As a boy growing up in Bakersfield, California, Armando Jimenez often spent time at his family’s small Mexican restaurant. It was there that he would find his 50-something-year-old Uncle Eddie, sitting on a barstool with his glasses on, perusing the pages of the New York or Los Angeles Times. Uncle Eddie always greeted the boy with a smile, and called him by his nickname, “Smiley”.
“He’d ask me, ‘What do you think is happening in the world?’” Jimenez recalled. “And I would read this article or that and discuss it with him. He’d nod his head and say, ‘That’s very interesting, Smiley.’”
“I found out that my uncle couldn’t read,” Jimenez said. “He was looking at the pictures. He was probing me to find out more about what was happening in the articles.” –Armando Jimenez
Impressed by his uncle’s interest in learning, the young boy thought: “Wow. I want to be just like him.”
Years later, when his uncle passed away, Jimenez learned another, surprising fact.
“I found out that my uncle couldn’t read,” Jimenez said. “He was looking at the pictures. He was probing me to find out more about what was happening in the articles.”
The experience taught Jimenez an important lesson, as well: “I learned that the opportunity to learn doesn’t always come easy.”
It was a lesson Jimenez carried into a career of learning that ultimately led him to First 5 LA, where he has served since the year 2000 as the Director of the Research & Evaluation Department. In that role, he directed the evaluation of numerous key First 5 LA initiatives benefiting young children in Los Angeles County, including Welcome Baby, Los Angeles Universal Preschool, Healthy Kids, and more.
Just recently, Jimenez was provided with a new opportunity to direct learning at First 5 LA by being appointed as the new Director of the Evaluation Center of Excellence. The new position – and center – stems from an organizational alignment underway at First 5 LA to better strengthen the agency’s ability to effectively execute its 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. This plan prioritizes those activities with the potential to impact the broadest range of children prenatal to 5 across four interlinked outcome areas: families, communities, early care and education and health care delivery systems.
Organization alignment is intended to align First 5 LA’s structure and staffing to its new strategic direction and intended impact. Last spring, First 5 LA announced the creation of four new divisions: Policy & Strategy (led by new Vice President Kim Pattillo Brownson); Programs (led by new Vice President Christina Altmayer); Integration & Learning (led by new Vice President Daniela Pineda) and Administration (led by new Executive Vice President John Wagner). Carl Gayden also joined First 5 LA as new Senior Director of Administration.
Just last month, First 5 LA embarked on the next phase of this organizational alignment with the appointment of new or significantly changed director roles, some of whom will lead new departments within these divisions.
These newly appointed directors, their new departments and their respective divisions are listed below, along with the new organizational structure (Note – Director positions and departments that are unchanged are marked with an asterisk *).
Policy and Strategy Division
- Strategic Partnerships Department – Jennifer Pippard, Director
- Policy and Governmental Affairs – Peter Barth, Director*
- Communications and Marketing – Gabriel Sanchez, Director*
Programs Division
- Early Care and Education Department – Katie Fallin Kenyon, Director
- Health Department – Tara Ficek, Director
- Families Department – Barbara Andrade DuBransky, Director
- Best Start Communities – Antoinette Andrews-Bush, Director
Integration and Learning Division
- Integration and Learning Department – Manuel Fierro, Director
- Evaluation Center of Excellence – Armando Jimenez, Director
Administration Division
- Finance Department – Raoul Ortega, Director*
- Contract Compliance Department – Jennifer Eckhart, Director*
- Human Resources Department – Gala Collins, Director*
- Information Technology – Daniel Su, Interim Director*
In another significant move, Rafael González has been appointed to the new position of Director of Community Relations, reporting directly to First 5 LA Executive Director Kim Belshé.
(Editor’s Note: See “Faces of Change” below for new director/position interviews).
THE CASE FOR CHANGE
Like Jimenez’s story, lessons learned prompted a new strategic direction at First 5 LA and, ultimately, to the new organizational alignment.
“First 5 LA’s organizational alignment is the culmination of a process we began in 2013,” said First 5 LA Executive Director Kim Belshé. “It started with our L3 effort – Listening, Learning and Leading. We listened to parents, partners, stakeholders, Commissioners, our staff,and communities. We found people believed in our mission to improve the lives of young children and their families in Los Angeles County, yet there was a perceived lack of clarity in First 5 LA’s direction, decision-making processes, grant making and focus.”
“In short, we learned we were doing good work, but we could do better for L.A. County’s kids,” -Kim Belshé
After extensive research and input from parents about their strengths and needs, feedback from communities and service providers, and insights from staff and Commissioners, First 5 LA’s Board approved in late 2014 a new Strategic Plan – which includes four interlinked outcome areas (Families, Communities, Early Care and Education and Health) and a shift in focus to policy and advocacy efforts that, in partnership with others, impact systems change.
“Our Board was clear – if First 5 LA is to live within its declining tobacco revenues and maximize its contribution to ensuring that all children in L.A. County enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and life, then we need to focus on policy and systems change in partnership with others,“ Belshé said.
“In short, we learned we were doing good work, but we could do better for L.A. County’s kids,” Belshé continued. “Our new Strategic Plan provides a clear roadmap for the impact F5LA seeks. Our newly defined departments and directors are aligned with this strategic direction, First 5 LA’s role, and intended impact for the county’s youngest children and their families.”
Organizational alignments are a well-known business practice among corporations and can be found in the nonprofit and philanthropic arenas, as well. A wealth of academic literature touts the importance of organizational design, including a number of articles in the respected Harvard Business Review.
Dr. Rick Culley is the president of the Institute for Executive Development in Las Vegas and has served as a corporate executive management consultant and adjunct professor at USC. He has seen firsthand how a new strategic plan and organizational alignment can improve effectiveness. According to Culley, these improvements can include:
“Change occurs most successfully when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing,” -Dr. Rick Culley
- Organizational Clarity – People in the organization clearly know the mission and goals
- Department Alignment – Improved horizontal integration/collaboration among departments
- Individual Performance – People better link their own roles to the organization’s new outcomes
Culley, whose public agency clients have included the FBI, the U.S. Postal Service and the New York Public Transportation Authority, also noted that organizational alignments may especially benefit nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, which may become more static and complacent than private sector counterparts who face the constant pressure of the marketplace or competitors to force adjustments in strategy, performance and leadership.
“Change occurs most successfully when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing,” Culley said.
THE FACES OF CHANGE
First 5 LA’s organizational alignment is moving ahead, led by a talented group of individuals. In the following interviews, the newly appointed directors shared their exciting visions for their new positions and departments.
Policy and Strategy Division
Jennifer Pippard
Former Role: Director of Community Investments
New Role and Responsibilities: As the Director of the Strategic Partnerships Department, Pippard will be responsible for developing organization-wide partnerships that contribute to the advancement of First 5 LA’s strategic plan outcomes.
Question: What is your vision for your new position and department?
Answer: “We have a new focus on three main partnership groups: business, education and philanthropy. We’ve worked very closely with philanthropy before, but there’s more we can do to engage a broader array of philanthropic partners. We want to bring philanthropic leaders to the table who may have not considered how the strategies of First 5 LA impact their goals.
Additionally, education and business share many of First 5 LA’s aspirations, including the strength of our current and future workforce. Business is working in a very competitive environment, including issues like quality child care to recruit and retain employees. The business community has also expressed concern that Los Angeles’s workforce does not have the skills they need to match the market, and acknowledge those skills start in preschool. Likewise, engaging new partners in education will strengthen our strategies in ensuring L.A. has a ready workforce to serve families and prepare young children to enter the K-12 system. Strategic partnerships really lift up our work, serving as a catalyst for other stakeholders and building champions that can advance policy and systems change in our outcome areas.”
Question: What are you most looking forward to in your new position?
Answer: “I’m looking forward to developing a new strategy for these three areas of partnership. We have to be creative and innovative to accomplish what we want to do.”
Programs Division
Katie Fallin Kenyon
New Role and Responsibilities: As Director of the Early Care and Education Department, Fallin Kenyon will lead First 5 LA’s efforts on early childhood care and education (ECE) policy and systems change through the design, execution, management and monitoring of the ECE grants portfolio, including a focus on the Quality Rating & Improvement System, workforce development, Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) and access to high quality ECE.
Question: How will your new position help First 5 LA advance its goals in the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan?
Answer: “It’s important to have a champion for ECE in our organization to ensure the success of our extensive portfolio of ECE work and build upon our relationships within the ECE community. This new position makes it clear this is a priority for our organization.”
Question: What is your vision for your new department?
Answer: My vision for the ECE Department is that we partner with others to make significant and long-lasting contributions to ensuring that all families with children aged 0-5 in L.A. County have access to high quality early care and education so that they enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and life.
Question: What are you most looking forward to in this new role?
Answer: I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to develop a high functioning and collaborative team that is passionate about the work that we do, supportive of one another, and inspired to make change happen for the youngest children in our county. I’m also looking forward to the opportunity to connect more with external partners both locally and statewide – to be a part of a collective movement to really make a difference in children’s lives.”
Tara Ficek
Former Role: Director of Grants Management
New Role and Responsibilities: As Director of Health, Ficek will lead the organization’s health outcome area, managing the health grants and programs portfolio. She will also serve as First 5 LA’s thought leader on trauma-informed care and developmental screening, assessments and early intervention, and strategies that improve the service delivery system for young children and their families.
Question: How will your new position help First 5 LA advance its goals in the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan’s outcome areas?
Answer: “I think our new structure has enormous potential to advance our work. I’m excited to test it out. I do think shifting away from a solely function-based structure to one based on focus/outcome areas of our strategic plan encourages integration and collaboration in a whole new and exciting way.”
Question: What is your vision for your new department?
Answer: “My vision for the department is to partner with other government, philanthropic and community organizations to strengthen systems to better serve young children and their families in First 5 LA’s priority health outcome areas of trauma-informed care and early identification and intervention (Help Me Grow-LA). Working together, we envision transforming L.A. County into a trauma-informed county. That same spirit of collaboration will guide us as we take an integrated systems approach to connect families and children at-risk for developmental delays with the services they need. We are also looking forward to collaborating with partners in new ways and on emerging opportunities to improve the physical and mental health of pregnant mothers, young children and their families throughout Los Angeles County.”
Barbara Andrade DuBransky
Previous Role: Director of Program Development
New Role and Responsibilities: As the new Director of Families, DuBransky and her team will manage the Families grants and programs portfolio. DuBransky will also function as a critical thought leader on evidence-based practices and models of home visitation, parent engagement, and related strategies that increase family protective factors.
Question: How will your new position help First 5 LA advance its goals in the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan’s outcome areas?
Answer: “First 5 LA has invested in many strategies to support parents. But, strategy matters little if we don’t know how to find parents, get useful information to them at the right time, and in a way that reflects that we understand their interests, barriers and values. My job is to make sure that the Families Department and the organization never lose sight of this reality. As a mother of two I know that the time when a child enters the world and a family is both precious and overwhelming. This creates an opportunity to meet that family where they are at and let them know that there are supports available and that their community cares about them. This allows for families to recognize and parent from their unique strengths and raise the concerns that they bring to the monumental endeavor of parenting.”
Question: What is your vision for your new department?
“The Families Department’s responsibility is to make sure we continue to improve our collective understanding of how to engage families and support families through impactful services to achieve all of our outcomes. The Families Department will support the community and systems strategies by sharing knowledge about how best to engage families through relying on evidenced-based strategies such as home visitation. In the case of the Home Visiting investments, First 5 LA directly connects with a large number of parents of newborns. This acts as a trove of information about how to engage with parents and impact their child’s healthy development. Because families intuitively understand the nature of their child’s development they are more sensitive to how their children are affected by the various ways that systems and communities attempt to connect with them and their child. The Families Department has an opportunity to cultivate this information to enhance the effectiveness of our overall strategic plan and build sustainable systems to support families.”
Antoinette Andrews-Bush
Previous Role: Assistant Director of Best Start Communities
New Role and Responsibilities: As Director of the Best Start Communities Department, Andrews will lead First 5 LA’s programs investments within the Communities Outcome area. She will also be responsible for driving the organization’s communities policy and systems change agenda through the design, execution, management and monitoring of the Communities program and grants portfolio.
Question: How will your new position help First 5 LA advance our goals in the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan’s outcome areas?
Answer: “I think that the position further affirms First 5 LA’s commitment to Best Start communities and recognition of the important role of “place” in promoting the heathy development of children.”
Question: What is your vision for your position and department?
Answer: “My vision is to ensure that I and the Best Start team serve as a catalyst for the kind of community change that is needed to create safe, loving and nurturing environments where children and families thrive.”
Question: What are you most looking forward to in this new role?
Answer: “I grew up in Compton. Specifically, in the Willowbrook area. I have family or friends in just about every Best Start community. That’s why this work matters so much to me. I’m looking forward to giving my all – my compassion, passion, experience and drive – to really make a difference in communities where I have deep roots. This position is my opportunity to do it on a much larger scale.”
Community Relations
Rafael González
Former Role: Director of Best Start Communities
New Role and Responsibilities: As Director of Community Relations, González will be responsible for strengthening and supporting organization-wide community relations, building local government and community partnerships, and supporting the development of community leadership. He will report directly to Belshé.
Question: How will your new position help First 5 LA advance its goals in the 2015-2020 Strategic Plans outcome areas?
Answer: “Through Community Relations, First 5 LA is living its organizational values by demonstrating its commitment and responsiveness to community voice to advance the goals of the strategic plan. First 5 LA has made it very clear that community relations and strengthening partnerships is not a ‘should have’ but a ‘must have.’”
Question: What is your vision for your new position?
Answer: “In addition to promoting awareness and understanding of First 5 LA, Community Relations will play an important role developing, leveraging and maintaining collaborative relationships and strong communications in the community.”
Question: What are you most looking forward to in this new role?
Answer: “I’m excited about forging stronger relationships with local governments and school districts. There are many opportunities that exist for First 5 LA in this area to align and maximize our investments and to engage Best Start leadership in program, systems and policy planning to benefit children and families.”
Integration and Learning Division
Manuel Fierro
Former Role: Senior Program Officer in the Best Start Communities Department
New Role and Responsibilities: As Director of the Integration and Learning Department, Fierro will be responsible for developing processes and tools to support the creation of First 5 LA’s learning culture. He will also oversee the creation of continuous improvement processes, formal and informal knowledge-building practices and the learning framework for all programs and grants.
Question: How will your new position help First 5 LA advance its goals in the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan’s outcome areas?
Answer: “My position in the Integration and Learning Division will provide and support a process that will enable First 5 LA staff to learn in real time and make adjustments along the way as they implement new and existing work within the Strategic Plan. This entails using empirical evidence and staff’s individual and collective wisdom across the various outcome areas to develop recommendations or make decisions, in service of continuous improvement.”
Question: What is your vision for your new position and department?
Answer: “My vision for my newly defined position and department is to foster a vibrant culture of learning across the entire organization by ensuring staff colleagues have the space to learn from data, each other, and others outside the organization. Additionally, I envision our department working collaboratively across all the divisions to facilitate a process for integration amongst priority areas.”
Question: What are you most looking forward to in this new role?
Answer: “I am really excited about helping First 5 LA become an organization that leads with learning. It is equally invigorating to know staff will have the ability to innovate by reflecting, sharing, learning, and applying new strategies to achieve the desired results. This asset-based approach of learning and integrating leverages staff’s expertise and experience.”
And finally . . .
. . . we return where we started: to First 5 LA’s longest-serving staffer:
Armando Jimenez
Former Role: Director of Research and Evaluation
New Role and Responsibilities: As the new Director of the Evaluation Center of Excellence, Jimenez will be the organization’s leader for promoting and providing evaluation best practices, performance measure methodologies, and robust data analysis to improve organizational effectiveness, program performance and impact.
Question: How will your new position help First 5 LA advance our goals in the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan’s outcome areas?
Answer: “For me, I feel really strongly that this position will help us improve our decision-making abilities and allow us to learn from previous and existing services to better our outcomes. At the end of the day, learning is great, but learning to better our outcomes is the primary emphasis of our work.”
Question: What is your vision for your position and department?
Answer: “My vision is centered on doing really high quality work to evaluate our investments, capture lessons learned and help First 5 LA to be more strategic in our focus on the future. I also want to engage the whole organization in this important evaluation work. This center will help facilitate that internally and externally with stakeholders. I think the opportunity to use the knowledge here is going to be fascinating.”
Jimenez was posed one last question about the uncle in Bakersfield that helped to inspire his love of learning:
“If your Uncle Eddie could see how you have pursued your passion for learning in your career, what do you think he would say?”
Jimenez’s answer:
“Way to go Smiley. Thanks for helping kids see the world in ways I never could.”
(Editor’s Note: Future articles in this newsletter will feature interviews with other First 5 LA department directors about their ongoing work to improve the lives of young children and their families in Los Angeles County).
