Submission #22

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Submission information

Form: Senior Staff MESSGRF Application

Submitted by kim.koi

Fri, 05/05/2017 - 19:28

97.68.254.58

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Name of Staff Applicant Leah Colon

Name of RD/VP Stacy Gaskins

Region Florida

This staff is at least in his/her 5th year Yes

Salary Information

Budgeted Salary Level 9

Actual Salary Level 5

Budgeted Salary in Dollars $46,500

Actual Salary in Dollars $30,268

Local Funding Sources and amounts (list Area, Division, or Regional seed money, matching grants, Chapter Planting start-up grants, Jumpstart, in kind gifts, etc.)

$5,000 annually from the Thatcher Foundation; $5,000 from the Staff-to-Staff Grant - this is the last year she will receive this; Leah's area is participating in the Area Planting Accelerator - it is possible she could get $2,000 per year for the next 3 years, but this is not guaranteed

Grant Criteria

Ethnic Identity (check all that apply)

Hispanic/Latino
White/Caucasian

Financial Difficulty (check all that apply)

Limited networks or average gift < $600 annually
Gender issues, e.g. part-time staff due to parenting life stage, woman from a theologically conservative church background, etc.
High cost of living
Challenging ethnic PR issues, e.g. Black church, Native American community, Latino community, unfamiliar with InterVarsity.
Chapter Planting or serving at a commuter school with few to no alumni contacts

Please describe their situation including their ending deficit or surplus for the last three years and any present escrow in their account

Leah relocated from Tampa to Miami five years ago to plant at Miami Dade College, a completely unreached campus and the largest Hispanic Serving Institution in the country. For the past four years, she has worked in a planting situation at a community college campus. This year, she transitioned into the Area Director role and has been working diligently to broaden her networks in Miami, including developing an Advocacy Council. There is strong potential, although it is taking time to develop these partnerships. InterVarsity is not well-known in Miami and the church culture is largely lacking a missional framework so it takes time for her to build understanding in the church about what she is doing. Miami is also a majority Latino culture, which lengthens the time for developing partnerships and those partnerships often begin through non-monetary contributions. The cost of living in Miami is higher than anywhere else in the state.
August 2014: +5,059, operating deficit 2981
June 2015: - +5,059, operating escrow +11,356
June 2016: - +6,000, operating escrow +6,966
Current +12,015, operating deficit -40

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Strategic Role: The Senior Staff worker plays a critical leadership role regionally and/or nationally to help build healthy, ethnically diverse witnessing chapters or staff teams Yes

Please describe as it relates to their present and future involvement

Leah is the most senior LaFe staff in Florida and contributes significantly in growing our work among students and developing LaFe staff. She leads the LaFe staff in developing regional LaFe student conferences and leads ethnic specific gatherings at regional events to grow Latino students in their ethnic identity. She leads a diverse area team. For the past several years, she has served as a chapter camp track director for Small Group Leaders, which trains all of our future small group leaders in crossing cultures and reaching out to distinct corners of campus. Through her experience in chapter planting among community college students, she is also gathering staff from around the region to create apprenticeship and leadership resources for community colleges, which is where much of our ethnically diverse student population originates.

What role (if any) does this staff play in chapter building or chapter planting?

As an Area Director, Leah still gives a significant amount of her time (15-20 hours per week) to campus work. She has planted on multiple campuses, including 3 MDC campuses. Whenever we offer material for staff or students related to planting, Leah is called upon to offer leadership in that area. For example, during our annual chapter camp, she coaches students to start new communities on their campus through the Coaching Bar.

What plan or strategy is being implemented regionally to assist this applicant in addressing their fundraising difficulties?

Last summer, Leah went through Taking Donors Seriously, which has helped her begin building an Advocacy Council in Miami and began to increase her networks there. Because she received the Staff-to-Staff grant, we have also written a sustainability plan which includes setting 2 target goals of $2500 in new money over the next 2 years, designing a new area case over the summer, working with 2 major advocates to grow networks 2017-2018, and regular coaching from me. We will also explore with LaFe nationally about Leah getting some coaching from a LaFe MPD coach. Regionally, we held a training last Fall to train ADs in mid-level donor work, including developing relationships with and making asks of mid-level donors.

Additional comments or questions

Leah is often called upon to help lead for national LaFe events, whether that is running the LaFe lounge at Urbana, leading a seminar and helping with the plenary sessions at previous national LaFe Student Conferences. This spring, Leah gave multiple plenary talks for a student conference in Michigan.

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Electronic Signature of Staff Completing This Application (name and zip code) Stacy Gaskins 33605 with Kim Koi 32118

Email Address stacygaskins@gmail.com