Urban Initiatives and WomenOnCall.org
WomenOnCall.org has been a huge help to us! We have
worked with different volunteers in many different capacities,
such as fundraising, marketing, and public relations.
 One
area that WomenOnCall.org has been very beneficial is
in our strategic planning process. We have been working
with Mrs. Mary Jo Bollero as our strategic planning
consultant. Mary Jo has done thorough research on our
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and has been able
to help spur committees into action to help address
our needs. She is currently in the process of developing
a comprehensive three year strategic plan as a guide
for the future.
Mary Jo has also helped develop our donor database
system to help keep donors in touch and organized.
 Overall,
WomenOnCall.org has been one of the best volunteer organizations
we have worked with and we continue to get new volunteers
in. Thank you for providing us with an invaluable resource
that has allowed Urban Initiatives to grow and serve
more children across Chicago.
The mission of Urban Initiatives is to actively engage
children from under-served communities in extracurricular
activities in a safe and structured environment. Urban
Initiatives promotes education and wellness and instills
in each child the importance of these factors to lifelong
development and self-sufficiency.
 Urban
Initiatives achieves its mission by establishing before
and after school soccer programs that provide quality
instruction, nutrition education, a disciplined and
structured team environment, and coordinated communication
between teachers, parents and coaches.
Urban Initiatives is a rapidly growing organization
that could use volunteers on its different committees.
Currently we have six committees; Grantwriting, Finance,
Marketing, Fundraising, Program Evaluation, and Board
Development. We would also love to get volunteers out
to our six schools to work with the children hands on.
About Mary Jo Bollero's experience:
 “I
received an alert from WomenOnCall.org in March of this
year. After reviewing the description of need; I felt
that I had the skills to assist Urban Initiatives. My
next step was to look at Urban Initiative's website
for more background information. I connected with their
mission and also saw that they were a newer nonprofit
organization. I have worked with emerging nonprofits
in the past and felt that I could assist Urban Initiatives
in developing a strategic plan. The strategic planning
process identifies organizational priorities and focuses
resources on projects that will help meet the established
objectives.
My work with Urban Initiatives has followed several
areas of need that were identified in our initial meetings.
These include: How the founders of the organization
can best utilize their talents to grow the organization;
greater use of volunteers; cost/benefit of utilizing
paid staff; leveraging board member talents; and use
of technology.
The greatest satisfaction for me is that I am utilizing
my skills to assist those who have the passion and drive
to pursue a community need. I admire Daniel Isherwood
and Jim Dower for their personal commitment in promoting
education, wellness, and the importance of these factors
to lifelong development and self-sufficiency. They are
fortunate to have dedicated volunteer staff, such as
Connie Falcone. The benefit of WomenOnCall.org is that
organizations such as Urban Initiatives can put out
a call for skills to a broad audience. In turn, potential
volunteers are able to donate their skills and talents
to organizations that they may not otherwise have known.”
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