Non-Profit Management Training Course Helps “Anika” to Provide Diversified Assistance to Persons with Disabilities
Ms. Irine Inasaridze is the Executive Director and Founder of Association “Anika”, a non-profit organization founded in 1997 by parents of children with disabilities. Since its establishment the organization strives to create equal opportunities for children with disabilities and give them a chance to lead independent lives.
In 2016, Ms. Inasaridze participated in the Non-Profit Management Program, a five-month training delivered by the Center for Training and Consultancy
(CTC) though the ACCESS project. This training is designed for non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders and seeks to enhance the capacity of Georgian civil society organizations. Through this training, Ms. Inasaridze put the newly acquired theoretical knowledge into action through practical assignments and exercises. In close collaboration with her trainer, Ms. Inasaridze developed a project idea and then the full proposal for a Tbilisi-based personal assistant service for persons with disabilities. The project proposal, along with its logical framework and timeline was revised several times during the course. Once the course was over, Ms. Inasaridze submitted the proposal to the donor and received funding. With this funding, Ms. Inasaridze now has the opportunity to develop concept of the personal assistance service for Georgia, train professionals, and deliver the program to a pilot group.
“I want to thank CTC for giving me a chance to participate in the training program. Today, Association “Anika” signed a grant agreement with Arbeiter Samariter Bund (ASB) – Georgia to implement the project that I prepared during the training. I strongly advise NGO leaders to participate in this training program” – posted Irine on her Facebook page.
Although Ms. Inasaridze has almost 20 years of NGO and project management experience, the Non-Profit Management Program enabled her to learn new concepts and methodologies, as well as refine and reinforce her leadership and management skills. “The training course gave me a chance to structure my knowledge and experience, determine strengths and weaknesses, and set future development priorities… The course was so interesting and engaging that I have tailored my working schedule to the training timetable,” says Ms. Inasaridze.
The Non-Profit Management Program is part of EWMI ACCESS, project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This is the first long-term training program that addresses organization and project management from a holistic approach, with a critical emphasis on aspects of NGO sustainability. From March, 2017 the training program will host the third cohort of participants. In addition, ACCESS will soon introduce a distance learning training course that will allow NGOs from remote regions of Georgia to participate. The program is anticipated to continue for three more years.
Detailed information about the training course can be found at ACCESS website.
