A Year of Making Impact as an Encore Fellow
Liz Fouther Branch is concluding her 1-year Fellowship at Playworks through the Encore Fellows program.
As I looked online searching for part-time work or a way to continue to share my skills in my community I found Social Venture Partners (SVP). I was immediately intrigued by their values--like being a passionate ally, building trusting relationships and seeking candid feedback. I also liked the idea of confronting the realities of racial, ethnic and economic privilege and inequities by investing in people closest to the needs to find solutions that affect change. SVP's Encore Fellows Program matches seasoned professionals with fellowships in the nonprofit sector. I felt it would be the right place for me so I applied. Program Manager Steve Maser reached out and told me he had a couple of interested nonprofits that could use my skillset. My background is a bit different than the typical Encore Fellow. Most Fellows come from the private sector and I have always worked in customer service, the arts and education. This program afforded an opportunity to come together with former project leads, staff managers, business analysts, and current and former board members with extensive knowledge in business growth, strategic planning, program development and working on collaborative teams. I was able to bring my knowledge of working and volunteering in underserved communities and an understanding of the specific needs of those communities to both SVP and non-profit organizations like Playworks NW, where I did my Fellowship.
Playworks NW’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe meaningful play. Playworks believes respect, inclusion, and healthy play make a healthy community. In my Fellowship role as expansion representative, I needed understand the organization’s goals and objectives for expanding programs throughout Oregon and SW Washington while meeting the needs of underserved communities. At the community level, I had to learn what different constituents knew about Playworks and the value of a great recess. I’ve spent this year collecting data, asking questions, being a good listener and reporting my findings to Playworks staff, board members, stakeholders, schools and district leaders to help them expand their services to serve more children with safe and meaningful active play. What are the benefits of every child in the Pacific Northwest being able to experience of a great recess everyday? Children are given a chance to develop positive social and emotional skills throughout the school day by discovering a variety of games, making friends and learning to solve problems that in turn help them to develop creative and critical thinking skills to use during class. It’s a great time to teach how to transition from one environment to another and to generalize those skills across environments. Playworks has an annual survey that shows improved school climate and and decreased bullying as a result of their program. As a retired teacher, I can attest to recess being the most important part of the school day for many children.
As my Fellowship comes to a close and a new school year begins, I had and will continue to have great time reaching out to schools, stakeholders and families to help spread the word about Playworks NW and the Power of Play. As an Encore Alumni, I’ll continue to share my experiences with and about my new SVP community.