Organizational Psychology

In their second year, all degree students in the Organizational Psychology program complete a nine-month capstone change project. During their change projects, students learn about creating social change by actively engaging with a real-world organization or community. It is a chance for students to put into practice many of the ideas and concepts studied
in their first-year courses and to explore new understandings about how to be an effective change agent.

Change projects are as diverse as the students themselves. Antioch's Center for Creative Change students have completed change projects with many different organizational and community partners and they have worked on many different topics including:

Pro Bono at WaMu
Amanda Zehnder introduced the concept of pro bono work to the employees of her company, Washington Mutual, and provided access to pro bono opportunities in the community. By leveraging existing external and internal resources to link employees and local nonprofits together, she built new relationships that connected various departments within WaMu through their volunteering activities.

Building Community With Sexual Minority Youth Through
Collaborative Conversations
Jennifer Matteliano and Kathy Cooper worked with the Kitsap County HIV/AIDS Foundation (KCHAF) and their new youth-driven community center to establish sustainable outreach and development programs. The two supported the organization in connecting with their community, integrating their participants and encouraging the youths to construct their own safe community.

Coalition to Overcome Obesity and Diabetes
Marilyn Watkins built a grass-roots coalition of individuals, organizations and communities who are united to reduce the incidence of obesity and diabetes, especially among children. She leveraged connections with children's organizations to bridge communities and educate about the effects of high- fructose corn syrup.

Developing a Nonprofit's Transition Plan
Brian Finnila and McKenna Lang worked with a Washington state social service nonprofit to develop a transition plan for the organization. The pair worked with the agency's director to create an organizational chart, sound job descriptions and a document describing healthy workplace policies.

Recruiting and Retention Strategies Include Telecommuting
Kristin Devlin partnered with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command's (NAVFAC) Northwest division. With her understanding of recruiting and retention strategies for younger employees, she worked with NAVFAC's leadership team to build a telecommuting program that would entice a younger population to work for the civil service group.

Collaborative Approach Brings Success
Molly Breysee-Cox partnered with the Rural Development Institute for their Second International Women's Day Event and Luncheon. As a member of the event planning committee, she supported fund-raising activities and also worked to capitalize the group's resources, enabling collaboration throughout their planning process.

Connecting Hope and Change: Daily Practices for People and Planet
Lisa Bakke partnered with a nonprofit called Earth Ministry to inspire communities and volunteers to care for all creation through advocacy, activism and spiritual practices. She co-facilitated trainings around Puget Sound, learned and shared stories that unite daily life with global action and found renewed personal calling and dedication for the work of Earth stewardship and social justice. Bakke's work highlights opportunities to experience sacred space in the midst of people's daily lives.

An Uncooperative Co-op Provides a Lesson in Group Dynamics
Tara Beatty explored collaborative leadership and group dynamics by working with the shareholder's association at the cooperative where she lives. How can communication be improved in a group with a long, rich history? How can group members be encouraged to take personal responsibility for the group's process? Beatty's work elucidated the answers to these and similar questions.

See What I'm Saying: Relationship and Respect in a Nonprofit Group
Susan Brandt's project to create a mission statement for Seattle Specialized Residential Support grew into a collaborative communication project. She studied how seeing behavior as a form of communication can inform organizational psychology in a nonprofit agency that works with adults who have developmental challenges.

Shared Leadership: Dynamics Revealed
How is shared leadership experienced? Does it emerge? Can it be cultivated? Working with a group from a community college, Gina Carter investigated shared leadership in a dyad and in a team, focusing on group dynamics, team effectiveness and organizational development.

Organizational Learning: Facilitating an Engaging Sub-culture
What factors increase engagement and participation in teams and lead to improved organizational performance? Rachel Cecka partnered with hospital clinical managers to develop and implement interventions aimed at answering this question.

Reframing Resistance – From Roadblock to Reflection
Leah Colson collaborated with a local business to learn how reframing resistance can affect organizational change. To accomplish this, she conducted interviews and provided coaching service. Her findings allowed her to develop a new model for understanding and working with resistance to change in organizations.

Facing the Future Together: Collaborating for Sustainability
Travis Green worked with the Center for Ethical Leadership to organize and facilitate the Sustainability Confluence, a two-day event for sustainability leaders in Puget Sound. Green's work highlights the importance of collaboration in developing the sustainability movement.

Building Community Within the Mount Calvary Christian Center
Demetrice Lewis worked with members of the Mount Calvary Christian Center to create a stronger sense of community within the congregation. She used dialogue to build and strengthen the church community and to pave the way for the creation of deeper and more authentic relationships.

Planning for Uncertain Futures
How do organizations that work with traumatized clients talk about the future? Sarah Murphy-Kangas designed and facilitated a strategic planning process with a local nonprofit group that provides services to street youth. From her work, she learned how their trauma impacts the group's processes and organizational culture, and how groups like this can look toward the future together.

The Bailey-Boushay House Living History Project
Jonakan O'Steen and two other students in the Center for Creative Change helped create an oral history of the Bailey-Boushay House, a community facility for people living with AIDS. Using visual media, community members shared their stories thereby empowering others who live with this disease. Click here for more on the film.