EPISODE SUMMARY:

What is organizational culture? Why should you focus on organizational culture? What is the value of investing in organizational culture? How does it relate to Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs)? In this episode, Tony speaks with Gene Klein, LCSW and Caren Dean with Project Harmony. During their conversation, they share how they navigated through periods of growth and change at Project Harmony. As a result, this led the CAC to focus on creating a positive organizational culture.

Topics in this episode

• Project Harmony (3:29)
• Culture (5:08)
• Intentional Focus on Culture (7:28)
• Building Organizational Culture (9:14)
• Organizational Change Management (17:15)
• 5 Pillars (21:52)
• Value of Blocking Time for Organizational Culture (30:59)
• Reinforcement of Organizational Culture (33:00)
• Results of Focusing on Organizational Culture (36:43)
• Recommendations (39:18)

GUESTS:

Gene Klein, LCSW, is the Executive Director of Project Harmony, a non-profit Child Advocacy Center in Omaha, Nebraska providing services to enhance the quality of child abuse investigations. Under his leadership, Project Harmony has become one of the largest CACs in the nation- serving more than 8,000 children and families with more than 375 co-located partners in a shared facility/campus-all professionals working together to respond to the outcry of child maltreatment and also delivering high quality innovative prevention services.

Mr. Klein has over 35 years of leadership experience in agencies serving children and families. He has served on the board of directors for the National Children’s Alliance in Washington, D.C., the Nebraska Foster Care Review Board, the Governor’s Commission for the Protection of Children, and the Omaha Archdiocese Review Board for the Protection of Children. Mr. Klein has served as a peer reviewer for the Department of Justice (OJJDP) as well as for the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) for more than 10 years. Mr. Klein holds a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is also a licensed Mental Health Practitioner.

Caren Dean, Ph.D., is the Senior Director of People and Culture at Project Harmony. Dr. Dean has been working in Organizational Development and Human Resources with a primary focus on creating human capital strategies that build the infrastructures of an organization through inclusive policies and practices, inspiring leadership, and creating trusting and engaging cultures. 

Dr. Dean is inspired to change lives, and to create organizations where people love to come to work. She has a great depth of knowledge in HR from the employee onboarding experience, to their journey off boarding and everything in between. Much of her cultural work and leadership development is focused on utilizing researched material/best practices and making data driven decisions to drive human capital strategies which positively impact the businesses bottom line.                                

Dr. Dean is a certified Gallup Strengths coach. She is passionate about inspiring, motivating and making a positive and measurable impact with individuals, teams and organizations she works with. As a collegiate athlete and a study of Behavioral Cognitive Psychology, Clinical Social Work and Human Capital Management, Dr. Dean has always been motivated by figuring out how and why people thrive, and how to help people bring their best self to work and life every day.

Dr. Dean received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from San Diego State University, and a Doctorate in Human Capital Management from the Business school at Bellevue University in Nebraska. She is a certified ATD Executive Coach, Gallup Clifton Strengths Coach and certified Emergenetics coach.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

• Find Your Why by Simon Sinek: https://simonsinek.com/books/find-your-why/
• Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO-B): https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Products-and-Services/FIRO
• Northeast Regional Children’s Advocacy Center: https://www.nrcac.org
• Project Harmony: https://projectharmony.com
• Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers: https://www.regionalcacs.org

Have an idea for a future Team Talk guest or topic? We want to hear from you! Email your suggestions to Tony DeVincenzo at tony@nrcac.org.

Disclaimer: This project was sponsored by NRCAC from Grant Award Number 15PJDP-22-GK-03061-JJVO awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, OJJDP or NRCAC.