COMMON GROUND CONSULTING LLC

Four Countries. 20 Hours.

After that amazing dinner at Kamnik, I slept like a baby . . . for all of about three and a half hours. Then the time changed—spring forward—so I got up about 3:30 to catch my car to the airport for a 6am (really 5am) flight to Belgrade.

In Belgrade I grabbed a cab to my good friend Dragana's place, where I'm staying (thanks D!) for a few days. After settling in, a little rest, a great breakfast, and another shower, we left Belgrade by car with a whole crew of NGO folks who are attending a training on a great new project (more on that in a moment) here in Serbia.

The drive ended up being a long six hour journey out of Serbia, in and out of Croatia, and into Banja Luka, the capital of the Republika Srpska (the Serbian enclave) in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina! We had a few minor border crossing issues and a slower-than-expected drive, but the people were cool and it was great to see more of the countryside in this part of the world. We made a few little stops along the way and ate a box of U.S. Girl Scout cookies (samoas) that I had brought along for the ride.

As we arrived so late, it was a quick dinner at the hotel and then I had a brief meeting with the head of the NGO who is leading the project I mentioned above (thanks Dragana for setting this up and John for meeting so late!). Focusing on issues of gender-based violence, the project creates curriculum and trains trainers to work with 15-19 year-old boys in Serbia on definitions of masculinity, expressions of manhood, violence, domestic violence, etc. The hope is to begin to change some of the old ways of thinking that perpetuate destructive and harmful expressions of violence without losing the cultural nuances of what it means to be a boy/man from Serbia.

Its a fantastic long-term project that holds tremendous promise. Its in line with so much of my life's work with young people that it was really worth the effort to get to Banja Luka to learn more.

Finishing at about 11:30, for Moca (thanks for driving!), Jovana, and me, it was back home again to Belgrade. I would have liked to stay longer, learning more about the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia, etc. but I had a meeting back here in Belgrade this morning. This time, the trip only took about four hours and honestly, I don't remember any of it, as I slept the whole way in the backseat.

MEAT!

On the occasion of my last night in Skopje, Jeton, Christophe and I went to dinner at at a place I've been hearing about since my first trip to Macedonia last year, Kamnik (aka The Hunters' Lodge).

This is not a place for the feint of heart—and definitely not a place for vegetarians! (Nikica, Jelena and Ana, please forgive us!)

As you can see by the photos, this place is all about meat. Exotic, unusual meat. Deer and wild boar and moose, just to name a few of my new favorites.

We started with appetizers of mixed dried and smoked sausages and a great assortment of cheeses. Both excellent. For our entrees, we all had grilled venison in a green pepper sauce. This was absolutely fantastic. The creamy sauce was spicy and yet just a little bit sweet. When we asked the waiter for suggestions, this was his favorite. He also convinced us (alright me) that we should try the grilled fresh venison sausage with thinly sliced onions. This was so good, we ordered a second helping!

Think Different

So, if you know me, you know that I am a Macintosh computer guy through and through. I believe that Apple, Inc. is a terrific company—innovative, resourceful, consumer-oriented. In industry jargon, I'm an early-adopter, always embracing the newest technology.

You can imagine then how excited I was to find an Apple store on my walk between the ISC offices where I'm working and my hotel, the Aristocrat Palace!

The Road From Bitola: Part II

I haven't posted many photos of the beautiful countryside of Macedonia, but as its springtime here, we had to stop the car a few times so that I could share with you some of the beautiful sites.

The Road From Bitola: Part I

I really enjoy the chance to visit our Leader NGOs (part of ISC's Civil Society Strengthening Project here in Macedonia) and on my second trip to Bitola we had a very good site visit and a few other adventures (see the post below regarding Boza)!

In addition to clarifying some new strategic priorities for MKC (specifically helping them to cultivate new volunteer opportunities for their hundreds of volunteers), we also got a chance to see more of their program and their center. They have a current exhibition in their building at the moment, showcasing the talented kaleidoscope-making abilities of some of their volunteers.

Jeton, Ana, and I also had a fantastic lunch with MKC's Executive Director, Zlatko, at Plaza Restaurant. All of our food was delicious and I started with tzatziki salad, a Greek specialty that you just don't find in the U.S. For my entree, I had the appetizer platter of warm national dishes—one of my favorites, sarma; a dish of slow roasted potatoes with green onions, a little sea salt, and lemon juice (I'm making this one at home right away!); fried zucchini; some grilled mushrooms. It was all local, fresh, and great!

My friends also had delicious salads, mushrooms, and more.

In fact, this restaurant had more than 25 varieties (and 45 preparations) of MUSHROOMS! Our great waiter, Alexander, showed us just a few of these. My grandpa Kenny (he loved hunting mushrooms) would have loved this place!

My Love Affair with Boza

I'm not sure exactly how I've made so many trips to the Balkans and never tried Boza! This deliciously sweet, fermented beverage is popular all over Central Eastern Europe. I'm told it is the one thing that the diaspora in the U.S. miss the most!

My guide to this drink delicacy is ISC's new Capacity Building Manager, Ana (on the left), and she tells me that you either love it or hate it. Perhaps my other Balkan friends are not big fans. Jeton (on the right) is not a big fan.

I, on the other hand, will be drinking a lot of it!

I had my first glass of Boza today in Bitola, a town of about 50,000 people and home to one of our Leader NGOs, the Youth Cultural Center in Bitola (MKC), a terrific youth program working with USAID funds to establish itself as Macedonia's national center for volunteerism.

New Training Institute Offerings

Lately, Common Ground has been asked to provide a substantial amount of training in a few key areas. As a result, we've redesigned several popular sessions in one and two-day institute formats. The trainings can be offered as a part of existing conferences and can be even more effective when limited to a particular organization or community.

This initial set of trainings focus on organizational sustainability, relationship-based fundraising, and organizational diversity issues. I'll post more information about each session separately below.

If you would like more information or would like to schedule a training institute in your community, please email mailto:[email protected] and we'll follow-up with you right away.

IF YOU ARE A CURRENT DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FUNDED MENTORING PROGRAM and are interested in bringing this training to your community, please download the following and contact Shelly Boehm at EMT Associates by calling 877.579.4788 or emailing her at mailto:[email protected].

Understanding Sustainability: From Principles to Practice

Part of the Common Ground Training Institute Series:

Training Overview

Sustainability is a complex issue involving many aspects of an organization’s overall management and operations: planning, finance, fundraising, human resource, programming, partnership building, etc. In this training, we will focus on several of the most critical aspects of the sustainability puzzle by stimulating new thinking and providing strategies and tools for ensuring the vitality of organizations for as long as it is necessary for them to achieve their mission. Organizations only become sustainable when they take clear and specific steps to become that way.

Participants will receive an assessment tool that must be completed (one per participating organization) prior to attending. The final agenda will be designed using information gleaned from these assessments. Additional organization-specific technical assistance can be provided following the training.

Primary Outcomes (Participants Will Be Able To:)

• Describe the basic principles of social profit sustainability;
• Understand and create a programmatic logic model;
• Describe the key roles and responsibilities of social profit boards (executive and advisory);
• Develop strategies for involving board members in sustainability planning;
• Define capacity building as it is used in the social profit sector and explain seven key indicators; and
• Use a particular model and capacity assessment tool.

Who Should Attend? . . . Everyone is Welcome!
This session is geared towards organizational stakeholders who have some measure of responsibility for management and planning. It is ideal for executive directors, managers, senior program staff and, of course, board members.

Ending The Dependancy: Uncovering the Power of Your Relationships in Fundraising

Part of the Common Ground Training Institute Series:

Training Overview

Time, talent, and treasure are resources within your reach right now! Participants will learn to embrace and prioritize individual investor-based fundraising as an integral part of their overall organizational fundraising efforts. If social profits are going to get serious about sustainability then we need to get serious about asking people for the resources we need to do it. In this provocative session, you will change the way you think about fundraising. You will believe that asking people for money is easier than you think and that the rewards are always greater than you expect. And you’re going to learn how to do it.
This session is not just for management. In fact, program staff need to attend this workshop. The skills taught in this workshop will also help you find new and creative ways to identify and recruit volunteers; tap into their wisdom, experience, and skill sets for the benefit of your program; and, most importantly, raise all of the money your program needs to both survive and thrive!
Additional organization-specific technical assistance can be provided following the training.

Primary Outcomes (Participants Will Be Able To:)

• Describe the major reasons that people give and continue giving;
• Define the board's role in fundraising;
• Understand essential paradigm shifts necessary for successfully raising money from individuals;
• Track passion rather than money in developing sustainable giving strategies; and
• Apply the skills they learn to raising more money, recruiting more volunteers, and better leveraging relationships.

Who Should Attend? . . . Everyone is Welcome!
This session is geared towards organizational stakeholders who have some measure of responsibility for fundraising. It is ideal for executive directors, development directors, senior program staff and, of course, board members. The session is available in an extended two-day format which allows more time for the development of more organization-specific tools.

Rethinking Diversity: Its Not About Checklists, Its About Checking Yourself

Part of the Common Ground Training Institute Series:

Training Overview
If youth service programs are to succeed in improving social conditions in this country, it is critical that the field is actively engaged in understanding and addressing issues of diversity. This powerful workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to engage in a variety of thought-provoking and highly interactive activities designed to challenge each of us to “step outside our comfort zones” and explore the ways in which we have been socialized concerning human differences. This workshop will involve participants on a personal level; as well as provide mechanisms for incorporating community building and anti-oppression strategies into existing and future programming.

Additional organization-specific technical assistance can be provided following the training.

Primary Outcomes (Participants Will Be Able To:)

• Define and explore the interconnectedness of a variety of diversity issues;
• Talk about difficult, challenging and often controversial issues in a safe environment;
• Explore strategies for dealing effectively (both personally and organizationally) with challenging diversity issues;
• Learn to use new tools for dealing with conflict, particularly around differences in values; and
• Recognize the added strength of diversity in organizational problem-solving.

Who Should Attend? . . . Everyone is Welcome!
This session is intended for all organizational stakeholders. It is an excellent session for staff or board teams. While it is designed to be a proactive strategy for improving your organization’s ability to benefit from the power of human differences, it can also be effective as a reactive measure in community-wide situations that require conflict resolution or in organizations that are experiencing tensions related to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc.