DT | Organizational Change is A Source of Strength: The Northeast Community Center 11:45am

Change is not a storm to be weathered or a hurdle to be overcome. It is a continuous process. Change is the norm and not the exception. As a millennial who took on a leadership position in a financial firm during the Great Recession, I have learned to view change as an opportunity. This openness to change is what attracted me to the board of directors of the Northeast Community Center. Our center began as a settlement mission for Italian immigrants in the early 20^th century. During our our decades of continuous service, we have changed as the neighborhood’s demographics have changed. Today we offer a classical music program tailored to the needs of low-income students: Harmony Project KC. Harmony’s student body reflects the diversity of Northeast Kansas City. Our students’ parents are recent arrivals from Latin America, Asia and Africa. We progressed from a settlement mission to a charter school to a music program by engaging with the neighborhood as it changed. This was not a process of grudgingly keeping up with change. This was a process of understanding and embracing our changing neighborhood. We used the neighborhood’s diversity to draw the energy that helped our launch of Harmony succeed. Our diverse board talks openly and often about our changing neighborhood, the changing funding landscape and new evidence as it emerges about our program. I look forward to sharing our experience and learning from others in attendance about managing organizational change.

Phil Glynn is president of Travois—a 21-year-old family business located in the Crossroads of downtown Kansas City. Travois provides capital, consulting and other services to change agents working in Indian Country. American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities face unique challenges when accessing capital for economic, community and housing development. Over two decades, Travois has brought over $1,000,000,000 to invest in projects that spark community change. Phil is also the president of the board of directors of the Northeast Community Center. Northeast Community Center offers Harmony Project KC—a classical music education program tailored to low-income kids in historic Northeast. This evidence-based program uses music as a bridge to expanded social and educational opportunities for the entire family. Phil is a former member of the Tax Increment Financing Commission of Kansas City, Missouri, a former president of the Committee for County Progress and a current board member of the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition. Phil holds a master’s in public administration from UMKC’s Bloch School of Management and a bachelor’s in English from Wake Forest University.