CMC Pro Bono Consulting Program 360okids News Release
MEDIA RELEASE
360ºkids refocuses its strategy to zoom in on youth at risk…thanks to the CMC Pro Bono Program
Certified Management Consultant provides no-charge professional services to leading charity
CMC-Ontario announces the completion of a no-charge management consulting engagement performed under its new CMC Pro Bono Program. The client is 360ºkids, a registered charity serving over 2,500 York Region at-risk youth annually with services in housing, employment, health and well-being, and education.
Due to demand for its programs, 360ºkids has grown rapidly in recent years, with about 80 full-time and 100 part-time staff delivering a multitude of comprehensive programs.
This growth has represented both a challenge and an opportunity to enhance and evolve its current infrastructure to better support the growing needs and reach.
Clovis Grant, 360ºkids’ Chief Executive Officer, says “despite making attempts to restructure, the growing demands of the work make it difficult at times for leadership to have the capacity to be as effective as they would like. We risk losing staff due to the overwhelming burden of their workload”.
After developing an updated and ambitious strategic plan over the summer and fall of 2023, Mr. Grant wanted to address the capacity concerns to ensure the new preventative-focused plan’s success, since 360ºkids wants to support as many youth at risk as possible.
Given the current stage of the organization, he believed that 360ºkids needed to review its organizational structure to determine if it was appropriate to accomplish its mission. However, conducting this type of assessment would place additional demands on the organization’s staff time and financial resources. As is typical for non-profit organizations, any necessary changes identified would need to be implemented with minimal impact on the budget.
“Thanks to Thomas Burnie’s help, I think we are on a path now that will help us get to where we want to be.”
Clovis Grant, 360o kids CEO
Certified Management Consultant Thomas Burnie volunteered his professional services to assist 360ºkids at no charge under the CMC Pro Bono Program. Based in Ottawa, Mr. Burnie worked on-line with Mr. Grant to determine factors contributing to workload challenges. After an initial analysis, he prepared and presented a Logic Flow Model illustrating transformation from the current situation to 360ºkids’ desired end state. This led to an examination of program and service delivery methods, and their implications for staff training, education, and experience requirements. After reviewing the intended scope and scale of the strategic plan, Mr. Burnie concluded the plan probably exceeded the staff’s capability to execute, and recommended a further evaluation of the plan’s expectations.
The consulting engagement’s end-result was a revised strategic approach that considered Mr. Burnie’s seven concrete and actionable recommendations.
“We were glad to do it because it helps 360ºkids in its role to serve the community”
The not-for-profit sector is an important component of the social and economic fabric that makes up Canada. But many organizations in this sector are severely resource constrained, and face increasing demand for their services. These organizations often do not have the financial resources to hire consultants at market prices.
“I want to thank Thomas for his commendable efforts, and congratulate him on the tremendous impact of his work. This effort underscores our dedication to giving back and shows the meaningful impact our consultants can have” says Desislava Nikolova, President, CMC-Ontario.
360ºKIDS
360ºkids wants every kid to have a safe home. Its mission is to prevent homelessness by helping youth at risk, or in crisis, transition to a state of safety and stability.
Founded thirty-five years ago as a housing program for youth, 360ºkids is now a leading provider of support and services to homeless and at-risk youth in York Region. It was named as one of the top-100 charities in Canada by Charity Intelligence, a not-for-profit research organization that provides facts and figures so that Canadians can make informed donation decisions.
360ºkids has grown to serve over 2,500 youth annually, from every municipality in York. Its diverse staff represents many cultures and experiences, and have earned a reputation as leaders in offering high quality, innovative programming.
BURNIE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING LTD.
Thomas Burnie is the founder of Burnie Management Consulting Ltd. Mr. Burnie, is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), and a Fellow (FCMC) of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Ontario. Thomas holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Professional in Critical Infrastructure Protection (PCIP) designations. He formerly held designations as a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) and Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL). Mr. Burnie also completed 220 hours of training and education in conflict resolution, including group facilitation, with the Alberta Arbitration and Medication Society.
Mr. Burnie specializes in strategic consultation, business process re-engineering, project management, training development and delivery, and governance for charity and not-for-profit corporations. In his practice, he has participated in or managed a host of projects as well as delivery, co-delivery, and facilitation of 100 plus courses and events.
The Pro Bono Program is an initiative of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Ontario to promote thought leadership that benefits and strengthens the management consulting industry and the expertise of CMCs that provide charitable organizations with no-charge consulting services.
Are you a Charitable orgnisation that could use the support of a CMC?
Any questions about the program should be directed to: applyprobono@cmc-ontario.ca
