ST EOBHCSunset 072321 - Flipbook - Page 25
Searching for a
generative EOBHC
structure to support
its purpose
In the spirit of simplifying processes
and holding fewer meetings, Work
Groups and Momentum Teams took
this opportunity to pause and reflect,
with some opting to reset and recharge
around a clearer work plan and others
opting to disband.
“The work is moving; it’s not
waiting for BHC.... How much
resource has been pumped
into figuring out structures versus supporting the work on the ground? We
need to develop the capacity of local groups and not pump resources into
the Hub…. I don’t hear or see how the Hub is the glue. Fund the groups to do
the work to have greater impact. Some things about the structure, the Hub,
are all unnecessary burdens.”
—EOBHC CBO partner
In March 2015, the EOBHC Work Group Chairs organized a retreat without the EOBHC Hub’s staff. They
had a choice: continue on in business-as-usual mode as TCE grantees, or take it upon themselves to
envision and deploy a fresh approach to the initiative. This retreat launched a process of inquiry as
to the opportunities and barriers that faced EOBHC and resulted in a fresh determination to take this
collective effort to the next level.
The Work Group Chairs evolved, over the next six months, from seeing themselves as cogs in the
EOBHC and TCE wheels into what became the Leadership Council (LC). The LC asserted itself
as having a level of responsibility for EOBHC overall. This leadership stance was subsequently
recognized and supported by TCE and EOBHC’s host, ACPHD. Between September and October of
2015, the EOBHC Hub Manager (who was an employee of ACPHD) transitioned out, and ACPHD’s role
as Hub Host ended. The fact that EOBHC leadership on the ground had the vision and confidence
to successfully navigate this transition of ACPHD’s Hub Host role is testimony to: (1) the level of
trust with TCE’s Program Manager Sandra Davis, (2) the autonomy and power that they believe
they had, and (3) the depth of relationships and confidence that they had in each other.
Over the next three months and into the winter, the newly-formed LC hosted a series of three daylong retreats. In December 2015, the LC organized a Work Groups Retreat to re-engage EOBHC’s
FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK EAST OAKLAND: EOBHC Sunset Report
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