Schusterman Family Foundation

The Education division of the Schusterman Family Foundation is focused on supporting efforts across the United States that improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all students, especially underrepresented minorities.

In 2014, when the Education team was getting started, they discovered Kristi Royse and KLR Consulting.

Consciously Building Culture from the Start

The education team was in its first year as a brand new team when they started working with Kristi. "We had people who were new to working with each other, as well as being new to nonprofit processes like grant making,"says Eboni Dunbar, the Operations Manager for the group "We have, for example, former teachers, and this is very different from the classroom. We wanted to work on communicating well with each other, and building our team culture together, consciously, from the start."

DiSC® Workshops & Coaching

The group started by bringing KLR Consulting in to facilitate a discussion about culture and values among the team members, and to help them understand how each of them work, and how they communicate.

Kristi introduced the DiSC® assessment at this point, and it's been a part of the team's DNA since, says Eboni, "We use the DiSC® and Kristi's facilitation regularly with new hires. As time goes on we've realized that we would benefit from actively applying what we've learned to enhance interactions with direct reports, like motivating and delegating, so that is something we will refocus on, with Kristi's help."

Continuing Work: Onboarding, Motivating, & Working with Your Manager

One of the ways the Schusterman Education team has continued to actively apply the DiSC® assessment is in onboarding new employees. Says Eboni, "Kristi works with us when we bring on new staff, administering the DiSC® assessment, meeting one-on-one and walking the new person through their results." She also coaches the team on how that person can best be incorporated. The result is that both the new employee and their manager understand each other's communication styles, without months of learning through trial and error. It is a gift to the team. The first 90 days is always challenging for the new person, and also for the team; Eboni and the Education team find that using the DiSC® from the start eases this period and increases productivity.

It's always helpful to get Kristi's perspective on how the team is changing, as well. Eboni points out that Kristi has seen them evolve over the course of their existence and always has some useful insight. "The team has moved from being composed of mostly 'S' styles to being more distributed across the four styles, and Kristi has been there to point out the effects that this evolution might have, and suggest strategies to keep the communication flowing. This has definitely improved our collaboration and team effectiveness."

Kristi is available to the team for individual coaching as well.

Learning as an Ongoing Journey and Process

The group brings Kristi back periodically for team retreats, reviewing the team dynamics, their progress as collaborators, and their goals for working with each other. People are always energized and motivated after a KLR Consulting-led retreat.

Eboni finds Kristi to be thoughtful about her work with them, and she appreciates returning to Kristi to revisit their goals. "She has a good energy to come back to, and to lead sessions at our retreats. She does a really nice job of making sure that everyone gets what they need, especially the people for whom group gatherings can be trying; those who are quieter, need more time to process, and are less ready to jump right in. Kristi ensures that all are heard from."

Eboni continues, "Kristi is a thoughtful partner for any team, and an asset to a team in whatever way she supports them. We have worked with her for many years, and appreciate her enlightened, informed outsider's perspective and the insight she always brings to our team dynamics."