PEAK Parent Center

• 13 full-time staff members
• 12 board members
• $939,829 annual budget
• Supports 106 parent centers across the U.S., with intensive support for 12 regional centers

When PEAK Parent Center entered the NTEN Technology Leadership Academy, it had a large and complex project on its organizational plate. As a federally designated Parent Training and Information Center, PEAK provides training, resources and technical assistance to families of children with disabilities through its network of 108 centers across the United States. Given PEAK’s extensive expertise, the U.S. Department of Education had just selected the group to co-lead a federal pilot program to help other parent centers from across the country learn how to strategically use technology and infuse it into their operations.

“The [federal] initiative was daunting,” said Jacey Tramutt, PEAK’s technical assistance specialist. “We’d never done anything like it before, but we knew we would be able to take what we learned from the Academy and directly apply it. “The timing,” she said, “was perfect.”  

Although PEAK had significant experience with strategically using technology toward its own mission, the other centers involved in the federal initiative generally did not. Different levels of technical expertise among the participating parent centers added to the federal initiative’s complexity. Some of the pilot centers had been using technology in innovative ways, while others were less technologically savvy.

“In talking with the parent centers about the federal pilot program, we knew they were trying to embrace and develop their own relationship with technology, but there were differing visions for how the pilot would go,” said Barbara Buswell, PEAK’s executive director.

Buswell noticed many pilot center leaders were trying to glean “what I need to know.” But, as she had learned through her own interactions with NTEN and through the Tech Leadership Academy, “a need-to-know approach to technology doesn’t work because the learning is ongoing and dynamic. You have to think through technology from so many different levels--what equipment, tools and skill sets you have; your current and long-term budget; organizational priorities; and how they all fit into your mission.”

One of the challenges was passing that orientation along to the pilot participants. PEAK’s relationship with NTEN--particularly during the Technology Leadership Academy--helped it mobilize. NTEN’s book, Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission: A Strategic Guide for Nonprofit Leaders, which Academy participants received with their enrollment, also served as a key resource. “We used many dimensions of that book as we went through the process.”

Using the NTEN Technology Leadership Academy curriculum as a model and resource, PEAK proceeded to guide the pilot parent centers toward a broader, more strategic approach to developing their technology plans. The PEAK team created a collaborative learning space with the help of Wikispaces and held regularly scheduled conference calls. Participants shared resources, reported on their progress, and posted monthly technology planning assignments.

PEAK Parent Center hosted its own series of webinars, and it encouraged pilot centers to attend NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference. Center representatives formed an affinity group, which met during the NTC. PEAK also hired a strategic consultant it found through NTEN, who facilitated the affinity group meeting as well as other key in-person trainings. Having someone outside the group to frame the big picture helped convey the value of strategic technology planning to the pilot centers. Setting deadlines also was useful to PEAK as it helped the centers create their tech plans.

As the federal initiative wraps up, PEAK has already seen an impact. The pilot centers have further developed their strategic technology plans and have been integrating technology into their programmatic and day-to-day administrative work. “I hope we’ve set a spark that will catch fire,” said Buswell.

The intensity and synchronicity both of leading the pilot project and taking part in the Technology Leadership Academy prompted the PEAK team to analyze its own organizational tech strategies. To focus its efforts, PEAK formed a five-person technology team. “Everyone on the tech committee sat in on the Academy sessions and participated in our homework along with Jacey and me,” said Buswell. “The TLA was a perfect grounding and launch point for our work.”

One of the committee’s first tasks was to reduce the organization’s over-reliance on consultants. In the past, consultants had helped PEAK try some innovative things with technology. But as PEAK increased its skills, it found that relying on consultants was counter-productive and an obstacle to increasing independence and moving forward. 

The Academy helped PEAK overcome the obstacles, giving Buswell the “background, confidence, and access to people so that even with my limited knowledge of tech, I have an improved understanding of the kinds of things we would need a consultant for and what we can tackle internally. And if I don’t know, I have enough knowledge now to ask the right questions,” she said.

During the Academy, PEAK had conducted an initial audit of its technology assets and created a thorough inventory of physical assets. Following the Academy, it commissioned a more extensive audit of all of its technology assets, from its online presence to its technology strategies and metrics. The resulting reports formed a guide for the tech committee to refine the nonprofit’s strategies and develop next year’s technology plan.

PEAK Parent Center is moving ahead with more expertise and confidence as a result of the Tech Leadership Academy and expects to see a lasting impact. “We learned that there are so many resources out there as well as other nonprofits that are doing this--we can do it, too, and we don't need to be intimidated,” said Tramutt.

“The strategic thinking of the Tech Leadership Academy really drew me in and motivated me to find ways to integrate this thinking into our project work and throughout our agency,” said Buswell.

Applying the principles and practices PEAK learned during the Academy to its federal pilot project has led PEAK to a clearer vision and plan for using technology internally and among its network. “We’re making our organization better and stronger,” Buswell added, “and we’re more able to meet our mission and ensure our longevity.”