Ellii – A programme of opportunities to enable the women’s support sector to Flourish
We’re seeking to find 20 diverse women’s support organisations across Greater Manchester who want to develop their Enterprise, Learning, Leadership, Innovation and Influencing skills to build the capacity and sustainability of the Women’s Support Sector…….
Ellii is a 6-9 month programme aimed at the Women’s Support Sector to help develop skills in Enterprise, Leadership, Learning, Innovation and Influencing, whilst connect diverse grass roots support organisations alongside some of the longer standing women’s support organisations. Our goal is to build strong networks and sustain important services, plus better connect and promote services to the general public. We are also aiming to help innovate support for women and encourage more diverse collaborative opportunities to evolve. Click HERE to book onto one of several free information sessions throughout July, August and September to find out more.
We have support from the WEA and Natwest to develop the capacity, sustainability and skills development of leaders across the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector as part as part of an inclusive economy. As part of activities we are developing this unique programme for women activists, social innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders with lived experience to strengthen and sustain services delivered across the women’s support sector lead change they see needed for women, families and communities.
We will work in partnership with a range of local and regional agencies to enhance support and nurture local talent to build lasting legacies whether from early stage or grass roots organisations to established organisations seeking to grow their influence, legacy and diversify routes to sustainability.
The overview below gives an outline of the draft programme, however several elements will be co-designed and clarified once the 20 diverse organisations we seek to work with across Greater Manchester have been recruited for the programme. In addition to developing their knowledge skills and networks to lead social change organisations improving services and outcomes for women and families, participants will also develop their leadership potential, develop their business acumen and financial planning skills, their influencing and campaigning skills plus be encouraged to collaborate across themes and geographies to create new events, resources, content and more in order to build trust, the potential for solid partnership opportunities and raise awareness of the broad range of services the wider world can access across communities.
Everyone involved will also have access to a series of coaching and action learning groups sessions alongside the capacity building programme.
Plus participants will be invited to apply to take part in interactive events where skills will be crowd sourced across the public, private and voluntary sectors to strengthen organisational strategies such as marketing and communications/business planning/digital strategies and more and we will hold a participatory budgeting event where people on the programme and wider stakeholders help invest seed funding in collaborative ideas, campaigns, projects and creation of joint resources.
DRAFT PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
Day 1: Resilient, authentic and effective Leadership – Skills, values and tools (October 2021)
Day 2: Identifying and solving problems across the Women’s Support Sector– prioritising need, opportunities and solutions and turning these into action (November 2021)
Day 3: Organisational focus, mapping challenges, goal setting and diversifying income for sustainable futures (December 2021)
Day 4: Considering your organisational governance, culture, supporting diversity and dealing with adversity to influence change (January 2022)
Day 5: Business Models and Planning – Financial Sustainability (January 2022)
Day 6: Theory of Change, social value and impact measurement (February 2022)
Day 7: Media, Communications and Public Relations (February 2022)
Day 8: Crowdsourcing for action and impact (March 2022)
Interactive sessions where skills will be crowd sourced across the public, private and voluntary sectors to strengthen organisational strategies such as marketing and communications/business planning/digital strategies
Day 9: Collaboration, connection and awareness raising (March 2022)
A day looking at effective collaboration, what strong and effective partnerships look like and what they can achieve. Looking back at priority needs and policy recommendations to consider gaps, opportunities and what people have in their gift to address. Café conversations to drill into potential collaborative ideas, proposals and next steps
Day 10: Pitching Collaborative ideas and accessing support (April 2022)
A one day event where participants will apply for cash and support to develop collaborative ideas which address thematic challenges affecting the women’s support sector. A series of showcasing activities will help participants to refine pitching, develop contacts and pitch for support. There will also be some cash grants invested in groups who have collaborative ideas which have the best chance of impact and success. These will be decided via a participatory budgeting activity on the day.
The programme is open to women leading their organisations on a voluntary basis seeking to develop a more sustainable future or for scaling social ventures with staff and volunteer teams who are seeking to grow their organisation and secure their future. For more information click through to our Eventbrite booking page HERE to register for a free information session or email nickala@flourishtogether.org.uk
for an information and application pack. Deadline for application is 8th September.
