An Affinity Group, as the name suggests, is a group of like-minded people gathering to learn more about a common purpose or vocation and share knowledge and expertise. CalCAPA Affinity Groups invite the staff and board members of CSBG-funded agencies to convene bi-monthly for discussions, training, relevant professional speakers, and more.
Fill out the application below to apply for one or more Affinity Groups.
Affinity Group members can make recommendations for speakers at any time through their dedicated Slack channel or by using the Recommend a Speaker form below. All requests go to CalCAPA and the Affinity Group Leader for consideration and/or coordination.
The Comms Affinity Group is for all new and existing communications personnel in Community Action. Communications are important for building stronger communities and organizations. Some of the topics we will focus on include:
- Community growth and outreach
- Social media strategy
- News/media outlet outreach
- Networking
Meetings are on Mondays at 11:00 AM. Please register below. If your agency has no designated communications team but you would like to join, please register or email jcoxe@calcapa.org and we will work with you as best we can.
The Finance Group welcomes any new or future CSBG accounting professionals who work for a CSBG-funded agency. Subject matter for this group includes:
- CSBG Accounting Rules
- Nonprofit accounting best practices
- Public Agency accounting best practices
- Updates to fiscal policy
- Related state and federal advocacy efforts
2024 Meetup Schedule*
January 30, 2024 – Budgets
April 23, 2024 – Board Reporting
July 23, 2024 – Quickbooks Online
October 29, 2024 – Negotiating Grant Terms
*Schedule subject to change.
The Human Resources (HR) Group welcomes any new or future HR professional that belongs to a CSBG-funded agency. Subject matter for this group includes:
- CSBG Human Resource Rules
- Agency Workforce Development Programs
- Nonprofit HR best practices
- Public Agency HR best practices
- Personnel Management
- Updates to HR policy
- Related state and federal advocacy efforts
2024 Meetup Schedule*
January 30, 2024 – Training for Entry Level Management
April 24, 2024 – AI Tool Awareness
July 24, 2024 – Labor for Managers and HR
October 30, 2024 – Popular Legal Issues
*Schedule subject to change
The Planning Group welcomes any new or future CSBG planning professional that belongs to a CSBG-funded agency. Subject matter for this group includes:
- CSBG Strategic Planning Rules
- Data collection and analysis support
- Nonprofit planning best practices
- Public Agency planning best practices
- Updates to policies that affect Strategic Planning
- Related state and federal advocacy efforts
2024 Meetup Schedule*
February 8, 2024 – Upper Management Transitions
April 25, 2024 – Logic Models and Implementation
September 25, 2024 – Misconceptions about Org Standards
October 31, 2024 – Annual Report Data for CAPlanning
*Schedule subject to change.
The New Executive Director (ED/CEO) Group welcomes any new or future CSBG Senior Director that belongs to a CSBG-funded agency. Subject matter for this group includes:
- CSBG Rules
- Leadership skill growth and development
- Community Action Institutional Knowledge
- Nonprofit leadership best practices
- Public Agency leadership best practices
- Related state and federal advocacy efforts
2024 Innovation for Impact Schedule*
February 27, 2024 – Funding Streams
April 9, 2024 – Strategic Plan
June 11, 2024 – Succession & Sustainability
August 13, 2024 – Naratives & Storytelling
October 8, 2024 – Enhanced Community Assessment
December 10, 2024 – Year in Review
*Schedule subject to change
Agencies have measured access to CalCAPA’s Moodle-based Learning Management System (LMS) through the use of a dedicated LMS Tenant. An LMS Tenant is a branded user experience and is ideal to use as an onboarding and compliance tracking system. As an LMS Admin for your agency’s LMS Tenant, you have a core set of responsibilities and a community of admins to help. LMS Admins:
- provide information about the agency to customize LMS features,
- add users to the system, and
- access LMS usage reports.
CalCAPA formed California’s Young Professionals Affinity Group (YPAG) in response to a similar group forming at the national level for Community Action personnel. The groups are not officially linked, however, the California chapter of YPAG makes efforts to align with the national group when applicable.
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council is comprised of participants in formal DEI certification programs and other Community Action staff interested in advancing DEI concepts in their agencies and associations.