Honoring Stories and Integrating Curriculum®: How to Build and Sustain Communities, Episode 2, Part 1

Listen to "E2:1 Funders as Allies: Cheri Tillis, COO" on Spreaker.

Funders as Community Developers: Cheri Tillis, COO

Contact and Bio
Email: ctillis@fatherssupport.org
Website:www.fatherssupportcenter.org
Twitter: @fatherssupport
Facebook: Fathers Support Center
LinkedIn: Fathers Support Center
What are specific requests for St. Louis or others? Please continue to support the efforts of FFSC and other family serving organizations. Follow and like us on social media platforms to stay connected.

Cheri D. Tillis is the Executive VP/COO of award winning and nationally recognized Fathers’ and Families Support Center, St. Louis.  Mrs. Tillis is responsible for providing oversight of agency programs and daily operations of 6 current locations and the 55 staff positions with the help of her phenomenal team of Directors and Managers. She has 15+ years of experience in this role and currently focuses on building community partnerships, federal grant writing, program development and management.  Prior to her responsibilities at FFSC, she served as a Youth Specialist for the Division of Youth Services in St. Louis, MO.  She also served the St. Louis area as an Americorps member. Mrs. Tillis holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Jackson State University, a Masters of Science in HR Management from Lindenwood University, a Business Management for Non-Profit Leaders Certificate from Washington University Olin School of Business and was a 2016 Missouri Foundation for Health Fellow. She has also served as the PI on several Fatherhood research studies in partnership with Washington University Brown School of Social Work and The Brown School Evaluation Center in St. Louis, Mo. Most importantly, she is the wife of Bradford Tillis and the mother of 2 sons, Caleb and Nicholas. 

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​​Episode 2, Part 1: Cheri Tillis, COO Fathers and Families and Support Center

• Introduction to Podcast, Honoring Stories and Integrating Curriculum®: How to Build and Sustain Communities
• Introduction to core structure of the trainings provided by Fathers and Families Support Center
• Cheri’s story of growing up in St. Louis and her career path and how she found FFSC
• Cheri’s story of creating every position she occupied from case manager to COO
• How FFSC operated as a team to support one another through the growing pains
• How FFSC discovered community core needs and recruited funders and supporters to help them provide for those needs
• How FFSC branched out from those core community needs and expanded the resources they provided 
• How FFSC secured steady funding that aligned with their mission and their niche
• How FFSC worked strategically with funding to keep employees employed
• How FFSC hires and promotes from within, including people who partake of their programs
• Funders who are key players in both securing funding, systematizing operations and in helping remove obstacles FFSC faces
• The range of resources St. Louis and Missouri funders provide
• Specific support and tough love for employees that streamlines operations and provides for employees and the organization

Honoring Stories and Integrating Curriculum®: How to Build and Sustain Communities
Honoring Stories and Integrating Curriculum® methods this podcast features

• Building inclusive innovative change-making teams
  • Recognizing range of strengths and weaknesses of team members
  • Learning the value in the cultural language practices of team members
  • Providing needed training to help team members expand cultural expertise and communicate with needed audiences
  • Supporting employees through learning process
• Multiple sectors as key village partners
  • Identifying specific needs of community members
  • Partnering with funders and organizations who join the team and understand or research the multi-faceted nature of those needs by getting to know programs, people, obstacles program participants are facing
  • Building a village that makes the village FFSC is possible