<p> This qualitative study explored the Identification stage of transorganization development concerning the issue of supporting disadvantaged Richmond youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Seven participants from four youth-serving organizations in Richmond were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling strategies. Participants were interviewed about the challenges disadvantaged Richmond youth currently face; which organizations may form the membership of a transorganizational system focused on supporting disadvantaged Richmond youth; and what these member organizations&rsquo; goals, motivations, values, current activities, and outcomes are. Richmond youth were found to face a multifaceted set of challenges affecting all aspects of their lives. A range of nonprofits, for-profits, and public sector organizations were identified as currently operating in the space. The leading goal for their organizations is to help youth to better themselves, and to do so, they deliver a range of services that achieve the aims of awareness building, mental and emotional support, recreation outings and activities, and academic support.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine and identify the best practices and strategies for human resource managers and organizational leaders to utilize to decrease the generational gaps amongst the four generations currently employed in the labor force, and to create and sustain a vital, multigenerational workforce. The four generations currently working side-by-side in the United States are the Traditionalists, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, better known as the Millennials. Each generational cohort brings unique variables to the workplace such as behaviors, expectations, personal values, communication styles, and motivational factors that create challenges for organizations. Learning how to overcome these challenges will assist in creating connectivity among the cohorts, benefiting organizations in numerous ways, including greater operating efficiency and retention of employees. </p><p> By understanding the different characteristics and needs of the four respective generations, as well as recognizing how to utilize the strengths of each generation, organizational leaders and human resource professionals can utilize the findings to advance generational management strategies for creating and managing a vital intergenerational workforce which is accomplished by staff from each of the four generations working together constructively to support the goals and purpose of the organization. Findings from this study may also contribute to the existing methods human resource managers and business leaders currently use to create workplaces of greater understanding, mutual respect, appreciation, acceptance and inclusiveness of the four different generations in the workforce, as well as facilitate new human resource policies to address workplace differences and conflict amongst the four generations. Further, the benefits from a vital intergenerational workforce may increase employee productivity, satisfaction, retention, loyalty, and the ability of employers to attract new talent from each of the four generations to its workforce. </p><p>

<p> This dissertation examines perceptions of purpose in family foundations and the impact of differences in those perceptions on family foundation board composition/function and on grant making activities. One of the primary decisions facing the donor who creates a private foundation relates to governance. Here, the donor arguably faces a deeply personal choice: to what extent should the donor&rsquo;s family be involved? Related to this choice is the question of the degree of focus on the mission-related aspects of the organization or the family-related aspects of the organization. This dissertation explores whether family foundation trustees view family purposes and social impact purposes as meaningful for the foundation they represent and whether trustees differ with regard to the degree to which they emphasize one or the other. If family foundation trustees do meaningfully differ in this regard, what difference does an emphasis on family or social impact purposes make on board composition, grant making focus and stability, similarity to one&rsquo;s peers, and other factors? Through a combination of survey, interview, and review of publicly available material, this dissertation explores this question for a sample of family foundation trustees in two Midwestern states. Eugene Tempel, Ph.D., Co-Chair Leslie Lenkowsky, Ph.D., Co-Chair</p>