The Importance of Teamwork in Pursuing Grants

 How many of you look forward to the opportunity to support others with your strengths?  According to the journal American Psychologist, It has been proven by science that working in teams is important when it comes to a company's success. Working in a team will always be more beneficial than working alone, so never see it as something that is dreadful.  I know some people do not feel comfortable working with others, or they just prefer not to, but it is essential. Someone that you work with may have an idea that you did not  think of or maybe they are more talented in a specific area. As John J. Murphy put it, “Each individual has unique gifts and talents.” When you work as a team of individuals, with each having their unique talents, you will grow as an individual as well.  In addition, you will learn new things about yourself, and you will become more aware of your strengths and weaknesses. When you have weakness, don’t fret, because your team ( a good team that is) will support you by covering for our weaknesses. You will not be the only one with weaknesses. In addition, you will get the opportunity to support others as well with your strengths. 

How we can Actually Help Small Businesses

 With the past year keeping everyone from spreading the coronavirus, a lot of businesses had to shut down while everyone was saying “support small businesses”, Yesterday. The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom announced that there will be a $9.6-billion economic recovery package. 2.1 billion dollars will go to grants for small businesses. This is great news! New grants being written and funded to ‘for-profit’ entities.  Allowing quite a few businesses to remain open or reopen. However, that will not be enough? For profit businesses getting grants seems like it's new but it's not. Companies such as Wells Fargo, Chrysler, and Alliance Financial Corp have received government funding  and each of them have been included as part of public, private partnerships.  So how can we keep this going. Maybe just maybe, for profit businesses can keep things going being a part of Public, Private Partnerships that support their sustained capacity to keep receiving grants!  Worth the thought! 

MHM is Here to Help Entrepreneurs in Need

     “Even as we choose to elevate Afro Americans, minorities  and women with grants,  as Americans,

we should all come together to help each other out, and yes that includes Immigrants… as we are we

are all American.” (Luvina Beckley, CEO of MHM and Associates Enterprise).

Last June, the California legislature passed assembly bill 82 (this was a SEED Initiative). This bill is in favor of helping immigrants of all backgrounds no matter their immigration status. With this bill there, will be a decrease in unemployment of immigrants and there will be an increase in “economic diversity”. Not only that, but the State of California’s Employment Training Panel (ETP)will be administering $9,650,000 under their  SEED Initiative. 

So we need to do the same!   We are committing to seek grants  and support Afro American and immigrant entrepreneurs in making sure that our fellow entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to move their businesses forward and live a life of comfort, as I am sure we would all like to do.   So, as MHM makes it a mission to support social inclusion and help grow small businesses throughout California with grants, we would like to acknowledge our shift of inclusion of immigrants!  With support for  entrepreneurship and small businesses growth , it will be easier for Americans to live the life that they sought after and they will be able to live comfortably and happily, as we all should. That being said, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL VENDORS AND SMALL BUSINESSES!!!

 History in the Making 

You may write this down in history: What happened when Small Black and Minority, Women Owned Businesses contributing to the 44% of the U.S. economic activity, tottered on the verge of bankruptcy and closure amid Covid-19 and bitter twisted lies? They bowed their heads and lowered their eyes, and then peeked to see if anyone was wise…enough to know of the secret gold mines of their own backyards that led to the wealth building of Black and Minority Women beyond historical regards. What a wondrously clear daybreak!

High-Impact Ways to Improve Your Grant Proposal - Create Optimism

A visionary leader with over two decades of executive-level management experience, Luvina Beckley is the CEO and founder of M.H.M. & Associates Enterprise, Inc. (MHM). Luvina Beckley and her team help clients access needed resources and empower agencies and individuals, (through a proven processes, use of their date driven grants library and best practices) in elevating successes in accessing grants!

Writing a grant proposal can be a complex process. Often, organizations underestimate how much time will be consumed in performing the needed research to find the right funding partners, compose a coherent proposal with relevant and compelling data to support the need for the proposed services, while ensuring the data you find accurately conveys yours program and optimism from the reader/potential funding agency. One of the most important things you can do to create optimism for your readers, is performing meticulous research to find the best partners capable of implementing 'best and proven' practices. These proven practices, often called 'best practice models' have been compiled by MHM in their library which enables any writer to increase their chances for success.

Another key factor in creating optimism is explicit knowledge about how the grant will make an impact on a very distinct population. Your funding agency will also want to know why you are the right person or group to serve the targeted population and receive a grant from them. This will need to be articulated clearly and in such a way that the reviewer/reader representing the funding agency resonates with your idea, your plan, the specified needs and planned impact.

Last, it's key to pay close attention to how you can build public and private partnerships into your overall design and into your planned budget. Often, funding agencies will look at a budget before they even consider the narrative to assess if your request is aligned with their planned allocation. If your budget show promise of collective partners with strong justification for divers roles and responsibilities, and the requested amount is aligned with their planned giving, you can create a level of optimism among funding agencies, even before they read your narrative!.

An Overview of Six Sigma e3p3 As Part of a Quality Management Strategy

Since 1994, Luvina Beckley has served as the CEO of M.H.M. & Associates. Under Luvina Beckley’s leadership, the Ontario, California, firm works to obtain government grants and other funding to support a variety of economic, environmental, social, and civic projects designed to revitalize communities. She also serves as chair of the MHM-created National Resource Development Council for Inclusion and Equity (NRDC-IE), whose patent-pending e3p3 grant-securing model has received recognition from the federal government.

MHM established NRDC-IE out of a passion for solving regional economic and environmental injustices and inequities. The organization was developed in collaboration with the University of California’s Center for Economic Development, the Loma Linda University Center for Community Resilience, and prominent leaders in government and social policy.

MHM’s patent-pending e3p3 model for securing grants has notable antecedents and parallels in the business world. The basic Six Sigma e3p3 methodology centers on ideas generated by business experts such as Joseph Juran, Kaoru Ishikawa, and W. Edwards Deming.

The mnemonic for the Six Sigma e3p3 methodology (“e-cube, p-cube”) is “evaluate, evolve, execute, perfect, progress, and preach/practice.” The steps involved begin with defining the problem, managing appropriate inputs and processes, and then executing the plan itself. Then MHM uses the approach to “perfect” the grant concept and model being developed, by ensuring planed impact and targeted performance measures can be accomplished, which leads to increasing successes in grants produced and further progress of the programs, accomplishments, and sustainable.or replicateble performance

Through its iteration of this evidence-based Six Sigma e3p3 methodology, MHM and its e3p3 model wil enhance healthy and sustainable communities, as well as to promote the well-being of community members, particularly blacks andother minority under-resourced parts of the United States.

A Profile of Luvina Beckley-Knight, Grant Writing Specialist

Several things become crystal clear when you look more closely into the background of Luvina Beckley, who founded grant-writing form M.H.M and Associates and also serves as the firm’s CEO. However, the most important trait she possesses is her tendency to refuse to back away from any challenge. There are reasons for this, of course; Luvina Beckley has always held a competitive streak, which stemmed in part from her time as a prominent college basketball player, who starred on a team that won a Division III national championship more than three decades ago. That competitive edge gives her a bit of an advantage over many others in her profession.

The primary specialty claimed by Luvina Beckley and her firm, MHM and Associates, is usually based on her ability to identify, apply for and acquire ability funding for projects that serve to make life better for people in a community. Luvina’s job is to help agencies and other organizations get grants and investments for projects in the fields of criminal justice, health and human services, economic development and even the arts and culture.