Nitsch Engineering’s Post

As we enter a new school year, it's vital to reflect on our leadership strategies. One perspective that often gets overlooked is the aerial view—seeing the big picture. An aerial view allows school leaders to: - Identify Patterns and Trends: Observe student performance, teacher effectiveness, and school culture to spot areas needing improvement. - Strategic Planning: Develop long-term strategies aligned with your school’s vision and goals. - Resource Allocation: Direct funding, time, and personnel where they’re most needed for maximum impact. - Cohesive Team Building:Align staff with the school’s mission to ensure everyone works towards common goals. - Proactive Problem Solving:Anticipate and address potential problems before they become crises. - Enhanced Communication: Communicate more effectively with teachers, parents, and students, building trust and fostering community.

Oct. 10, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. ET Transform the way you deliver support. Join industry experts, IDD leaders and Netsmart for the Second Annual IDD Leadership Summit coming up on October 10. This event not only features expert panels, but also provides an opportunity to network and engage. And it’s completely virtual––no travel required! Save the date and stay tuned for more information. You’ll learn: -Valuable insights from industry experts in the IDD and autism community -Market trends and opportunities to enhance existing and develop new services -Innovative technology to drive access and improved outcomes -Best practices for IDD service providers

Exciting updates from the Acacia team! 🌟 We're thrilled to share that we just concluded two large strategy engagements—one with a national school network and another with a multi-billion dollar foundation. It's been an honor to collaborate with these visionary CEOs, and we'd love to highlight some takeaways from these projects. 1️⃣ Building culture through strategy: Organizations often build strategy at the top and think about culture change only in the roll-out of the plan. Instead, it can be much more powerful to use strategic planning itself as an opportunity to begin the change process. Thoughtfully engaging internal and external stakeholders can help not only create a shared vision, but also establish new norms and ways of working. 2️⃣ Amplifying impact through partnership: No organization operates in a vacuum. Organizations can increase their impact by identifying critical-path partners and integrating them into the planning process, whether through active coordination or simply a better understanding of where to play. In one client’s case, this meant convening counterparts across the city to map strategic priorities, allowing us to identify gaps for our client to focus on. 3️⃣ Going from strategy to execution: Shifting from strategy to execution is hard. Building initiative plans with the people who are leading the execution is an important step to enable a successful transition. This process can help functional leaders get clear on what they are trying to achieve and how. To learn more about our work, visit www.acaciapartners.co.

Ways to engage and connect with Gen Z staff on your team!

Community Leadership Series: Cultural Awareness Facilitated by Purdue Extension Lake County, this 3-hour training will dive into cultural awareness and diversity in our communities. Lake County residents who are looking gain news skills in working across cultural differences and nonprofit staff are encouraged to attend. To register, click the link in our bio! After this session, participants will be able to: • Expand awareness of diversity in the community. • Explore personal and cultural values, biases, prejudices, and views. • Identify ways in which culture shapes beliefs, practices, and values. • Recognize one’s own culture(s), including organizational culture. Registration Cost: $10 per participant. Limited seats available.

Community Leadership Series: Cultural Awareness Facilitated by Purdue Extension Lake County, this 3-hour training will dive into cultural awareness and diversity in our communities. Lake County residents who are looking gain news skills in working across cultural differences and nonprofit staff are encouraged to attend. To register, click the link in our bio! After this session, participants will be able to: • Expand awareness of diversity in the community. • Explore personal and cultural values, biases, prejudices, and views. • Identify ways in which culture shapes beliefs, practices, and values. • Recognize one’s own culture(s), including organizational culture. Registration Cost: $10 per participant. Limited seats available.

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to engage in a transformative experience in attending Rockwood Leadership Institute's - Art of Leadership retreat for leaders of color! Here were 3 takeaways I gained from the experience: 1. Becoming a participant to become a better facilitator: The whole retreat was a very amazing meta experience to what I hope participants feel in the spaces I curate in leadership programming and it was nice to be "just a participant." I really valued and appreciated being able to engage in community sharing, deep partnership time, actively listening coupled with breathwork, meditation, stretching, journaling and centering what I needed to take care of self. 2. Deepening practice in vision creation: we spent most of our time building our visions but it was led so well it didn't feel like work, it felt more like exploration of self; I'd liken it to peeling an onion and discovering layers of myself that I knew were there but hadn't been explored or thought about in awhile. I loved the exercises that helped us to individually, in partnership and in small groups support our visions and get vulnerable with each other around where we're at and how we move closer to our visions over the next 1-3 years in a less task-focused, elevator pitch-type vision format. I found it deeply motivating but also less pressure-inducing - I'm continuing to use my vision "base" as a tool that has me in what feels like a more innovative space that has created a lot of room for FUN and creativity! 3. Take time to pour into yourself: What was most clear about my week with Rockwood is how needed it was to find time to replenish and fill my cup to support, collaborate and lead others. It's been a minute (!!) since I'd done any professional development and I really valued the time being in community with other folks of color in likeminded and different professional spaces. A very big thank you to the incredible individuals I met during the week - I find myself reflecting on our time in community often throughout my day and am feeling so lifted by our connections and conversations! If you're interested in speaking more about Rockwood Leadership Institute, I would love to connect about my experience! We're two alumni strong in our house - thanks Michael Mitchell for the encouragement to apply (I wonder if we can get the girls in a Rockwood for Kids?!)

Leading by example through community engagement strengthens organizations, inspires employees, and enhances reputation. I’ve seen firsthand how authentic involvement—whether volunteering, serving on boards, or supporting local initiatives—boosts morale, attracts purpose-driven talent, and fosters leadership development. It builds trust with communities and creates lasting impact, reinforcing the connection between business success and social responsibility. Ultimately, leadership is about service, and engaging with the community drives both organizational growth and meaningful change.

Meet our Untapped Leadership Cohort Alumni! At Untapped Leaders, we know that leadership takes many forms, and it’s often forged in spaces where traditional paths don’t always lead the way. That’s why we’re thrilled to spotlight our incredible cohort alumni who have embraced their identities, perspectives, and lived experiences to redefine leadership on their terms. Our alumni are changemakers, visionaries, and resilient leaders who have unlocked their Untapped Capacity and operate with contextual agility—transforming workplaces, communities, and industries by challenging the status quo. From navigating systemic barriers to amplifying their voices, their journeys inspire us all. Through our cohort experience, they’ve built networks, refined their leadership practices, and gained tools to create lasting impact. But most importantly, they’ve become part of a community that celebrates their unique contributions and empowers their growth. We’re proud of their journeys and the paths they’re carving for others to follow. Here’s what leadership looks like when we center authenticity, inclusion, and purpose. Alumni Bios: https://lnkd.in/g6paJmeX We hope to welcome you into this impact-driven community. Applications for our Winter 2025 cohort are live! Learn more and apply at https://lnkd.in/gv42fNQS

Student leadership organizations help prepare students to become leaders beyond their FIRST team and empower youth to become active within the FIRST community. Check out quick tips from the FIRST ED&I and Education teams on how you can initiate a sustainable Youth Advisory Council: https://hubs.ly/Q02K4bf90