Social service agencies’ Newport Initiative<br> expands free resources with new Web site

NEWPORT – An interagency training and development program called the Newport Initiative for Nonprofit Leadership has been launched by a coalition of local social-services providers led by the nonprofit Child & Family Services.
Its partners in the initiative include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County, CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, the East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP), the Visiting Nurse Service of Newport and Bristol Counties and the Women’s Resource Center.
The director of the Newport Initiative is Jill Pfitzenmayer, vice president of organizational performance and training at CFS. “She’s the one who got the grant, she’s the one who’s really built this program,” said CFS spokesman Keith Tavares.
“We received a $450K federal grant, and it looks as if it’s going to be more like $700k over the next couple of years,” Tavares said.
That’s especially good given the state budget cuts affecting schools and social service programs, he said. “A lot of it happened under the radar … but it’s happened, they cut them, that’s it – and now we have to deal with it.
“That’s why this Newport Initiative for Nonprofit Leadership is so important and so timely,” Tavares said.
The collaborative offers free training, research and resources that will help nonprofits in Rhode Island, and especially in Newport County, “to build the organizations and the agencies that provide those services,” he said.
The Newport Initiative has been providing free classes and workshops since this spring, Tavares said, “mostly at the Newport Public Library and Newport County Chamber of Commerce, and some here at our headquarters at Newport Child & Family.”
Additional resources are available through www.newportinitiative.org, a Web site that launched this week.
Besides a schedule of events, the site will feature papers submitted by all of the guest speakers and workshop leaders, Tavares said. “Plus research – they can request research from a doctoral student,” who is working with the Newport Initiative, he said.
“The collaboration between the partners on this is very good,” Tavares said, with representatives from the six nonprofits meeting at least monthly.
“There’s a lot of components that have not kicked in yet,” he added.
This fall, the Newport Initiative will launch agency leadership and management training, development training and marketing training, and will host its first regional conference.
The Nov. 5 event will feature Jeffrey Canada, whose nonprofit Harlem Children’s Zone gained international attention when it was visited by Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, Tavares said. “What he’s going to do is come up here with his entire senior staff, and provide an entire day of training to nonprofits in Newport on his success, and how they achieved that success. And it’s free!”
The event is slated for Nov. 5, at venues including The Hotel Viking. “We’re really excited, and we’re hoping to get some good visibility,” Tavares said.
To learn more about the Newport Initiative for Nonprofit Leadership and its programs, visit www.newportinitiative.org.