. 

In late October, the Board of Directors at Neighborhood North spent a Saturday morning envisioning the future and identifying organizational goals during a Strategic Planning Session. Led by seasoned facilitators from PMI Pittsburgh, we began by clarifying our core values and identifying the essential steps that we can make at this time to create sustainability within our organization. It was the first step in a long process of organizational development, but I am excited about the ideas and energy that came out of that session and the renewed commitment by our staff and board.  It is not easy to create vision during a time of global pandemic, and I am honored to lead a team of bold and pragmatic dreamers. 

Neighborhood North joined other nonprofit organizations throughout the Pittsburgh region to complete The Forbes Funds’ first Scenario Planning Cohort.

Over the course of 18 weeks, our Executive Director worked with other leaders through Risk Management, Financial Sustainability, and Strategic Crisis Communication coursework around how to prepare our organization to plan for various scenarios and navigate uncertainty.  Our organization gained greater confidence and the skills needed to continue to pursue our mission during this time of widespread uncertainty.  If you see this digital badge of our website or literature, you will know that it means we have put in the work to become a more prepared and qualified organization for our community.  Thank you to the great folks at The Forbes Fund who made this possible! 

·Connecting with a larger network: The Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) has launched Museums Mobilize, a new initiative to highlight how children’s museums around the world are launching new initiatives or transforming existing programs to support children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neighborhood North is proud to be a member museum of ACM and a registered project with Museums Mobilize. Read the Museums Mobilize press release here.