Panelists and Seminars

We will discuss practical applications of YPAR, view projects completed by Dr. Burke using the YPAR method and learn about his current project at Parkview Community Center. He will answer questions and work with Fellows to identify situations and context in which you, the Fellow, might employ the principals of YPAR into your own projects back home.  

We will discuss organizational values & vision and self-evaluation; we’ll learn how to conduct an environmental scan of your organization or community, how to evaluate and use market forces to guide your decision-making process, and how to work with resource constraints. A brief introduction to the SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and creative ways to use it will also be included.  

These principals and tools can be used in any organization or project. These ideas are common core attributes and practices of successful projects and organizations—from health to environmental—these are global applications. 

MedLink is a regional provider of health care services in rural and suburban Georgia. It has over 13 locations and has an impressive track record as an organization that supports diversity in the workplace. MedLink is a client of Fanning and will share its strategic planning process, opportunities and growth plans in this highly turbulent industry. MedLink is a successful local provider of health care and may have facilities in size and perspectives that are relatable to the context of communities in Africa. Fellows will be challenged to see if the process and practices used by this medium size non-profit can be related to health care issues in their home country.  

Takeaways and lessons learned will be captured in the discussion following the presentation by MedLink leaders. Fellows will expand their network as their interests include health care and civic engagement in that industry. We will share the complexity of the US health care industry as a lead-in to the presentation by MedLink leaders. 

This panel presentation shares the insights of UGA’s significant experience with promoting and managing diversity among its some 35,000 students and over 6,000 faculty and staff, and the Georgia communities across the state. It is planned to be highly interactive and will allow Fellows to share their views and experiences on how their professional teams deal with issues that pertain to diversity and inclusion back home. Our Difficult Conversations exercise should aid in a safe and engaging discussion.  

Faculty will lead Fellows in the art and science of managing “difficult conversations;” we’ll share an evidence-based approach to how individuals can effectively communicate with those who may have dramatically different views on emotionally charged issues (e.g., religion, race, personal preferences, etc.). Leaders need these skills to listen and respond to those in his/her/their group that might have contrasting views. This exercise is skillfully presented in a way that allows Fellows to both participate and lead difficult conversations and adds this important skill to their tool kit. 

Invited faculty with deep expertise in grant writing will take Fellows through the various steps that are critical to successful grant writing or resource mobilization. This process will be developed over the time frame of the Institute and will be an important deliverable for each Fellow at the end of the programming. The experience will drill down to a meaningful and potentially fundable proposal for a project back home.