PASE | Past Projects

PASE created Ascent: Promoting Effective Leadership in Afterschool to prepare emerging leaders to harness change and improve individual and organizational performance in afterschool settings. Ascent uses a tiered system of professional development to identify, nurture, and transform emerging leaders in afterschool into visionary leaders .

a citywide leadership forum reaching more than 200 organizations;
quarterly centralized institutes, each including approximately 30 participants;
the Emerging Leaders in Youth Services advanced course conducted in partnership with Baruch College; and
an intensive mentorship program which matches emerging leaders with senior-level executives in the field.

Why is Ascent important?

The Support Center for Nonprofit Management estimates that up to 70% of executive directors in NYC will retire in the next three years, and expects filling these positions to pose a tremendous challenge. In a recent survey of nonprofit professionals with an average age of 28, only 9% expressed a desire to pursue the top position at their agency, and almost half are planning to leave the nonprofit sector entirely.

This impending nonprofit leadership crisis threatens the afterschool field; turnover rates among after school staff are high-as much as 56%, according to a Tufts University study. Staff turnover not only widens the ever-growing leadership gap in the field, but disrupts the provision of vital services to the young people who need them the most.

Ascent aims to address this potential leadership crisis, harnessing the pool of talent and dedication that exists in the afterschool field to create a new generation of leaders.

awareness of career opportunities in the field;
interest in moving toward executive directorship;
skills related to effective leadership; and
confidence in leadership abilities.

As a learning organization, PASE is committed to measuring the impact of its programs. To that end, PASE used a variety of evaluation tools to measure the impact of each Ascent component in its pilot year, including self-reporting (evaluations, pre and post assessments, surveys), skill assessments, and assessments by mentors and supervisors.

The full evaluation conducted in 2007-2008 indicated that Ascent had real and significant impact on participants and their agencies. A full evaluation report is available, and key findings are listed below.

90% of participants in the Ascent Leadership Forum and Institutes found materials useful.
More than 85% indicated these events introduced them to new information and strategies.
100% of the 2007 Emerging Leaders participants reported that the program has been helpful in their daily work.

81% of the 2007 Emerging Leaders participants reported that the program developed the skills they need for effective leadership.
Two-thirds of the Emerging Leaders participants reported an increased confidence in their leadership abilities; the majority also expressed an interest in moving toward executive directorship.
The supervisors of the 2007 Emerging Leaders participants observed increased confidence among the participants in terms of their leadership abilities.
Over 70% of the Emerging Leaders alumni reported that the program supported their professional growth.
Three of the 2007 Emerging Leaders applied to and were accepted into Baruch’s Masters in Public Administration program.
Mentoring program participants all reported gaining new skills as a manager/director.

Two-thirds of Emerging Leaders alumni are still at their agencies. Of those, nearly half have received a promotion since participating in the program.
Over 80% of supervisors found that their staff members’ participation in the 2007 Emerging Leaders program has been helpful in their daily work.

Three out of the four mentees felt the mentoring helped move their agency forward or begin to envision changes/new directions for their program, and the mentee who did not gained a better understanding of her agency in the process.