Learning in Community — What We Shared, What We Learned

At CASL, our staff strives to continually learn and improve the ways we show up for clients and our community. This fall, our staff spent time with other nonprofits, researchers, funders, and public officials to collectively discuss how our organizations can better serve clients directly — sharing what we’ve learned, and bringing back new ideas. Here’s a recap of six spaces where CASL showed up as an expert voice over the past two months.

A delegation from Shanghai’s social services sector visited CASL for a hands-on look at how we run a multi-service agency. The visit included department tours, followed by an agency overview from Karina Kidder (SVP of Program Strategy) and Winnie Lam (Director of Clinical Services) covering CASL’s Brain Health work for older adults and caregivers, our Centralized Intake model, and our vision for CASL’s future. The visit closed with mutual introductions between the Shanghai and Chicago delegates. This kind of exchange puts CASL’s service model in front of an international audience and positions our staff as practitioners other systems look to for replicable models — not just a local provider, but a reference point for how integrated, multigenerational service delivery can work.

Rachael Wright (VP of Program Services) represented CASL on a panel at the Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly’s Annual Member Meeting, alongside representatives from five other nonprofits serving older adults. The panel addressed agency business diversification — why and how organizations should expand revenue strategies, and what pitfalls to avoid. CLESE has been a leading voice on ethnic elder services in Chicago since 1989, representing over 50 member organizations. It’s part of a broader conversation nonprofits serving older adults are having right now, as traditional funding models get squeezed.

Alex Montgomery (Director of Institutional Funding & Grants) joined this Salesforce Tower Chicago event to share CASL’s data transformation journey alongside Peter Schweiss of Hope Ignites. The session, hosted by Provisio Partners — a Salesforce/Tableau implementation partner that works exclusively with health and human services nonprofits — focused on how unified data and Tableau visualization can reduce manual work and help organizations meet funder demands for clear impact reporting. It’s one more data point in an ongoing conversation among nonprofits trying to make their data work harder under the same funder pressure.

 

Karina Kidder (SVP of Programs Strategy) represented CASL in the session “Strengthening Trust and Engagement in Behavioral Health.” The session explored how community organizations, healthcare providers, and people with lived experience build trust and improve care engagement across communities facing cultural, language, stigma, and systemic barriers. This was the second annual Summit hosted by Cook County Health’s Office of Behavioral Health (themed “Stronger Together, Driving Action to Impact”), drawing 800+ attendees county-wide. The Summit’s findings feed directly into Cook County’s Behavioral Health Strategic Plan.

Gina Hardee (English Language Instructor) represented CASL at this Federal Plaza rally, joining learners, teachers, administrators, and elected officials — including Rep. Theresa Mah and Sen. Graciela Guzmán — to call for consistent state funding for adult education. CASL showed up alongside coalition partners to support adult education funding policy, especially as it pertains to English language and citizenship classes.

Chunping Huang, DNP, FNP has joined the Community-Academic Steering Committee for the Alliance for Research with Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) at Northwestern University, representing CASL at the inaugural meeting. ARCC is a community-based participatory research partnership connecting academic researchers with community organizations (CLESE is also a longtime steering committee member). The seat opens a line into co-designing health studies and research funding that could strengthen frontline health programming down the line.

CASL is proud to be part of several networks of experts, advocates, and organizations with a shared mission to improve the lives of others. Knowledge sharing strengthens our work and the services we provide. We look forward to continuing these partnerships and building new ones.