(916) 481-4488 [email protected]

Angie Asa-Lovstad, MTT

Profile

Ms Asa-Lovstad is the Director of a community based anti-drug coalition that has obtained non-profit status through building a sustainable base in the community through grant funding and community support.  Angie builds the strong community support through the proven ToP Facilitative Methods that elicits the various voices to create a common agreed upon direction for community level change to happen.  For almost 20 years, Angie has led key community sectors through developing plans that engage multiple sectors.  Angie’s keen sense to see the larger picture has helped guide communities to plans that seemed otherwise unachievable.

Employment History

  • CEO, Facilitator – Facilitated.Direction
  • Executive Director of the non-profit Iowa Alliance of Coalitions for Change (AC4C)
  • Executive Director of the non-profit Kossuth Connections Coalition
  • Business Manager – Kemna Auto Group
  • Expert Center Training Coordinator – for North Iowa Community College
  • Employment Training Specialist – for North Iowa Community College

Competency Areas

  • Grant Writer

Wrote and obtained over $1.5 million funding from local, state and federal resources.  Proficient in the acronym language associated with the prevention field

  • Trainer / Coach

Capacity Coach for the Iowa Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) State Incentive Grant (SIG) and Partnership for Success (PFS) grantees the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) fund through the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH).  For over 15 years taught Microsoft and Internet Basics to 55+ year students. 

  • Facilitator

Certified ToP Facilitator (ICA-Institute of Cultural Affairs: Technology of Participation) focusing on community coalition development to make community level change happen.

  • Data Diva

Member of the Iowa SEW (State Epidemiology Workgroup) which works to identify trends and gaps in data across the state in the area of substance abuse and prevention.  Also a member for the Iowa Prevention Workforce Development Task Force and Iowa Prevention Council

  • Coalition Development

Creating the foundation for multi-sector involvement to create plans that lead to community level change through environmental and policy strategies.   

Education

  • Master’s Degree in Adult Education Training and Development – Drake University, Des Moines Iowa
  • Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies emphasis in Business, Communications, and Education –  University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Professional Associations

  • National ToP Trainer’s Network
  • Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA)

Professional Certification and Awards

  • Certified ToP Facilitator –  Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA)
  • Apprentice Trainer – National ToP Trainer’s Network
  • Certified Prevention Specialist

Publications and Presentations

  • CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) Poster Session 2016 and 2018  for Tools to engage community
  • APHA (American Public Health Association) Session on “Assessing Capacity Building through Engaged Partnerships Using Circles of Involvement”. 2017
  • Preventions of Youth Substance Abuse in Rural Communities South Carolina.  Sessions included “Got Capacity”, “Voices are meant to be heard”, and “Engaging All Voices in Action Planning”.  2016 and 2017.
  • NPN (National Prevention Network) Session on “Active Collaboration through Effective Conversations Diminishes Silos”. 2016

Project List:

Internal Facilitation for Kossuth Connections:

  • Effective use of Focused Conversation to develop meeting agendas and conduct meetings that resulted in coalition members owning the steps of community level change.
  • Utilized a “Historical Scan – Wall of Wonder” to demonstrate the impact the coalition had in the local community to build sustainability through sharing with potential stakeholders.
  • Strategic Planning for coalition to identify coalition direction which helped identify the funding to pursue to support the vision of the collective whole.
  • Workgroup Action Planning to get through all the steps to be successful in launching a project.

Internal Facilitation for Iowa Alliance of Coalitions for Change:

  • Effective use of Focused Conversation to develop meeting agendas and conduct meetings that resulted in coalition members owning the steps of community level change.
  • Strategic Planning for coalition to identify coalition direction which helped identify the funding to pursue to support the vision of the collective whole.
  • Utilized a “Historical Scan – Wall of Wonder” to demonstrate the impact the coalition had in shaping prevention in the state of Iowa.
  • Using the Wall of Wonder, identified as a group the key impacts that the coalition wanted to sustain over time.  This was done through a Consensus Workshop.  The key impact points were then assigned and “Accelerated Action Planning was done to build the structure to sustain that work over time. This process became the mandatory SAMHSA Sustainability Plan as required of all year 3 and year 7 Drug Free Community Support Grantees.
  • Quarterly retreats continue to utilize ToP methods to revisit plans and dig deeper into furthering the reach of the plan.

External Facilitation for Community Coalition Development:

  • Following the SAMHSA –SPF model (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – Strategic Prevention Framework) ToP methods align the steps needed to work through the circular model.
  • An “Environmental Scan” of the local community starts the data dive which then through a “Consensus Workshop” the key stakeholders can create an “Action Plan” as to what needs the collective attention of the community over the next year. 
  • To increase the capacity of those joining the coalition, “Circle of Involvement” allow those present think of who else needs to be involved and what their “why” for being involved might be. 
  • The “Action Plan” includes a calendaring, assignments, and cross-collaboration to create an Implementation Plan as one of the steps of the SPF. 
  • Over eight communities across Iowa have utilized this process to move their community into action. 

External Facilitation for Iowa Medical Society and Iowa Pharmacy Association:

  • To address the emerging Opioid Crisis key stakeholders gathered initially at a daylong “Thought Leaders’ Summit” which brought collective thought around the underlying issues for the state of Iowa.  Doctors, Pharmacists, Pharmaceutical Companies, Treatment Providers, Poison Control, and others participated in a “Wave” exercise that identified the path this crisis was taking. 
  • Time was spent on what could be done and that began to shape the work of the next year including agreed upon legislative agenda. 
  • The Iowa Pharmacy Association (IPA) took one of these key actions and used it as an opportunity to educate their members while also gaining data to move forward with what the local communities were seeing.  A series of 9 “IPA Goes Local” brought insights to the local community and the state was given the voice of the local community from the 9 Consensus Workshops that were conducted over the year project. 
  • Over 400 voices were heard and compiled to shape the needed legislative other policy changes to begin to address the Opioid crisis in Iowa.

External Facilitation for Iowa National Guard Midwest Counterdrug Training Center:

  • Facilitated internal “Strategic Planning” with the key leadership for the MCTC. 
  • Conducted an overview of ToP Methods with the MCTC Civil Opps personnel. 

The overview was done in Des Moines, Iowa but included people from Hawaii to New York. 

Clients:

  • Iowa National Guard – Midwest Counter Drug Training Center
  • Iowa Medical Society
  • Iowa Pharmacy Association
  • Local Iowa Coalitions
  • Nebraska Extension Service