Workforce Development Programs

Executive Development Program (EDP) 

For over 30 years, the BASSC Executive Development Program (EDP) has provided leadership development for a cohort of mid-level and senior managers from Bay Area human service agencies, which includes:

  • Participating in 15 days of in-person learning to provide a broad knowledge of practices and principles in human services, management, and leadership. 

  • Exploring promising practices and observing administrative operations within counties to exchange information collaboratively and develop new knowledge/skills.

  • Creating a presentation as well as a case studyexamining inter-agency promising practices related to management, policy implementation, and service delivery.

  • Developing a personal leadership plan to apply knowledge and skills to ongoing professional development.

Upon graduation, BASSC participants have increased knowledge and experience in social services management, a wider network of peers in the Bay Area, and preparation to take on leadership roles within their organization.

Executive Development Program 2025 Cohort, Andrea DuBrow, and Emily Downey in group picture

Executive Development Program cohort, Class of 2025, poses for a group picture before graduation.

Managerial Leadership Development Program

In partnership with the Bay Area Network of Human Service Agencies (BANNHSA), the Mack Center operated a training program on Managerial Leadership Development Program (MDLP) for middle managers in nonprofit human service organizations from 2010-2014 as a learning lab and produced several articles on training related to becoming a manager, becoming a leader, and promoting organizational change through case study projects.

Class Session of the Executive Development Program
Class Session of the Executive Development Program

Class sessions of the Executive Development Program.

Teaching Cases

An ongoing feature of the work of the Mack Center and BASSC is the development of teaching cases that can be accessed using the links below.

BANNHSA Teaching Cases

Human Service Organizations journal coverHuman Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance Journal(link is external)

Guiding Organizational Change: A Casebook for the Executive Development Program in the Human Services

Teaching Methods

Collections of teaching cases covering a range of practice areas can also be found in:

  • Austin, M.J. (Ed.) (2013). Organizational Histories of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations. Philadelphia, PA: Routledge.
  • Austin, Brody & Packard (Eds.) (2008). Managing the Challenges in Human Service Organizations: A Casebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  • Austin & Hopkins (Eds.) (2004). Supervision as Collaboration in the Human Services: Building a Learning Culture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  • Austin (Ed.) (2004) Changing Welfare Services: Case Studies of Local Welfare Reform Programs. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.

Human Services Knowledge Foundation Series