It’s been a while - let’s catch up!

It’s hard to believe we’re already well into Q2! It’s been a really busy few months for us at coLeague, and we’re excited to share what we’ve been up to!

First, we’re excited to share that we started working with a new fractional CFO and bookkeeper from Projects Made Easy, led by Patricha Paul. Patricha’s team works with mission-driven organizations like (y)ours, and we’re so happy to have such a strongly-aligned group supporting our finances. Thanks to coLeaguer and friend Julissa Martis at Legacy HR for the recommendation.

Second, coLeague has been on the road! Sarah attended both SXSW EDU and ASU + GSV this Spring (more info below), and Lora and Sarah also had a chance to connect in Dallas while leading a session for a client. Because coLeague is fully remote, we’re always excited for a chance to see each other in person, and this includes clients and coLeaguers!

Third, we’re seeing a real shift in how our clients think about fractional work and how it can support a wide range of situations and we share more below about what this looks like in practice.

Lastly, we are ready to launch a “mini” version of our Talent Diagnostic and we hope you will take the opportunity to try it! It’s designed to give organizations the quickest possible insight into what might be blocking the success of your talent initiatives. It’s not a deep dive by any stretch, but we’re hoping it raises the right flags about what needs attention in your talent strategy & infrastructure. See below for more!

Notes From the Field, Part 1: SXSW EDU + ASU+GSV

In March, I (Sarah) visited Austin, TX for the first time and attended SXSW EDU, the education conference that serves as the kickoff for the larger festival. It was a great experience, and the best part was running into so many friends of coLeague in the venues and around Austin!

Big Picture Learning’s vibes: immaculate

The highlight of the conference was an experience hosted by Big Picture Learning called “Leadership Journeys.” If you ever have the chance to attend one of these, I highly recommend it. It’s somehow both very hype and deeply intimate at the same time. There’s a proper DJ, lots of dancing, and of course, hearing the inspiring stories of leaders who are choosing to be quite vulnerable about their pathway to success in their field. So cool!

Then in April, I set off for San Diego for my second time at the ASU + GSV summit, a massive gathering of leaders, innovators, and funders in the whole education space, from “PreK to Grey.”

This is the more “buttoned-up” of the two conferences, but it still manages to be a great time. Even among the sea of khakis and Patagonia vests, I was able to connect with educators from all walks of life, including Rebecca Niiha, a school leader who was seeking funding for a fully sustainable, off-the-grid building to house a new Native-designed charter school on the Zuni reservation. I also met a cultural anthropologist who studies trans-national communities like San Diego & Tijuana and gained a real education about this topic while also getting to eat some great tacos across the border.

Highly recommend making friends with someone who lives on both sides of the border and knows where all the best tacos are!

While coLeague is not an education organization, we have so many clients and friends in this space that it always feels worth it to be a part of these large gatherings of like-minded leaders. After all, Lora and I both “grew up” in education organizations, surrounded by people all committed to making a difference in public education in the US.

SXSW EDU

I attended a session at SXSW about the the case for optimism for the future of public schools It was a conversation between Frances Messano, CEO of new Schools Venture Fund and Aneesh Sohoni, the new CEO of Teach for America.
Frances also just published an outstanding article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review calling for wholesale reimagining of public education, beginning with the why instead of the what.

My biggest takeaway from both conferences is that while things in our public education system remain uncertain, there are passionate leaders who are staying in the fight no matter how hard it gets. ASU + GSV was especially eye-opening to just how many financial interests are circling public education, hoping to turn it into one more profitable transaction. I’m grateful to our clients, coLeaguers, and friends who are protecting the integrity of our schools on behalf of students, families, and communities; and I hope we get more opportunities to support the organizations and leaders who are doing this work.

Notes from the Field, Part II: Fractional Support at Every Level

There’s been a tangible shift in client needs over the past year as everyone is adjusting to new/volatile economic realities and ongoing uncertainty in the mission-driven sector. Long before these changes, coLeague had committed to providing embedded fractional support in the whole Talent vertical, not just Chief-level People Leaders, and definitely not Chief-level leaders in other departments/functions.

We’re so happy we made that commitment because we’ve been fully prepared for the current uptick in requests for fractional support in more non-executive roles, from HR Business Partners to Recruitment Directors to HR Managers.

One common scenario: a longtime HR team member resigns, and it’s the perfect opportunity to step back and evaluate the setup of your HR/Talent team; but as we know, the HR show must go on. There’s no time to rethink the department because the company needs HR every day and you can’t risk a gap in support.

Bringing in a fractional HR Manager or Director to keep things moving while you reevaluate can give you the space you need to get it right! One of the best things about working with coLeague is that our folks can hit the ground running with very little oversight, and when you’re ready to hire one or more full-time team members, you have someone who can help with that process and then depart in a completely non-disruptive way.

So, the next time you get an unexpected 2 weeks’ notice, consider letting us fill in the gaps while you figure out what’s next for your team. We have experienced talent/HR professionals at every level and can usually get someone working in about a week!

coLeague’s Talent Diagnostic - Now in a New Mini Version!

In the almost-four-years coLeague has been supporting mission-driven organizations to center their people, we’ve seen every stage of maturity for Talent departments and initiatives. From “we have a PEO and a dream” to “we have a full team supported by a Chief Talent Officer,” organizations are trying to figure out how to build and sustain cultures that work for everyone.

A common pain point we’ve seen in every type of organization was that there is always a long list of things to do, talent-wise, but no one is sure where exactly to start. And even when leaders have a plan and know what to do next, there’s always some underlying challenge that really should be addressed before trying to tackle everything else.

This inspired us to create coLeague’s Talent Diagnostic, based on the Employee Hierarchy of Needs, which identifies foundational gaps in your talent strategy and infrastructure and puts you on a path to a stronger, more people-centric culture.

We wanted to make the Talent Diagnostic more accessible to more folks, so we’re excited to share a new, free “mini” version! This is a simple set of questions that we think can quickly get to the bottom of what might be blocking the success of your People & Talent work to date. We’d love to get 25 organizations to take the free mini version by June 30; can you help us reach this goal? Nothing is required of you except taking the survey about your Talent strategy and infrastructure! It takes 5-10 minutes tops! And you can opt in to whether or not you’d like any follow-up from us based on the results.

Click the button below to take the (very) mini Talent Diagnostic!

Ever wish you could just “call for backup?”

If you’ve ever wished you could just “call for backup,” coLeague is exactly what you’re looking for. We’ve got an incredible network of experienced People/Talent/HR leaders who are ready to take on your toughest challenges.

From occasional, on-demand support with coLeague OnCall to building a new professional development system to embedding an interim, fractional Chief People Officer, we can meet you where you are with our “deep bench” of coLeaguers.

If you’d like to learn more about how coLeague can be the “backup” you need, let’s schedule time to talk!