Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS

Dachia Butler
Organizational Analysis
Wayne State University

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Introduction

All organizations are different in structure, diversity, mission, goals, and outreach.
However, they all have one thing in common. That is to better serve a specific population that is
in need. In this organizational analysis I will go over review my organization and propose ways
that could make it more affective in the work that it does. I will also point out some of the factors
that are causing my organization to not be as successful that it can be. When operating a
nonprofit organization all factors including staff, volunteers, interns, board members, location,
culture, work, collaborations, competition, and clients are important. I will analysis each all
factors of the organization to provide a better explanation of the work we do and how we can do
it better.
Organization and Services
The name of the organization that I am apart of, as an intern, is the SASHA Center. The
SASHA Center is short for Sexual Assault Services for Holistic Healing and Awareness. It is a
nonprofit organization located in Detroit, Michigan. The founder and executive director of the
agency is Kalimah Johnson, LMSW, ACSW, LCSW. She is also my field supervisor and has
many different positions within the agency. The SASHA Center was founded in 2010. Our
agency is only one of three sexual assault agencies in Michigan.
The SASHA Center is a sexual assault service, prevention, and educational agency that is
designed to provide educational/support groups to survivors of sexual assault. A person does not
have to be a direct survivors of sexual assault to participate in services. They can be a person
experiencing secondary trauma because someone they are close to was a victim of sexual assault.
SASHA Center is not a crisis center and we do not provide individual counseling. However, if a
person calls or comes into our office in a crisis we will do our best to handle the situation and

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refer them to an organization that will better suite their needs. We have an open group that meets
once a week and four closed groups that we facilitate over the course of eight weeks. Our closed
groups all offer different healing techniques but each are designed to fit peoples individuals
needs. Our group titles are made-up to remind us of the meaning that we want our survivors to
seek. The titles are as followed SASHA POETRY (Poems of Empowerment to Recognize You),
SASHA SOAR (Survivors Overcoming Assault & Rape), SASHA SPIRIT (Spiritual Power in
Restoring IT), and SASHA SAKE (Sexual Assault Kit Empowerment). Whenever members
join our groups, or even inquire about them, we are sure to tell them that they are in no way
required to disclose any information that they are not comfortable sharing.
The SASHA Center is a very culturally specific agency. The main population that our agency
focuses on is women in the African American community who have been affected by sexual
assault. Even though our focus is on women in African American community, we extend our
services to everyone who have been affected by sexual assault regardless of sex, gender, race,
and age. We would never deny any victim or survivor of sexual assault at our agency if they
believe our services will be beneficial to them. Serving the African American population
specifically is important to us at the SASHA Center because they are not speaking out about
sexual assault because of the shame and guilt that comes along with it. Furthermore, for many
years it has been apart of the African American culture to keep what happens in this house stays
in this house. African American women were taught to keep their business to themselves and
not to tell anyone about it. Society has placed a huge burden on African American women by
saying they are strong black women who are just suppose to accept what they have
experienced and carry on with their life (Johnson & West, 2014). That is unacceptable and unfair
because they can not carry that weight on themselves for a lifetime without feeling worthless or

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ashamed. According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), African
American women have a lifetime experience with rape at the rate of 18.8% experience with
sexual assault and yet, they are still not talking about it. (Rainn.org, 2016). Approximately one in
five African American women report that they have been raped at some point in their life
(Johnson & West, 2014). They also have extremely high incidences of sexual assault. That is
why, at the SASHA Center, we stress the importance of talking about sexual assault healing,
awareness, and prevention techniques.
My Role in the Agency
As an intern at the SASHA Center I get to participate in a lot of different things at the
agency. In my experience so far, I have experienced some type of work at all level (micro,
mezzo, and macro). My main role at the agency, this semester, is to serve as lead in our open
group that we host once a week. Since I serve as the lead facilitator for these groups it is my
responsibility to come up with topics and interactive activities for the group. Throughout the
previous semester my role was to help spread the word about the agency and the services that we
offer. Since awareness and education is the key concept at the SASHA Center, we spend a great
amount of our time visiting different places such as churches, schools, communities, and other
organizations to do prevention and educational workshops/presentations for individuals. One of
my most favorable experiences since interning at the SASHA Center is being a facilitator of a
six-week group at two high schools. I would meet with a group of girls once a week for six
weeks and we would go over different topics relating to relationship safety, self-esteem/selfimage, myths & facts related to sexual assault, and allyship. After each session the girls would
express how helpful and fun it was to learn about things that people at home never mention. The
girls use group as a learning place and a safe place to let out their thoughts, feelings, and

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experiences. We also have two men who facilitate educational and awareness groups to young
men at high schools in the city of Detroit. A rule we like to stress in all of our groups is that we
will never ask anyone to disclose about an experience unless they are comfortable doing so. At
the SASHA Center we understand the that everyone heals differently. My supervisor wants more
people to become involved in the work we do at the agency and she is also always looking for
people to offer our services to.
Even though I am just an intern, my supervisor still holds me at the same standard as
everyone else who is apart of the agency. One major task that the interns at the agency is
responsible for is event planning. Since starting my internship we have planned one major event
and is currently working on planning another event. The first event was an all male discussion
panel in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is in October. The event that
we are planning now is our eighth annual Take Back the Night (TBTN) event. TBTN will be
held in April in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. For each event we have to
contact different organization to see if they were interested in endorsing the events or if they
wanted to set-up an information table at the event. We also had to contact potential panelist, help
search for a venue, design fliers, send out save-the-dates, create a program, seek volunteers to
help out at the events, and create an outline of the event detailing everything that will happen and
the designated time. These tasks can be very stressful and time consuming but thankfully we
collaborated with other organizations to get the job done. Being an intern at the SASHA Center
has been a positive experience, as far as the work goes. I have enjoyed meeting with groups and
helping them better understand why it is okay and important to talk about sexual assault. I have
learned a lot from both the agency and the people who participate in our services.

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Mission and Goals

The mission statement is to promote and increase healing of sexual assault by using
alternative/non-tradition techniques for women of color communities with a special emphasis on
African American women, thereby eradicating the fear, shame, guilt as well as any barriers
associated with being sexually assaulted through culturally specific peer educational support
groups and prevention strategies (Sashacenter.org, 2016). The goal at the SASHA Center is to
help as many people as possible that have been affected by sexual assault by providing support
groups in efforts of creating a safe place to start the healing process. Another goal is to eradicate
sexual assault by spreading awareness and prevention services. These goals were determined by
the need for the people that we focus on. We saw how people were affected by sexual assault and
the negative impact society puts on the victims/survivors of sexual assault. Society has been
known for blaming the victim for the assault. We want to change the way society views sexual
assault. Rape and sexual assault are crimes that are committed because of a persons desire to
have power and control over another individual (Law.georgetown.edu, 2016). It is never the
victims fault and we want people who have been assaulted to know that, regardless of what
society says. The organization has been doing quite well with meeting its goals. We also focus on
activism by hosting engagement opportunities within the community by hosting different
community events in the city of Detroit to bring attention to the negative impact of sexual
assault. However, I do believe there is more outreach that can be done to help spread the word
about our services. I do not think that goal displacement has occurred within the agency. Our
main goal is to increase awareness, provide resources, and educate the public about sexual
assault, provide culturally specific peer support groups to self-identified survivors pf rape and to
increase justice and visibility for all survivors in Southeast Michigan (Sashacenter.org, 2016).

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The goals have been the same from the start of the organization until now. An
organizational factor that prevented goal displacement is that the SASHA Center has been an
unapologetically African American focused organization. Our cultural specific approach is key to
keeping things together and steady at our agency. That is also what sets us apart from other
agencies that offer support for sexual assault survivors. An organizational influence that affects
the functioning as a whole and the full ability to follow the mission and deliver services is the
fact that the SASHA Center does not have enough staff or volunteers to make the agency as
successful as it could be. SASHA Center has been doing as much as we can with the people we
have to carry out our mission and our goals. With the help of more people I believe we can make
better things happen.
Staffing Structure
At the S.A.S.H.A Center, the staffing structure influences the distribution of power and
control in various ways. The Kalimah, the founder and executive director, wears many hats
within the agency and outside. She is the main one with all power and control of the agency. The
whole organization was formed because of her and she approved all board members and staff at
the agency. Even though she has done a great deal to get the agency up and running there is a
few problems with staffing and board members. The people who are currently on the board are
all very close and personal friends with Kalimah. This has caused problems with distribution of
power and control because most of the board members put their friendship, with Kalimah, before
their involvement with the agency. Because of that, the board members barely participate in
anything related to the agency and the work that they slack on is put off on the Kalimah, the
secretary, and the interns. The control and power is not evenly distributed and that is a concern
because it is adding unnecessary stress to other members of the organization.

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Approaches of Management
Each organization is different when it comes to lines of authority. Although they are all
different they should all have similar structures when it comes authority figures and
management. As stated earlier, Kalimah wears my hats and plays many different positions within
the agency. She is the only known line of authority that I have encountered since interning at the
S.A.S.H.A Center. She is also the supervisor of all the interns at the agency. If anything needs to
be changed or approved she is the person that we would see for those changes or confirmations.
Kalimah is a charismatic authority type. She is the go to for all at this agency and it has been
noticed that she has a hard time distributing power because she always wants things done her
specific way, even though she is open to suggestion, she like to be the head of everything
(Netting, Ketter, McMurtry & Thomas, 2012). As far as approaches of management, Kalimah
also makes all the calls for managing staff, board members, events, and everything else related to
the agency. Kalimah believes that African American women are more likely to open up during
group session oppose to individual counseling. She has done her research and learned from
experience that this is indeed true. That is a part of her evidence based management practice. She
combined her research, professional opinions, and information regarding the service users
(Netting, Ketter, McMurtry & Thomas, 2012) to help her come to that conclusion and to make a
decision to only offer groups at her organization because they would be more beneficial to the
population she serves.
Having a good relationship/friendship with staff and board members of the organization
can be both good and bad for Kalimah. It can be good because it can foster an open door
policy for communication. That would give those who are apart of the agency the opportunity to
speak with the executive director, or any other member of the organization, openly and honestly

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whenever they are faced with a conflict rather it is personal or relating to something pertaining to
the organization. This creates a safe place for staff, interns, and board members. However, the
bad part about having a personal relationship with those who are apart of the agency is that
people begin to overstep their boundaries or let that friendship get in the way of work. That is
when management is suppose to put on the enforce the boundaries and policies of the
organization. The biggest issue I see at my agency is that management often has a hard time
confronting her staff and board members because she fears that they will take it personal and it
will destroy both their personal and professional relationship. The management skills that
Kalimah practices can lead to good and bad interaction between employees. When I was
introduced to a facilitator at the agency, who happens to be a long term friend of Kalimahs, she
seemed very nice and active in her work with the agency. However, when we would meet with
her in front of Kalimah her attitude would change towards us like she was hiding something and
she no longer seemed nice and friendly. She basically viewed us as outsiders when she was in
front of Kalimah, it was strange and it made me feel unwelcomed. As far as clients, I think
everyone at the agency is there because they want to be. They all respect each client equally and
goes over and beyond to help them. Even though Kalimahs management skills may not be keen
in managing staff she makes sure all clients are treated with dignity and respect by everyone who
is apart of the organization.
Diversity
At the SASHA Center most of the staff members, board members, and volunteers are
women. Everyone involved in the organization is African American. There is a hand full of men
who are involved at the SASHA Center. People who are not African American may feel
uncomfortable being apart of our organization because it is made up of all African Americans

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and we are an unapologetically African American focused based organization. It is important to

point out that just because we but strong emphasis on the African American portion of our work
we are accepting of all people. Minorities interested in working with us may find it challenging
because of their privileges and own cultural beliefs/background. Any person interested in
working with us must understand that our agency is not set up against anyone it is just set-up in a
way that African American women, specifically, can relate to. Anyone who has the passion to
help victims of sexual assault victims are welcome to join us in our work but they have to be
open minded and willing to accept the way that our organization is structured.
When people seek services from other sometimes they look for people that they can relate
to in experience. At the SASHA Center some staff and members are open about their own
experience with rape and sexual assault. I believe clients will be more willing to participate in
services with people that have experienced the same thing as them. There is not much diversity
between the staff and the population that organization serves. The majority of our clients are
African American women. All people involved in the organization are culturally competent of
the population we focus on. Members not only gain their competence through life experience but
they gain it through research, other peoples experiences, and from our history.
Internal and External Environment
In discussing the SWOT analysis with my supervisor, I noticed that a lot of the things that
were mention were quite obvious when it came to strengths and weaknesses. However, she did
bring up a few key things that I never considered or though about. Some of the strengths at our
agency is that we focus specifically on the African American community. This gives women of
color the opportunity to come to a place that is specifically for them and makes it more relatable.
Another strength is that we integrate different pieces of healing. Rather than sitting around and

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talking about sexual assault we create environments that allow people to relieve their tension,
frustration, and hurt in different ways such as gardening, hula hooping, and writing poems
(Johnson & West, 2014). We also reach out to the youth in the community to talk about sexual
assault so that we can start to shift the way society views sexual assault and rape. One of our
most interesting strengths would have to be that we allow a person, who has completed one of
our eight week closed groups, the opportunity to facilitate a group if they are prepared and
willing to do so.
The organization is good at representing its uniqueness in comparison to all other agencies. We
also like to engage our clients with people who are well experienced in this work both personally
and professionally.
At the SASHA Center there are many things that can be improved. Starting with board
members who are barely active in the work that we do at the organization. We are currently
looking to restructure the agency very soon. I think the restructuring of the organization is good
because Kalimah was in over her head with all the work and pressure that was on her to keep her
agency up running the way she imagined it. She is a sexual assault advocate, a consultant,
professor, and executive director. She is always traveling and barely has time to run things the
way she wants within the agency. We are looking to the operate the organization without funding
and make it volunteer based. Our agency is having a hard time finding funding and has been
denied grants that we once had in the past. Now the executive director fund the organization out
of her own pocket. She has expressed to us that we will continue in the space that we are
working out of until graduation but after that she is unsure if she will have a place for her
organization. She is still determined to get the work done through it all. She will seek out spaces
that she can use to host groups from other organizations and facilities.

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Some good opportunities facing the organization is the talk surrounding sexual assault.
Recently there have been many mentions of women coming out about their personal experiences
of rape and sexual assault, such as the Bill Cosby case. Those women who came forth and said
that they were assaulted by him gave other women the courage to tell their story and come forth
to have their case properly investigated. It also inspired women to seek the help that they have
been avoiding and that was good because it attracted more people to our organization. A positive
trend that positively impacts the organization is the Black Life Matter movement. The
movement correlates with our mission and views on the population that we focus on. It is a way
to say that I am proud to be unapologetically black and our lives do matter.
In every frame of work there are always threats and competition. The goal should be to
do something different that will set your organization apart from the competition. Even though
we achieved that goal by making our organization African American focused there is still
competitors that exist. Most of these competitors are other sexual assault agencies such as Wayne
County Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (WC SAFE), Victim Assistance Program, and
Interim House. The competition is not so much about the work but it is more so related to the
funding. We all apply for some of the same grants and not everyone will get the grant, except for
one agency. Something that the competition is doing that we are not is offering individual
counseling, a crisis call center, and on call staff that accept calls 24 hours a day and go to where
they are needed. Some obstacles that exist that makes it difficult to reach goals would be racism,
societies views, and wrong messages in the media.
Relationship with the Community
The agency achieves legitimization in its external environment by being apart of bigger
organization such as the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and Michigan

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Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (MCEDSV). Being apart of these organization
helps in networking with many people in high places for commend us on the work that we do
and even offer collaborating with us when doing special events. We also form good relationships
with agencies that do similar work. We also participate I as much community work as we can to
not only contribute to the community but to also get recognized for our work.
Some organization that we collaborate with are WC SAFE, MCEDSV, and YMCASexual Assault Advocacy Services (SAAS). WC SAFE has been responsible to helping getting
the 10,000 untested rape kits, found in the city of Detroit, tested and processed. In collaboration
to their efforts we have formed a closed group specifically for those whose rape kits have been
tested. When WC SAFE has their volunteer training on sexual assault they offer us a segment of
the training so that their volunteers can understand how to approach an African American victim
that was just assaulted. We also collaborate with these organizations to help with our events such
as TBTN.
There are many ways clients are able to access the system and find the agency. We go out
to the community to hand out fliers and brochures from our agency. We also get clients referred
to us from other organizations that we have collaborated with. Another way we find clients is by
organizing information tables at events that we are invited to. After our open group, every
Wednesday, we offer for people to sign up for our closed groups and explain to them some of the
other services that we offer. Utilizing social media is another way we gain clients. We try to keep
all of our social media sites current with new information about the agency. We also welcome
anyone to call, email, or visit our website if they wish to learn more about our services or
participate in one of our groups.

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Theoretical Construction of the Organization

The organizational theory that best describes the organization in terms of its overall
functioning, management structure, and decision making practices would be organizational
cultural theory. Organizational culture theory is accepting and conforming to the organizations
culture while in that environment (Netting, Ketter, McMurtry & Thomas, 2012). This theory fits
my organization because we make sure to explicitly state that our organizations main focus
African American women. In order to be apart of our organization you must understand the
culture and background of African Americans before you can begin to help them and understand
what they are going through. This theory will help outsiders better understand our agency
because they will know that it is culturally specific with their first encounter with the agency. We
do not try to hide our cultural piece of our organization because that is what sets us apart from
other agencies.
Recommendations
The main issue I see that is interfering with the organization meeting its mission and goal
is the fact that the board members and staff are not very active within the organization. I also
think another problem is that Kalimah has too many task at hand and she is just one person. She
desperately needs help running the organization and she also needs to narrow down her own
personal task list to focus strictly on one thing at a time. I would recommend that Kalimah
restructure the organization like she plans on doing. She needs to find people, who are not
friends, that are truly interested and passionate about doing the work that she has been doing at
the agency. She needs to also find someone, other than herself, who can serve as executive
director because. Also, she needs to engage in more outreach activates to reach out to people and
let them know that our services do exist. I believe my recommendations are feasible to a certain

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extent because of todays economic structure. It is hard for people to find jobs so that means it
will be even harder to find people to volunteer their time, away from their family, to come help
run the organization. At this point Kalimah is aware of everything that goes on at the agency
from inactive board members to all the work the interns and secretary puts in. I do not think there
will be much resistance in making these changes because Kalimah has expressed the need for the
same changes.
Conclusion
Through analyzing my organization and its many different components I have realized
that it needs to be restructured and is also in a need of new staff and board members. This
analysis has helped in highlighting what really sets us apart from other agencies and how our
agencies came about offering the particular services that we offer. It has also helped me in
thinking about the dos and donts when I began to structure a nonprofit organization of my
own. Kalimah was very helpful and honest about the weaknesses of her organization when I
asked her questions. As the founder and executive director she has noticed the weak spots in her
organization and came up with a plan to change what needs to be changed.

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References

Johnson, J., & West, C. (2014). Sexual Violence in The Lives Of African American Women: Risk,
Response, and Resilience.
Law.georgetown.edu,. (2016). Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence Georgetown Law.
Netting, F., Ketter, P., McMurtry, S., & Thomas, M. (2012) (5th ed.).
Rainn.org,. (2016). RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network | RAINN: The nation's
largest anti-sexual assault organization.One of Americas 100 Best Charities" Worth
magazine.
Sashacenter.org,. (2016). SASHA Center | Sexual Assault Services for Holistic Healing and
Awareness.