It was a busy first half of the year for the AF Leaders Empowered and Dedicated (LEAD) to Serve Team as they rolled out a new competency-based course, adapted the LEAD to Serve Course for civil society engagement in local governance and mainstreamed the delivery of LEAD to Serve Course for NGO talents.
Launched the LEAD to Serve Program Management (PM) Course
Twenty-five participants (25) from 15 organizations graduated from the pilot offering of the LEAD to Serve PM Course which ran online from January to April 2023. The Course covered functional competencies and select leadership competencies for NGO Program/Project Officers. The participants also learned about integrating gender and environment considerations into their programs and projects. To complete the Course, each participant submitted a summative output applying what they have learned in enhancing their organization’s program/project management processes.
Adapting the LEAD to Serve Course in South Cotabato CSOs
The LEAD to Serve Course in South Cotabato is under way with 7 of 10 leadership competencies already covered as of June 2023. Each competency is also linked to elements of local governance, with the aim of having the participants better engage with their local government unit. Twenty representatives of accredited CSOs in the Provincial Government of South Cotabato are currently taking the Course. Mentoring support for the participants is also ongoing.
This initiative is funded by the Provincial Government of South Cotabato through the CSO Academy of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 12.
The current cohort is on track to completing the Course in December 2023.
Completed the LEAD to Serve Course – Batch 3 LEAD to Serve Course Batch 3 officially concluded with an online recognition ceremony last 4 April 2023, which was organized closely with graduates of LEAD to Serve Batch 2. Of the 23 participants, 19 graduated while four (4) received a Certificate of Participation. The Course ran from February 2022 to March 2023, covering the 10 leadership competencies of the Philippine NGO Leadership Competencies Framework. Along with the mentoring support, the Course enabled improvements at the personal and organizational levels for many of the participants.
Started the LEAD to Serve Course – Batch 4
LEAD to Serve Batch 4 kicked off with an in-person session on 18-21 April 2023 at the Eugenio Lopez Center, Antipolo City covering the Leading Self Module. The rest of the modules are being delivered online until April 2024 through synchronous and asynchronous activities. As of June 2023, the modules have covered 3 of 10 competencies. Batch 4 has a total of 15 participants from 11 organizations.
Conducted an Outcome Evaluation for LEAD to Serve Batch 1
Eight (8) of 10 participants to the pilot batch of LEAD to Serve in 2018 reunited last 26 May 2023 for an outcome harvesting exercise. The activity sought to gather and exchange insights on how the LEAD to Serve Course has impacted them and their organizations four (4) years after graduating from the Course. For most of the Batch 1 graduates, deliberately discerning one’s ‘why’ or purpose was the most eye-opening experience in the Course, among the many things they learned about becoming well-rounded NGO leaders.
For the second half of the year, the LEAD to Serve Team will continue to run the CSO Academy and Batch 4 Courses, as well as prepare for future Course offerings.
The LEAD to Serve Program is the flagship program of AF. The program offers support to nurture and sustain a pool of competent and committed NGO leaders who build and maintain credible, capable and sustainable NGOs that will collectively help achieve the desired developmental changes in the country.
To learn more about the Philippine NGO Leadership Competencies Framework, click here.
For inquiries about the LEAD to Serve Program, you may contact the LEAD to Serve Team through leadtoserve@afonline.org
