CCNet Mesoamerica off to a fresh start

Story from Dave Kramer, Independent Consultant & Co-Leader of CCNet Mesoamerica  

The Mesoamerican Franchise got off to a fresh start during the first half of 2017, with Yven Echeverría and Dave Kramer as a new team, assisted a great deal by Cristina Lasch and Marcia Brown, focusing their efforts on creating and sending out a Spanish-language survey of conservation coaches across Mexico and Central America.

Twenty three responses were received and suggestions for recruiting half a dozen or more potential new coaches. The team wrestled with questions that are at the very core of CCNet’s strategy and business case: What is a coach? How high a bar should we set? How does this relate to CCNet’s overall plans for certifying coaches? We’ve been slow to get back to respondents, but that isn’t because we aren’t extremely grateful for the time each of them took to fill it out!!

Here are some highlights from the responses: Nearly 57% of the respondents consider themselves active coaches, while others noted a desire to be more active or sharpen their coaching skills. About 87% noted they have the deepest experience applying the OS to ecosystem-level work, while almost 70% stated they have applied the OS to landscape-level projects. Nearly all expressed interest in further training, with special interest in remote seminars or short workshops. And several respondents expressed their desire to connect with other professionals in a community of practice, continually update their knowledge of the OS and its new versions / adaptations, and better understand and apply it for evaluation and adaptation.

We are looking forward to taking the next steps in the coming months in response to CCNet member demand and interest, including holding a conference call to debrief the survey, reaching out to potential new coaches suggested by the survey respondents, offering a few remote training / webinar-style sessions, and, identifying opportunities for face-to-face interaction in the region, including possible collaboration with CCNet’s fantastic South American franchise. And, of course, the next CCNet Rally is right around the corner, too.

For more information about CCNet Mesoamerica visit our joint MesoAmerica and South America website or contact Dave Kramer or Yven Echeverría.