Program Highlights

Reception and Awards Ceremony
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
7pm - 9pm

Connections 2012 Conference
Thursday, May 3, 2012
7:30 am - 4:30 pm

Connections 2012: Because Results Matter will feature dynamic, interactive sessions and networking opportunities with nonprofit health organizations that have successfully gone through the evaluation process. You’ll see who’s doing it well, what they’ve learned, and how your organization can benefit from their challenges and successes. Please note: This program is subject to change.

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6:30 AM – Registration Opens

7:00 AM – Breakfast and Networking

7:30 AM – 9:20 AM

Welcome and Introduction of Keynote Speaker
Gary D. Nelson, PhD, President
Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Keynote Address:

 Building Stronger Communities for Better Health: Moving from Science to Policy and  Practice
 Dr. Brian Smedley
 Vice-President and Director
 Health Policy Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Racial and ethnic minorities relative to national averages suffer from higher rates of infant mortality, disease, disability, and shorter life spans. A growing body of research shows that an array of social, economic, and environmental conditions in communities contribute to health
inequities. This presentation will explore how community conditions shape health, and will present promising policy strategies to improve opportunities for good health in communities of color. 

 9:20 AM                                 Break

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM           Morning Session 1

From Evaluation to Action: Using Results to Improve Services and Programs
Too often, an evaluation report is required by a funder only to end up sitting on a shelf. Healthcare Georgia Foundation supports the use of evaluation for purposes of improvement in performance and outcomes. These presenters will share how their organizations have used evaluation results to improve their services or programs, ultimately benefitting their constituents. 

Facilitator: Nancy Paris, President and CEO, Georgia CORE

Presenters:
Rebekah Hudgins, Evaluation Consultant, Georgia Family Connection Partnership
Christina Lennon, Executive Director, Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation
Sayge Medlin, Systems and Information Manager, Georgia Family Connection Partnership
Sandee Simmons, RN, Children's Medical Services Coordinator, Lowndes County Board of Health

Conducting and Evaluating Health Work: The Role of Safety Net Providers
Policy and advocacy activities are critical to advancing the missions and activities of nonprofit health organizations, particularly safety net organizations . In this session, you will learn how to conduct effective policy and advocacy activities. Presenters will share their expertise on engaging consumers, patients, and legislators about your work, as well as how to evaluate the impact of your activities. The session will also feature information about emerging health policy issues in Georgia that affect primary care and mental health providers.

Facilitator: Tim Sweeney, MPA, Director of Health Policy, Georgia Budget & Policy Institute

Presenters:
Karen Minyard, PhD, MSN, Executive Director, Georgia Health Policy Center
Cynthia Wainscott, Mental Health Advocate, former member of the National Council on Disability
Cindy Zeldin, MA, MPH, Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future

Engaging Board Members, Staff, Volunteers, and Key Stakeholders in Evaluation
Evaluation can give your nonprofit health organization the information it needs to improve organizational and program effectiveness. It also benefits the individuals, families, and communities you serve, and ultimately helps you tell your story. This panel presentation features effective and successful communications strategies with key stakeholders around the importance of creating an evaluation plan and how the implementation of the plan can be utilized to increase organizational capacity.

Facilitator: Greg Dent

Presenters:
Alan Essig, MPA, Executive Director, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Christi Kay, MEd, Executive Director, HealthMPowers
Donna Looper, Executive Director, Georgia Charitable Care Network
Terri Theisen, Theisen Consulting, LLC

Healthcare Georgia Foundation’s Grants Management Process and 2012 New Priorities
The Foundation recently updated its priority areas and grantmaking process. In this session, Foundation staff will introduce the new grantmaking priorities and cycles, the online application process, and RFPs. You’ll learn about incorporating evaluation and results into your work, how to best communicate with the Foundation, and how to publicize the results of your grant. Participants will also receive an overview of reporting and financial requirements. This session will be recorded and made available on the Foundation’s website after the conference.

Facilitator: Dr. Ted Holloway, Board Chair, Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Presenters:
Andrea Kellum Young, MPH, Program Officer, Healthcare Georgia Foundation
Racquel Lee-Sin, MPA, Grants Manager, Healthcare Georgia Foundation
Lisa Medellin, MSW, Program Officer, Healthcare Georgia Foundation
Mike Sweeney, Chief Financial Officer, Healthcare Georgia Foundation

10:30 AM                               Break

10:40 AM – 11:40 AM         Morning Session 2


Above the Fold: Using Results to Publicize Your Message
You’ve just completed an extensive planning and evaluation process, and you now have compelling data and results that you want to share with the public and your constituents. Or perhaps you’d like to get important evidence in front of legislators who shape policy affecting your target audience. What’s the best way to get your message heard? This important skill-building session will explore the development of effective messaging, the art of storytelling, pitching to media, and much more. 

Facilitator: Scott Maxwell, Mathews and Maxwell

Presenters:
Charlie Hayslett, CEO, Hayslett Group
Andy Miller,  MEd, CEO and Editor, Georgia Health News
Ayanna Robinson, MPP, Senior Vice President, Porter Novelli

Sustainability: It’s Much More Than Fundraising
The availability of philanthropic support is dwindling, and more than ever before nonprofit organizations have to do more with fewer resources. How can a nonprofit survive in this economic climate? Presenters in this session will provide information on how to create a sustainable and fundable organizational model that links fundraising to a sustainability plan, address the key elements necessary for creating a sustainability plan, and share tips on how to capitalize on organizational intellectual property. You’ll learn how to engage staff, board, and volunteers on the value and necessity of implementing a sustainability plan, and how to identify funding resources.

Facilitator: Dr. Francis Tedesco, Board Vice Chair, Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Presenters:
Veda Johnson, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
Val Porter, Foundation Center - Atlanta
Pam Reynolds, Executive Director, Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center

Using Organizational Assessment to Build Capacity
Knowing how your organization is functioning on all levels is critical to its performance and outcomes. This session will provide an overview of how the organizational assessment process supported a healthcare organization’s focus on a priority capacity building project. You’ll learn how to establish an impact plan to assess results, implement that plan with consulting support, and acknowledge organizational accomplishments. Three grantees will share their experiences with this process and how it influenced their ability to accomplish their goals. 

Facilitator: Lynn Thogersen, MHA, Board of Director, Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Subie Green, Executive Director, Center for the Visually Impaired
Jenny Pomeroy, President, Prevent Blindness Georgia 
Ruth Rucker, Executive Director, Hands of Hope
Neil Sklarew, MS, MBA, Senior Consultant, Georgia Center for Nonprofits

From Assessment to Tracking: Clinical Tools and Evaluating Results
Do you have the right resources to achieve the results you seek? This session will explore various tools used to assess and diagnose patients and track outcomes in community-based primary care and mental health settings. Presenters will discuss their experiences with the implementation of electronic medical records in a volunteer-based clinic, including the inputting of patient data to improve tracking and monitor outcomes. You’ll learn how to use diagnostic tools in a community-based mental health setting, and the best way to ensure the effective diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation of patients. 

Facilitator: James Freeman, MA, Director of Housing, Southside Medical Center

Presenters:
Mary Baxter, MEd, Office Manager, Mercy Health Center
Kimberly D. Farris, PhD, MSW, Skyland Trail

11:40 AM – 11:50 AM           Break

11:50 AM – 1:15 PM              Lunch

Healthcare Georgia Foundation’s Evaluation Resource Center
This session features the launch of the Foundation’s Evaluation Resource Center (ERC), which offers evaluation tools and services tailored to help nonprofit organizations achieve better outcomes.

Presenters:
Gary D. Nelson, PhD, President, Healthcare Georgia Foundation
Maddy Frey, MPH, Evaluation Resource Center, Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Tyler Norris - Featured Speaker
Senior Advisor 
Center for Total Health
Kaiser Permanente
 

Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Engaged Leadership for Collective Impact
What does collaboration need to be to deliver collective impact at scale? What’s working that
creates measurable outcomes and at the same time, builds community capacity and civic
infrastructure? This presentation. will draw on learning from the healthy/livable/sustainable
communities movement to share success stories from investment strategies, healthy public
policy to authentic leadership that are vital to effecting positive community change.

1:15 PM – 1:25 PM          Break

1:25 PM – 2:30 PM          Afternoon Workshops

Introduction of the Georgia Evaluation Resource Center (ERC)
In this session, preliminary results of ERC capacity-building activities will be discussed. A panel of ERC participants will discuss the changes to their organizations resulting from ERC participation, as well as additional successes or challenges experienced with efforts to evaluate their programs and organizations.

Facilitator: Maddy Frey, MPH, Evaluation Resource Center, Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Using Technology to Connect Communities, Consumers, and Experts to Improve Health Outcomes
Thanks to technology, the world is flat. But how do you keep up with innovations that are constantly changing the way we access information? This panel presentation and discussion will highlight programs that are utilizing technology to connect patients with doctors, health care providers with education and training, and nonprofit professionals working in health with the information they need, when they need it. (Continuing Education Credits are being applied for this session)

Facilitator: Matt Caseman, Executive Director, Georgia Rural Health Association

Presenters:
Marsha Davis, PhD, College of Public Health, University of Georgia
Paula Guy, CEO, Georgia Partnership for Telehealth
John Banning, Senior Manager, Applications Services, Techbridge

Data Driven: Gathering and Using Data to Inform Policy Decisions
Assessment is a core function of public health. Understanding the health of a community enables health-related organizations to design and implement appropriate health interventions. Assessment also informs the adoption of policies in support of the health needs of that community. During this session, presenters will describe processes used to collect data on the health and health needs of their communities, and use those data to plan community health initiatives.

Facilitator: Kelly Hill, PhD,  Nexus Research Group

Presenters:
Bee Frazier, MPA, PhD, Performance Improvement Manager, Office of Performance Improvement, Georgia Department of Public Health
Allen M. Hoffman, MD, Executive Director, WellStar Community HealthCare
Jennifer Muñoz, MPH, Planning & Quality Project Manager Cobb and Douglas Public Health
Valarie Wilson, Executive Director, Atlanta BeltLine Partnership

Creating Successful Partnerships and Collaborating Effectively
Collaborative efforts and strategic partnerships among nonprofit organizations, government agencies, individuals, and communities often provide more positive results and financially efficient solutions than any single organizations or individuals. Presenters in this session will discuss two different models:

1. Public-Private Partnerships - benefits, successful strategies, and how to improve health outcomes. Participants will learn the about the role that public-private partnerships can play in improving health and social services, strategies for establishing and sustaining partnerships, and how the Augusta-Richmond County model can be replicated.
2. Local Collaboration - benefits, how to identify potential collaborative partners, establishing mutually beneficial priorities, as well as how to initiate a collaborative relationship, merge leadership styles, and identify funding for a collaborative partnership. This session features a Lightning Round.

Presenters:
Mary Beth McCleod, Patient Assistance Case Manager, Medbank Foundation
Robetta McKenzie, Executive Director, Augusta Partnership for Children

2:30 PM – 2:40 PM           Break

2:40 PM – 3:40 PM           Closing Session

Managing for Better Results

Panelists:
Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, Commissioner of Georgia Department of Public Health, State of Georgia
Janine Lee, President and CEO, Southeast Council of Foundations, Inc. 
Mike Kemp, JD, Senior Vice President, Regional Trust Manager, Synovus Trust Company, N.A.

This interactive panel discussion features evaluation and performance perspectives from experts in the public, philanthropic, and collaborative sectors. Panelists will discuss:

• Performance within their own organizations and other organizations they support
• The primary purpose evaluation serves in their leadership role and the type of leadership/management style that produces the best results
• Where evaluation over-promises and under-delivers; and
• The most important evaluation issue nonprofit health organizations should embrace

3:40 PM                 Closing Remarks           Gary D. Nelson, PhD, President, Healthcare Georgia Foundation