SUCCESS, TOGETHER
About Us
SWAN is a BIPOC led organization that believes balanced and sustainable organizational systems and culture result in greater positive impact within and beyond.
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SUCCESS, TOGETHER
Given the events of 2020 and 2021, organizations and their leadership are facing a tectonic shift that has exacerbated the need to look at internal structures and organizational culture. Most current organizational cultures are not able to effectively address the racial, gender, gender identity, age and other tensions we collectively face.
In 2021 we embarked on a strategic planning process that included an environmental scan, deep listening sessions, and a niche analysis based on our strengths and the work we do with partners and allies. This resulted in a four-year strategic plan that guides our work and supports the vision and mission of the organization.
MISSION-DRIVEN
1
noun
a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.
2
noun
the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment.
3
verb
come together in agreement or alliance.
4
verb
bring to a normal condition or state.
With decades of proven experience, our team is prepared to help you achieve your goals, and beyond.
We support individuals and teams through services tailored to your organization's specific needs. We created a pool of experienced consultants that expands the depth and reach of SWAN’s expertise, diversity, and backgrounds. This ensures your strategic, capacity-building, and coaching needs are addressed effectively, sensitively, and in service to racial, gender, language, and geographic focus and environments.
SWAN is led by an Advisory Board that represents a wide range of experiences and skills. The work is implemented under the leadership of Lupe Lopez, the Principal, and Founder of SWAN, A Project of Tides Advocacy. Our Leadership Team uses a participatory approach to assess, develop action plans, implement strategies and evaluate the impact of our services.
FOUNDER + PRINCIPAL
Lupe Lopez is an expert in facilitating organizational transformations. During the last 30 years she has coached dozens of executive directors, senior managers, and leaders to help them be effective agents of change.
Lupe’s purpose is to promote collaborative leadership and create environments that are transparent, support collective participation and support positive and profound transformation in individuals and their organizations. The strategies that emerge from this approach support healthy, thriving individuals and organizations that are valued, increase impact and have a culture that supports the long term work that is needed to create a positive change. Lupe specializes in facilitating complex situations and implementing ambitious plans. Her areas of expertise include fundraising, women’s issues, diversity, equity, and inclusion, management, working with young people, immigrant rights, strategic planning, board development, team building, organizational culture, coaching and mentoring.
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Audra comes to us with over fifteen years of business management experience and over six years of retreat facilitation experience, Audra helps us keep everything running smoothly and all engines running on schedule!
She is a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, a Licensed Spiritual Practitioner with Centers for Spiritual Living, a Ministerial student through the Holmes Institute of Spiritual Leadership, and a Certified Infinite Possibilities Trainer. She was born and raised in California and now resides in the midwest. When she is not helping us here at SWAN, seeing private clients as a spiritual counselor, or hitting the books, you can find her hanging out horseback riding with friends. Audra is an organization wiz and a boundaries expert. She specializes in enhancing relational dynamics through agreements and boundary work, elevating systems and processes optimization, efficiency improvement, organization and internal structure development, production, facilitation and team development. She keeps us all on track and constantly improving!
CONSULTANT + FACILITATOR
Shanaé is raising three teenage daughters with her spouse, Michael. She has thirteen years of community organizing experience for faith-based grassroots organizations in the DART (Direct Action and Research Training) Network.
She organizes regularly 1000 people direct actions with public officials that has led Kansas to make systemic changes in policy and bring community transformation.
Shanaé has built a sustainable local non-profit organization by raising 72% of her budget through internally generated funds and developing and maintaining 30-active board members. Through Willow Consulting, Shanaé supports community organizers and organizational staff through coaching and training to effectively challenge systemic in justice and creating healthy communities.
OUR JOURNEY
We identified some major needs in the community & stepped up to serve them.
RESEARCH
In 2012 a group of women experts in leadership development asked why there are not enough women in positions of power. We embarked on a three-year assessment and research project to identify the challenges and barriers for women to achieve positions of power. The findings, across age, geography, and economic backgrounds, can be grouped into five areas:
ACTION
SWAN (then spelled as Strong Women Action Network) was founded in 2017 to address these challenges. We developed a series of retreats and webinars to help women, specific women of color, to become strong leaders in their communities and organizations and to create circles of support in their communities.
The events of 2020 and 2021 further increased these gaps. Organizations and their leaders face a tectonic shift that has exacerbated the need to look at internal structures and organizational culture. Most organizational cultures cannot effectively address, without additional support, the racial, gender, gender identity, age, and other tensions we collectively face as we navigate these challenging and uncertain times.
EXPANSION
Based on these findings, SWAN leaders and stakeholders asked the question – what are the biggest challenges organizations, foundations and networks are facing to address barriers to BIPOC and LBGTQ+ leaders, and what is SWAN’s role in providing solutions and support to address these challenges? We embarked on a strategic planning process that included an environmental scan, deep listening sessions, and a niche analysis based on our strengths and work with partners and allies. What resulted was the creation of a four-year strategic plan that guides our work and supports the bold vision and mission of the organization.
In 2022 we went through the process of rebranding the organization. We changed the name from Strong Women Action Network to SWAN – Strategy, Wisdom, Aligned, and Normalized. We relaunched our website, expanded our coaching services, increased support to organizations and networks, and grew our strategic planning services to local and statewide organizations. We also recruited a diverse and powerful Advisory Board to guide the implementation of our new vision and mission. Our team has expanded to bring more diversity and expertise to ensure we achieve our 2023-2025 strategic plan.
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