About Harvey Chess And The FTF Group

The FTF Group is the sole proprietorship through which Harvey Chess works with others, especially representatives of nonprofit organizations. Its development followed two turns of working with the federal government, and staff work with a major community foundation. Chess, an independent contractor, is a widely known and well regarded trainer and consultant whose experience spans many years, organizations & communities. He shares skills on the basis of well-founded knowledge secured through his many relationships.

How Can FTF Help You Strengthen Your Organization

Whether a grantmaking or grantseeking organization, if your representatives believe it would be valuable to seek outside consultation about procedures and communication among staff, board, other volunteers and community members, these are areas of FTF competence. This involves a range of activities from program planning, development & evaluation to resource development strategies.

• If your organization wants help in its funding outreach and resource development, FTF has practical experience and skills to share. This includes funding proposal development under appropriate conditions.
• If you want to pay a reasonable, negotiated fee to have your funding proposal rigorously analyzed and annotated, this is an area of FTF expertise.
• If you’re looking for training in a powerful and singular approach to securing resources for your organization, FTF has the capacity to increase your capacities. The relationship built when you participate in a training program extends beyond the event, including ongoing dialogue about proposals planned and developed thereafter.
• If your organization would like to sponsor or host a training program in your community, FTF has the expertise and materials to travel your way.

What Kind Of Experience Does Chess Bring To FTF?

He is currently working directly with staff & board members of a Youth & Family Coalition in Calaveras County to continue building the organization’s capacity to do what it is does well when engaging members of its community, while also pursuing new program development. A significant portion of this consultation includes proposal development.

At the same time, Chess is the lead consultant on the reorganization of a Men’s Sober Living Facility in Mendocino County, to culminate in a new business plan and acquisition of the land and dwellings that house the program.

He has for years conducted well-received trainings programs for those interested in going after grants among a wide cross-section of nonprofits throughout the US and in Sweden. This includes more than a dozen years with The Grantsmanship Center & continues through a longstanding relationship with the Nonprofit Resource Center in Sacramento, CA.

For six years, he was a Program Officer at the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles. He also took on leadership of the Funding Information Center, a library & research center for grantseekers, located at the foundation during his tenure.

He spent two years as a faculty member with the firm selected by the US Navy to establish its Race Relations & Human Goals Programs, and to train & certify Navy personnel as race relations education specialists.

His work with the federal government included that of a field representative in the original, un-won War on Poverty, and as a consultant to the interagency task force formed to facilitate refugee resettlement in the US.

The Tree Of Experience

Many branches climbed on the tree of professional experience since stumbling into the nonprofit sector in 1965.

• Tucson Community Foundation, Tucson, AZ

• Episcopal Migration Ministries, New York, NY

• Church World Service, New York, NY

• Grants Program of Trinity Parish, New York, NY

• James Irvine Foundation, San Francisco, CA

• Project Open Hand, San Francisco, CA

• UCLA Extension, Westwood, CA

• Art Institute of So. CA, Laguna Beach, CA

• Orange County Community Development Council, Santa Ana, CA

• Southwest Border AIDS Collaborative, Los Angeles, CA

• National Community AIDS Partnership, Richmond, VA; Los Angeles, CA

• California Community Foundation, Los Angeles, CA

• Cancer Support Community, San Francisco, CA

• The University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK

• Tacoma Community House, Tacoma, WA

• College of The Redwoods, Eureka, CA

• Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, CA

• Truckee Associates, San Francisco, CA

• The Grantsmanship Center, Los Angeles, CA

• La Cooperativa, Sacramento, CA

• Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity, Ft. Defiance, AZ

• Laney College, Oakland, CA

• One-To-One, New York, NY

• CA Coalition of Children, Youth & Families, San Francisco

• Junior League, St. Joseph, MO

• Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Ml

• Department of Health, Education & Welfare, Washington, DC

• Indochina Refugee Rask Force, Washington, DC

• ACTION, Region II, New York, NY

• Curber Associates, Washington, DC – Navy Race Relations School, Key West, FL; The Pentagon, Arlington, VA; Navy Human Goals Program, Millington, TN; National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC; ACTION, Region III, Washington, DC

• Washington School of Psychiatry, DC

• BGE Consultants, Arlington, VA

• OAR, Fairfax, VA

• NACO, Washington, DC

• Pearl St Neighborhood House, Waterbury, CT

• Multi-Racial Corp., Washington, DC

• TRISED, New York, NY

• MAP, Manpower Assistance Project, Washington, DC

• Community Action for Greater Middletown, CT

• New Opportunities for Waterbury, CT

• Duncan-Medical Center YMCA, Chicago, IL

• Office of Economic Opportunity, Region V