mikocanares Capacity Building, Consulting Services, core expertise, Core services, Facilitation, Monitoring and Evaluation, Non-Government Organizations, Results-based Management

Step Up Conducts Most Significant Change Training

MSC Participants - CCT Tagaytay.
MSC Participants – CCT Tagaytay.

Step Up was commissioned by Woord en Daad to conduct the Most Significant Change (MSC) Training for its partners in the Philippines and Bangladesh.  The training was conducted at the CCT Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center last 24-26 September 2014 and was participated in by 9 participants from the Philippines, 4 from Bangladesh, and 1 from the Netherlands, a representative of the commissioning organization.

Woord & Daad is an international development organization, established in the Netherlands, working in 20 countries with 29 partner organizations. A number of its partner organizations is interested in increasing capacity on learning through participatory methodologies. For this training, Woord en Daad chose Most Significant Change as the method to be implemented by two of its partners in the Philippines and one partner from Bangladesh.

MSC involves the collection of significant change (SC) stories emanating from the field level, and the systematic selection of the most significant of these stories by panels of designated stakeholders or staff. It intends to capture project outcomes, and in some cases, impact without having to use project or program indicators.

The participants were very impressed with the results of the training.  The post-training evaluation of participants showed that Step Up scored very high in training facilitation, logistics, planning, and design.  The main trainer was Michael Canares and Step Up handled all training logistical arrangements, from the design of training bags to the choice of training materials.  Step Up will also provide post-training support to the organizations as they conduct their pilot implementation of MSC in their respective organizations.

 

mikocanares Capacity Building, Consulting Services, core expertise, Core services, Facilitation, Financial Management

Step Up Conducts Training on Financial Management

FM participants during the training workshops.
FM participants during the training workshops.

The Bol-anon United Sectors Working for the Advancement of Community Concerns (BUSWACC) contracted Step Up Consulting to conduct a series of financial management training for its member organizations, assisted cooperatives, individual entrepreneurs, and people’s associations . The training on Basic Financial Management was conducted last 27-28 August 2014 at the FCB Foundation training room.

The training is the first of a series of training activities on financial management sponsored by BUSWACC. Ms. Arlen Canares, training specialist on financial management of Step Up was the resource person for the activity.

The participants appreciated the learning sessions that focused on the importance of recording, financial analysis, cash management, and internal control.  The workshop employed a variety of training methodologies that enabled the participants not only to learn the concepts but also try specific skills on their own.  Financial management training is one of the core expertise of the firm.

mikocanares Capacity Building, Consulting Services, core expertise, Core services, Facilitation, Governance, Local Government Units

Step Up Assists Tagbilaran City Government

The ELA Workshop participants
The ELA Workshop participants

The City Government of Tagbilaran completed the review of its Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) last August 23, 2014. The three-day workshop, which culminated the series of preparatory workshops, fine-tuned the city’s ELA that was prepared in July 2013 before the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. And since the planning parameters changed dramatically, the need to come up with a plan that is relevant to the needs of the people and the City Government has become a necessity.

The event was attended by Mayor Baba Yap and the city department heads, the Sangguniang Panlungsod led by Vice-Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso and the city councilors, civil society representatives, representatives from the national government agencies, and the barangay captains.  The workshop  came up with prioritized the programs, projects, and activities that the city government will prioritize in 2015. Among these are the completion of the city hall’s repair, the provision of social and economic programs, and the needed rehabilitation of public infrastructure.

Step Up’s managing consultant, Mr. Michael Canares was the facilitator of the whole process including the pre-workshop activities that were conducted prior to the three-day workshop.

mikocanares Business Planning, Capacity Building, Consulting Services, core expertise, Core services, Facilitation, Non-Government Organizations

Step Up Facilitates Strat Plan for FCB Foundation

FCBFI
FCBFI Team during the workshop

Step Up Consulting was contracted by FCB Foundation, Inc. (FCBFI) to facilitate the process of crafting the strategic plan of the organization to 2020. This was the first time, after almost twenty years that the foundation reviewed its vision, mission, and goals. Executive Director Panfilo Asares said “It is important that we now revisit the directions of the foundation to make it relevant to the changing needs of the times”.

The process, which began with a review of the accomplishments of the foundation in the last five years, an analysis of the emerging trends of the country and the world, culminated in a workshop attended by the Board of Trustees of the foundation and its management committee. The workshop was held on 21 August 2014 at the board room of the First Consolidated Bank, the parent organization of FCBFI.

The strategic document, the output of this process, was consolidated by Step Up Consulting, aptly titled FCBFI 2020. This document outlines the directions of the foundation up to 2020.

FCBFI was very pleased with the outcomes of the process and thanked Step Up Consulting for its work.