Stories ~ Current stories
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Investing into professional development impacts charity February 2, 2010
Details:
Dave Blundell, Executive Director for Chilliwack, BC-based international charity Hungry for Life was the recipient of a professional development grant sponsored by Bridgeway in 2007. The grant was matched 1:1 by his organization, and funded his education in the Master of Arts in Leadership (MAL) degree at Trinity Western University. To accept this grant, Dave committed to investing two additional years into leading his organization beyond the term of the grant to allow for maximum benefit of his learning to accrue to the charity. This type of grant is one way of strengthening a charity's ability to become even more effective in the future. But a patient, long-range view is required as benefits are not observed overnight.
In his final report to Bridgeway, Dave writes:
"I am constantly amazed at how the courses I am taking are perfectly suited for exactly where I have been as a leader and where our organization has been. There have even been times when I have learned something in the morning and applied it in a meeting that very night. Literally every course so far has been used to build into our staff, systems, structure, and service. The lessons learned so far have been enormous to the degree that, in retrospect, I would not want to be leading our organization without having taken this program. General areas of learning and investment into HFL have followed the course structure offered. Our staff training material has been built from the most applicable sections from the specific courses in international development and cross-cultural leadership."
"The program has also been a significant factor enabling HFL to become more credible to our constituencies as they have seen various effects of the MAL program making a difference to our service delivery. The ability given to me, by Bridgeway, to develop as a leader through the MAL program has permanently impacted HFL at is foundational stages to prepare us for significant global impact."
"Additional lessons learned relate specifically to the major project process. Wanting the major project to have a wider use than just academic, I took it as an opportunity to write what could become a publishable work. Since completing the program, I received significant encouragement to pursue publishing options. I have since entered into a publishing agreement with WestBow press, a division of Thomas Nelson. Therefore, an unanticipated benefit has been the lessons learned starting down the road of writing and publishing. This publishing opportunity allows HFL to further its impact and message of worship and compassion, giving us a greater opportunity to see more lives changed."
Dave successfully graduated on November 7, 2009, and his book has just been published.
For more information on this Bridgeway grant, click here.
To order Dave's book, Hungry For Life: A Vision of the Church that Would Transform the World, click here.
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