Speaker: Tamela Spann, Vice President, Community Investments, Hollingsworth Funds
Introduce yourself by sharing your name, organization, and title.
Tamela Spann: I'm Tamela Spann, Vice President of Community Investments at Hollingsworth Funds. Hollingsworth is a place based foundation located in Greenville, South Carolina, and at Hollingsworth, we are committed to doing our part to ensure that Greenville is a vibrant, just, and inclusive community where equitable opportunities exist for all to advance and thrive. When we decided it was time to revisit our vision, mission, and value statements, we knew we needed an expert who could guide us through a process that would result in both the board and the staff articulating a shared commitment to these principles; what I just shared with you. We needed a visionary consultant who could help us crystallize our aspirations into a clear, compelling vision, a mission that would drive our daily actions and values that would basically reflect the essence of who we are. We found this in Tracey Greene-Washington and her team at Indigo. Tracey is a seasoned expert with extensive experiences in working with organizations and communities around these principles and also our strategic levels of systems change, equity, and economic mobility. And it was with her guidance, our board and staff engaged in collaborative workshops and thoughtful discussions. We didn't just aim to redefine words on paper, we aimed to define a collective purpose that would resonate in every corner of our organization. Tracey skillfully, very skillfully facilitated sessions that encouraged open dialogue, invited people in, encouraged diverse perspectives and innovative thinking, and together we wove what I like to call a tapestry of values that not only guide our internal culture, but also act as a compass for our external engagements. And through this process, our vision emerged as a, what we believe is a beacon of inspiration, and it lights the way for a vibrant, just, and inclusive Greenville. Our mission became a road map outlining the steps we know we have to take to fulfill our commitment to equitable opportunities for all, and our values well, they're the threads that bind us together. So, we couldn't have been more pleased. It's because of that, that we extended our engagement with Tracey to help our leadership team redefine our roles, responsibilities, and expectations to ensure seamless collaboration. Tracey with her exceptional facilitation skills, guided us through insightful conversations or discussions, and through these sessions, we clarified our expectations and delineated a comprehensive framework; what we call our playbook. And this playbook serves as a guiding compass for us even today. After completing this work, I maintain an ongoing partnership with Tracey, basically leveraging her as a strategic thought partner and coach. Her guidance has proven to be invaluable and it has helped me navigate the practical implementation of our new strategic framework, and having someone to bounce ideas off of and receive expert advice has been instrumental in refining our operational approach. Today, thanks to the collaborative effort with Tracey and Indigo, I believe our organization is not only clearer in its vision, but also more united in its leadership, and I can't say this strongly enough, but the impact of a skilled consultant, really it extends beyond the boardroom. It reaches the heart of your organization. It fosters a culture of innovation, collaboration, and purpose. So, if you are ready to embark on a transformative journey, if you're ready to really elevate your organization to new heights, I strongly encourage you to explore the possibilities with Tracey Green-Washington and the Indigo Innovation Group.
Why did you engage Tracey and Indigo Innovation Group, and what were the critical areas that I helped you focus on?
Tamela Spann: We engaged Tracey and Indigo to help us with three critical areas. One was an organizational refresh where we would evaluate our vision mission and value statements to bring some alignment between what we were articulating externally and how we internally thought about our work. So, we recognized that we needed to do that work with our board and then also interrogate those statements to ensure that they were delivering a message that was aligned with the way we see ourselves in the work that needed to be done. The second part of that involved an engagement with myself and our CEO to help redefine our roles, how we would work together, our expectations of each other, so that we could provide direction to the team, but then also have a seamless, develop or create a habit of seamless collaboration. And then finally, I worked with Tracey, or continue that engagement with her because I wanted to leverage her as a strategic thought partner and coach.
What expertise did I bring, and what was unique about working with me?
Tamela Spann: The expertise that Tracey brought was that she is an exceptional facilitator. She is also a seasoned expert, has extensive experience working with organizations, and deep knowledge about the topics, the strategic levers that we wanted to use to guide our work. And, I think what's unique is that she brings really an, an extensive toolbox of tools, of processes and ways that helped us have really meaningful conversations and that took those meaningful conversations and brought them to action. And I believe that's unique. I've been engaged with a number of consultants before who do a really good job of helping us have some very meaningful, philosophical conversations, but the one thing that sets Tracey apart from those particular engagements is that those conversations then also resulted in action, moved us toward action.
Highlight specific achievements and challenges overcome, and our collaboration's value to you and your organization.
Tamela Spann: The specific achievements of this engagement include the revision of our organizational statements. We have a revised, or refreshed vision, mission and value statements, a playbook from which myself and our ceo hold ourselves accountable to how we work together to ensure that there's seamless collaboration, which in turn makes the entire department more effective and efficient. And of a goal and a strategic framework that is now being operationalized. And her influence and her work with me as a strategic thought partner and coach was very invaluable to that process in getting us to where we are today. I think particular challenges that we overcame during that we've overcome, rather during this process included really balancing the need for some folks to hurry and not value on the front end, the importance of well, not on the front end, probably more on the back end, but the importance of the time it takes to finish the journey. And I think that she was nimble in that, and balancing people's kind of I don't want to say it was impatience, but I'll say it. People's impatience with process, she was able to balance that by demonstrating the outcomes, bringing people along with this is what you've accomplished by doing this piece. And so, you I think that it developed a culture in our organization for learning, which is a continued priority for us, has been a continued priority for us in the last two years since the end of that engagement. And so, it's been invaluable and it has been impactful in setting the right direction and course for our organization.
Provide inspirational words you would like to share to invite others to work with me and Indigo Innovation Group.
Tamela Spann: Our engagement with Tracey has been transformative, and I believe that, the impact of a skilled consultant should extend beyond the boardroom. It should reach the heart of the organization, it should foster a culture of innovation, it should be inspirational, and it should really, sharpen everyone's focus on what the purpose of the work is. And I would invite anyone who is ready to take their organization on a transformative journey. Anyone who's thinking about how to elevate their organization. I would strongly encourage you to explore possibilities with Tracey. And Indigo. You will not regret it and you personally, as well as the organization will be much better for it.
