The HSLC connects leaders of human services nonprofits in Central New York through bi-monthly members’ meetings, affinity groups and e-mail distributions.
Member meetings are a forum for exchange of information on current issues facing the human services nonprofit sector, as well as information on collaboration opportunities and resources in the community. Structured networking opportunities are built into the agenda of each meeting. Meetings are held on the second Friday of the month: January, March, May, July, September, and November.
Meetings often feature a guest speaker, with opportunity for group dialog focused on needs of the human services sector. Past speakers include: Gwen Webber-McLeod (noted leadership development consultant), Lateef Johnson-Kinsey, Director of the Mayor’s Office to Reduce Gun Violence, Dr. Warren Hilton, President of Onondaga Community College, and Dr. Robert Simmons III, VP of Social Impact and STEM Programs, Micron Foundation, and Melanie Littlejohn, President and CEO, Central New York Community Foundation
The HSLC newsletter is e-mailed to all members and provides a platform for information sharing among members for job postings, event notices and other resource needs or offerings. All members can submit information regarding their upcoming events, open positions or collaboration needs. The newsletter also provides information on HSLC advocacy work, HSLC sponsored events and group meetings, grant opportunities and on-going crucial issues for the human services sector.
Optional Membership (at a significantly discounted fee) in the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON). NYCON offers free webinars on important issues as well as access to nonprofit sector resources, including board recruitment and development, leadership development and consulting services.
Access to “members” portal in the HSLC website. This section can be accessed by any staff member who is designated by the leader of an HSLC member agency. The “members” portal is intended to serve as a resource hub for best practices in workforce development (policies and practices shared by member agencies), as well as a place where members can find important reference information. Examples of the reference information include: minutes and presentations from HSLC member meetings and committee meetings, as well as studies conducted by the HSLC, such as salary surveys and economic impact analysis.
ADVOCACY:
HSLC has an Advocacy Committee made up of representatives from member agencies, which advocates for the needs and interests of the human services nonprofits sector in CNY and the people whom the nonprofits serve.
Each election cycle, the HSLC hosts a “Coffee with the Candidates” which convenes candidates running for office and allows for informal, one-on-one conversations between them and member agency representatives. The most recent Coffee with the Candidates was held on October 17, 2024
In 2023, in response to members’ needs, the HSLC created “Advocacy 101” training webinars which were offered to HSLC member agency staff and board members.
The HSLC participates in state-wide advocacy with other coalitions across New York State for fair wages, including COLA’s in state contracts; as well as investments by New York State in the human services sector.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING & ANTI-RACISM
The HSLC has a DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging)
& Anti-Racism Committee made up of representatives from member agencies to collectively address challenges of building cultures within agencies that are diverse, equitable and inclusive. The DEIB & Anti-Racism Committee is intended to be a working group/learning community to share tools and best practices among agencies to help all member agencies in their respective DEIB journeys. The DEIB & Anti-Racism Committee launched on October 22, 2024 a quarterly “lunch and learn” featuring subject matter experts and discussion groups related to DEIB & Anti-Racism.
In addition to the DEIB & Anti-Racism Committee work, the HSLC launched an initiative in 2019 to help member agencies assess their intercultural development competency at the individual and group levels, with the goal of attracting and retaining employees who better reflect the communities served by the agencies. The HSLC is using a nationally/internationally recognized assessment instrument from IDI,LLC. Currently, the HSLC offers this assessment to all member agencies, who can use the results of the assessment tool and action plan it generates to improve their cultural competency and the work environment in their organizations. Interested member agencies pay a modest per person fee for their employees (could be senior management or all staff) to individually take the IDI assessment survey and then meet one-on-one with a trained IDI Qualified Administrator to review the results of the survey and develop an action plan to improve the individual’s intercultural competency.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT:
In 2023, in response to HSLC members’ stated needs, the HSLC created a Workforce Development Committee to address an acute challenge for HSLC member agencies: attracting and retaining talent to sustain mission-based services. This committee is open to representatives from all HSLC member agencies, and also includes representatives from community partners including Onondaga County, CenterState CEO, Onondaga Community College, as workforce development is a challenge to be addressed collaboratively and at a macro-level for the good of the CNY community. The goal is to develop strategies to improve the CNY human services nonprofit sector’s ability to attract and retain talent.
The Workforce Development Committee completed in 2023 a survey of nearly 900 employees from HSLC member agencies to identify what attracts people to the work and what more needs to be done to retain people. A “Human Services Career Path Survey” was published at the end of 2023. The HSLC hosted a Workforce Development focus group on May, 2024 with front-line and supervisor staff from its member agencies to gather ideas (and build on the results of the “Human Services Career Path Survey”) on what can be done to improve recruitment and retention in human services nonprofits. A report of the information gathered in the focus group event is serving as the basis for the Workforce Development Committee to develop actionable strategies.
COLLABORATIONS:
The HSLC launched a Collaborations Committee in 2023 to assist HSLC member agencies to efficiently identify collaborations partners for grants. The committee also plans to explore opportunities to provide grant writing on a shared services basis.
AFFINITY GROUPS:
NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (ED) AFFINITY GROUP – This affinity group is specifically designed to address the concerns and needs of executive directors who are relatively new to their positions or organization – have less than 2 years leading their current organization. The principal benefit of this affinity group is networking in a small, safe setting for new ED’s to share ideas and concerns.
The HSLC facilitates the meetings and invites guest speakers (recognized local consultants/ subject matter experts; seasoned executive directors) to dialog with affinity group members in a small group setting. The New ED Affinity Group generally meets monthly in-person.
HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) AFFINITY GROUP – This affinity group is a long-standing group; it has been in existence for nearly 10 years and is a very robust affinity group that delivers significant value to its members. The affinity group is open to HR management staff as well as Executive Directors from HSLC member agencies to share best practices and collaboratively tackle human resources issues that many agencies face. In between the formal meetings, the HR Affinity Group members maintain effective e-mail communication with one another to share information and ideas on policies, procedures, regulatory compliance, and current challenges facing HR – all leading to shared learning and problem solving. The HR Affinity Group meets quarterly.
FINANCE AFFINITY GROUP – This group is open to the finance and operations staff of all member agencies as well as Executive Directors. Much like the HR affinity group, the members of this group meet to share best practices and collectively tackle issues typically faced by many agencies. The Finance Affinity Group meets quarterly.