The Cloudburst Group

The Cloudburst Group is honored to participate in the Technical Assistance Provider Institute in Washington, DC, July 23-25, along with other HUD Community Compass-funded Technical Assistance providers. Here are some photos from our first day of participation! The Cloudburst Technical Assistance group photo (top row, left to right): Stacey Matthews, Senior Technical Assistance Provider; Jay Dworin, Fair Housing Expert; Stephanie Jennings, Senior Technical Assistance Advisor; Theodore (TJ) Winfield, Operations Lead; Kate Hurd, Senior Behavioral Health Specialist; Heidi Schilpp, Senior Analyst; (bottom row, left to right): Heather Rhoda, Senior Analyst; Michelle Hayes, President; Steven Ellis, Senior Technical Assistance Provider; Leslie Leitch, Technical Assistance Advisor Photo credit: Heidi Schilpp

Cloudburst is set to attend the Technical Assistance Provider Institute in Washington, DC, July 23-25, along with other HUD Community Compass-funded Technical Assistance providers. At the Institute, Cloudburst staff will have the opportunity to hear from HUD leadership about community planning and development, fair housing, multi-family housing, homeless assistance, and other emerging program priorities. For more than 15 years, Cloudburst has provided training, technical assistance, and capacity-building support to hundreds of HUD’s grantees across the United States.  We are excited to have Cloudburst staff share their experiences advancing equitable and accessible technical assistance delivery methods that prioritize translation, engaging people with lived experience, delivering equitable services, and fostering innovations. Resources: Learn more about Cloudburst’s Housing and Community Development work: https://lnkd.in/ezcTgePe #technicalassistance #TAinnovation #housing #fairhousing #TAdelivery #HUD

"One of The Cloudburst Group’s most salient contributions to governance and programming is its unique ability to bridge the gap between academia (both in the United States and in USAID partner countries) and the development sector to create a connection between the U.S. government and resources and researcher expertise at universities around the world. Cloudburst, a women-owned small business with more than 18 years’ experience promoting data-driven decision making, partners with a diverse array of methodological and sectoral experts across high, middle, and low-income countries to design and implement successful research and evaluations that have earned high regard from USAID." The Cloudburst Group is honored to be featured in this month's Small Business Association for International Companies newsletter. Check out "Tapping into Local University Talent to Solve Global Development Challenges." https://lnkd.in/dwyx5C2A To learn more about Cloudburst's global development work, please visit: https://lnkd.in/ghei-F-9

Cloudburst is delighted to share that Stacey Matthews, Senior Technical Assistance Provider on the Housing and Community Development team, participated in the National Human Services Data Consortium's (NHSDC)Virtual Summer Institute 2024, July 17. The goal of the summer institute was to provide attendees with invaluable insights into data-driven approaches to addressing homelessness and related challenges. Stacey participated in the Plenary Session, "HUD Data Advancements: Public Engagement, API and Data Exchange, and APR/CAPER Confidence." Stacey and the Housing and Community Development team have been working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to build the capacity of communities across the country to promote the importance of data quality and reporting that is focused on achieving outcomes-driven services tied to need. Stacey is also the project manager for the Coordinated Entry Racial Equity Initiative working with more than 20 Continuums of Care (CoCs) across the country to implement equitable practices to improve the experience and outcomes of homelessness for People of Color. To learn more about Cloudburst's work to eliminate homelessness across the nation, please visit: https://lnkd.in/ezcTgePe #nhsdc2024 #HUD #racialequity #endhomelessness #datadriven #homelessness

Did you know the world’s youth population is the largest in recorded history? There are more than 1.2 billion people between the ages of 15 and 24, and nearly 90 percent of those live in economically developing countries.  World Youth Skills Day, observed every July 15, celebrates the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. The theme this year is “Youth Skills for Peace and Development,” highlighting the contributions young people can make in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. To address some of the challenges youth face globally, Cloudburst and partner LINC LLC worked to evaluate two USAID youth programs in Jamaica: the Local Partner Development Activity implemented by FHI 360 and, more recently, the Positive Pathways Activity implemented by Democracy International. Both programs were designed to reduce crime and violence perpetrated by youth by providing life skills training, employment programs, and psychosocial interventions to at-risk youth and their families to improve youth resilience and reduce recidivism.* Resources: LINC repost: https://lnkd.in/ddFYRakp Learn more about Cloudburst’s global development evaluation work: https://lnkd.in/ghei-F-9  USAID’s Jamaica Country Development Strategy 2020-2025: *https://lnkd.in/dPW25nxC  United Nations World Youth Skills Day:https://lnkd.in/d26MXaS Read more below: #WorkwithUSAID #positivepathways #worldyouthskillsday2024 #atriskyouth #lifeskillstraining #evaluation

How wonderful to attend a conference and reconnect with friends old and new! Cloudburst's Fair Housing expert, Jay Dworin, is attending the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) 2024 Conference in Washington, D.C, July 14-16. The theme of this year's conference is "Housing Equity Now: Building an Inclusive and Just Future." The NFHA relentlessly works to eliminate housing discrimination and ensure equitable housing opportunities for all people and communities through its education and outreach, member services, public policy, advocacy, housing and community development, tech equity, enforcement, and consulting and compliance programs. Jay Dworin has over 20 years of experience providing fair housing and civil rights guidance related to requirements under Title VI and Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act; Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act; and Executive Order 11063 (Equal Opportunity in Housing). He works with HUD on the National Fair Housing Training Academy (NFHTA) to provide technical assistance to fair housing professionals, public housing agencies, and other federal grantees regarding proper applications of federal fair housing policies and practices. If you are attending the NFHA Conference, please reach out and say hello to Jay. He will be delighted to see you! To learn more about Cloudburst's fair housing work please visit: https://lnkd.in/ezcTgePe To learn more about NFHA please visit: https://lnkd.in/gx-ezGN Photo credit: Jay Dworin Photo 1: National Fair Housing Alliance’s (NFHA) Senior Vice President of Member Services, Sherrill Frost-Brown and Jay. Photo 2: HUDs former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Demetria McCain, who she now serves as the Director of Policy at NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and Jay.

Cloudburst is seeking a Community Development Analyst who is motivated to help local governments and states manage their CDBG and HOME programs. Must have experience with HOME and CDBG uses and regulatory requirements for a wide variety of eligible activities. Qualified individuals are invited to apply on the Join Us page of our Website. https://lnkd.in/e5yZNGqR

Cloudburst has an exciting opportunity for an Environmental Review Analyst who is interested in working with communities as they review the environmental considerations of program design in compliance with HUD's New Climate Action Policy and pursuit of Environment Justice. Must have demonstrated experience with HUD Environmental Review parts 50 and 58 processes. Qualified individuals are invited to apply at: https://lnkd.in/eXaAjq7A See attache job description for more info.

After completing the first module of the USAID/PPL Local Evaluation and Evidence Support (LEES) training, 18 participating Zambian organizations gathered for a Corporate Capabilities Statement writing workshop. The LEES project is designed to identify networks of host-country research and evaluation entities that USAID, other international organizations, and local government can engage for evaluation and learning activities; strengthen their technical and organizational capacity; help them market their services to potential clients; and support them as they begin to conduct evaluations and learning activities. The Corporate Capabilities Statement writing workshop taught participants how to develop capability statements tailored to their organizations. Cloudburst’s Global Development Practice Area Strategy Lead and Senior Evaluation Specialist Aleta Starosta and LINC's Country Coordinator Chisenga Chimege led the workshop. Ms. Starosta facilitated a peer review using a rubric and Cloudburst's capabilities statement as an example. The 28 participants also had the opportunity to give an elevator pitch to their peers over tea and refreshments. Multiple participants were excited to incorporate the feedback into their statements so they could start using them right away. Organizations reported how valuable the first month of training was: "I realized we do have a capabilities statement but it is not structured in this manner. This session motivated me to structure it in a more visually engaging format that is more specific and highlights our strengths"—Derrick Mwape, Cavendish University For more on Cloudburst’s global development work, visit: https://lnkd.in/ghei-F-9 #WorkwithUSAID #wosb #evaluationmatters #evaluation #globaldevelopment #internationaldevelopment #capabilitystatement #partnership #training #LEES

We are delighted to share that Cloudburst's Heather Duchscherer, Senior Technical Assistance Provider on the Housing and Community Development team, is attending the 2024 National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference (NAEH), 7/8 - 7/10, in Washington, D.C. Heather provides training and technical assistance to communities so that their homeless response systems are accessible, racially equitable, trauma-informed, and effective in permanently housing community members. The NAEH Conference is bringing together service providers, system leaders, advocates, and people with lived experience of homelessness to learn from each other, discuss best practices, and share new innovations in the field. If you are attending the NAEH Conference this week please reach out and say hello to Heather. They would love to hear from you! To learn more about Cloudburst's housing and community development work, please visit: https://lnkd.in/ezcTgePe To learn more about the National Alliance to End Homelessness, please visit: https://lnkd.in/gVvdzvw5 Photo (left to right): Maseta Dorley, Senior Associate, Technical Assistance Collaborative, and Heather Duchsherer attending the pre-conference session, "Coordinated Entry: How Can We Match People to Services" #NAEH2024 #endhomelessness #racialequity #housing #communitydevelopment #fairhousing #capitolhillday #nationalconference