Good Sailing, Brighter Futures

It’s unusual for a consultant to have a ten-year relationship with a project.  I started with Brighter Futures as the evaluation coordinator in 2000 when it was just Ramon Wagner’s wild dream to create a prevention movement in Milwaukee that would take up where the CAP Network left off.  His vision was a system of community-based organizations that had the sustainable capacity to offer immediate, relevant, and meaningful services to children, youth and families. I was fortunate to work on Brighter Futures until I decided in February to end my involvement with the project.

Chaordic was the word of the day. Chaordic: combining elements of chaos and order.  And Brighter Futures was just that when it started and, to a large extent, remains that way today.  To effectively reach youth and families, programs need to be agile, smart, unrestrained by convention, and willing to try the ridiculous.  To stay in business, programs need to have capacity to keep funding, track outcomes, and plan for the future.

In my work on Brighter Futures, I tried to find that balance by structuring an outcome system that recognized the local service delivery context and acknowledged the right of funders to have proof of performance and results.  I’m proud of the evaluation work that was done on Brighter Futures and deeply appreciative of the opportunity afforded me by Community Advocates to work on a sustained basis with Joe Volk, Racquel Bell, Ken Germanson, and Aricka Evans.  I learned from the many Brighter Futures agencies — like The Parenting Network, Alma Center, Milwaukee Christian Center, and others — what it takes to b e a sustainable, high engagement program.  Nine times out of ten – wait, make that ten out of ten – it’s all about leadership and relationships.

So why leave?  Brighter Futures had become too comfortable for me.  Too safe and predictable.  A good body of work but the years’ products were beginning to look alike and blend together.  So I traded Brighter Futures for something unsafe and unpredictable.  I’m beginning a new evaluation of a statewide process improvement initiative being implemented in county Aging and Disability Resource Centers by the State of Wisconsin and NIATx/UW-Madison.  Part of this evaluation is visiting all over the state – Fond du Lac, Eau Claire, Marshfield – so I’m looking at a lot of miles and probably way too many drive-throughs. 

At this stage of my career, I don’t want to be on automatic pilot.  No coasting for me.  Far better to head off to a new city and wonder what’s happening there.  How will I understand the process?  Who should I talk to?  What should I ask?  Will I be able to make sense out of a complicated change process?  Can I help improve things for people?

Being in business is fundamentally about taking risks.  That’s a skill that gets rusty fast if you don’t force yourself to use it. 

So, my best to Brighter Futures and the wonderful people involved in that program.  And hello, Fond du Lac.