Technical Assistance and Training/Capacity Building

“In my 30 years of doing this business, JBS has been the best contractor I’ve ever worked with. Working at the national level, I’ve seen a lot of other parts of JBS and am continually impressed by the caliber of people who work for your company and the services that we, as a state, get as a result of that.” —Health Program Specialist II, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Nevada State Health Division

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. The adage is old, but the message is timeless.

Through comprehensive technical assistance and training, JBS works with clients to help their constituents and stakeholders build internal capacity. This strengthened capacity supports efforts to help people run better, more efficient programs, build essential skills, reach personal and professional goals, and achieve organizational sustainability.

Capacity building might include:

• Equipping individuals or organizations with the skills and knowledge that allow them to perform effectively
• Developing and improving management structures within and between organizations
• Building institutional and legal frameworks that enable organizations, institutions, and agencies to enhance their capacity to operate successfully

JBS delivers more than 500 onsite TA visits annually. We manage more than 100 meetings and events a year. Our strategies are tried and true, based on years of experience and steeped in best practices. We use top-performing consultants who not only understand the information but share it in engaging ways using approaches that support personal and organizational change. Our goal—and the goal of the consultants we use—is to better prepare organizations and individuals with a host of skills and abilities that support them in addressing current and future challenges.

Some of our work includes:

• For the state commissioners that oversee national community service grants to AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Vista, JBS created online, interactive trainings starring “Sophie,” an avatar who guides users through National Service 101, State Commissions 101, Financial Oversight and Management, Grants Process, and Disaster and Emergency Response.
• We planned and conducted two 2.5-day summits for more than 800 substance abuse treatment providers across the country who were facing an exploding methamphetamine epidemic. We provided up-to-the-minute information on the drug and its effects. And we did it in less than 4 months.
• In response to growing gang violence in Indian Country, we organized an ongoing series of Native American youth leadership camps to encourage young people to value themselves and be part of the solution to the problems facing Native American communities across the country.
• To provide support to the children who witness family and neighborhood violence, we are publishing the Moving From Evidence to Action series, issue briefs that translate research into practical tips for professionals in schools, homeless shelters, pediatric practices, law enforcement, and child welfare agencies.

	What We Do & Why We Do It: Spotlight on Technical Assistance to State Commissioners Mentoring youth. Building affordable housing. Teaching computer skills. Cleaning parks and streams. Running after-school programs. Helping communities respond to disasters. Each year, more than 1.5 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds participate in a wide range of service activities through initiatives overseen by the Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS). The CNCS engages Americans in service to meet community needs. The Corporation is the nation’s largest grantmaker supporting service and volunteering. One of CNCS’s programs is AmeriCorps, often referred to as a domestic version of the Peace Corp; both organizations are committed to service, and both offer challenging and rewarding full-time opportunities. The AmeriCorps network of local, state, and national service programs involves more than 70,000 Americans in intensive service each year. Justine Murray of JBS’s Aguirre Division is Project Director of the Technical Assistance to State Commissioners (TASC) project, which provides training, TA, and capacity-building services to CNCS grantees. These grantees consist of governor-appointed state commissions, members of which distribute and monitor more than 700 grants to local nonprofits and agencies. These commissions are unique partners with CNCS in administering national services programs and promoting service opportunities at the state level. “We take an organizational development approach to the TASC project,” Justine explains. “Primarily, we are developing and building capacity of the governor-appointed commissions that helps them enhance the way their organization and their staffs operate. In the end, the state commission members and national program staff benefit from our work with them. Indirectly, AmeriCorps state and national members and the communities they serve all win.”