LEAP’s GoEngage Transition Story: Slow and steady

When LEAP (Learning, Employment, Assistance, Partnership) decided to transition from their previous system to GoEngage, they weren’t just looking for a new database — they were protecting their team’s time and capacity.

They had two priorities from the start:

1. A system that helps staff work smarter, not harder.

2. A rollout that wouldn’t overwhelm the people doing the work.

And like many Head Start programs, LEAP’s leadership knew this transition would be more than “export the data, upload it, and move on.”

They committed to doing it the LEAP way: slow, steady, and centered on their people.

That decision shaped everything that came next.

The team behind the transition

LEAP’s GoEngage transition was led by a small cross-functional team, both leadership and implementation:

• Shannon Stockwell, Program Director, Head Start / Early Head Start

• Amber Mahoney, Assistant Director of Center Services and Education

• Jodie Dommaschk, Assistant Director of Community and Family Partnership

• Becky Rosick, Technology Coordinator (implementation and internal support)

From day one, they made a strategic decision: roll GoEngage out one priority at a time, while reserving budget for training and consulting to properly support staff.

“The videos were helpful… but setup felt overwhelming.”

LEAP began setup using onboarding guides and videos. They made progress — but soon encountered a reality familiar to many programs:

You can’t build a database without fully understanding how everything connects — until you’re living in it.

Permissions, workflows, and data capture choices that seemed fine at first began raising questions later.

“Without knowing what connected to what, it made things like permissions a little challenging.” — Jodie Dommaschk, Assistant Director of Community and Family Partnership

Shannon summed it up clearly:

“We wanted to roll this system out slow and steady and make sure we had the proper training so we could support our staff.” — Shannon Stockwell, Program Director

That’s where consulting changed the game.

When It Clicked: Consulting That Felt Like Live Troubleshooting

LEAP brought a GoEngage consultant on-site — and immediately, it felt different from traditional training.

“Training is great, but having someone sit next to you and show you in real time how to fix something was extremely beneficial.” — Shannon Stockwell

Instead of arriving with a rigid agenda, the consultant began by asking:

“What do you need?”

Then she sat beside the team and worked through real workflows, real questions, and real challenges.

• If something didn’t look right, she showed how to fix it.

• If a workflow could be smoother, she showed what was possible.

• If the team wasn’t ready for a change yet, she helped plan for it.

“It was like having her hands in the kitchen cooking with us.” — Amber Mahoney, Assistant Director of Center Services and Education

It wasn’t just training. It was exactly what we needed, hands-on problem solving in real time.

It was partnership.

A Format That Built Buy-In Across the Agency

Consulting sessions were organized by department:

• ERSEA

• Health

• Family Services

• Education

• HR

• Fiscal

Component leaders attended focused small-group sessions, then trained their teams the following week using a train-the-trainer approach.

The result:

1. Staff received answers in context—without being overwhelmed by an all-agency training.

2. Leaders built ownership early, which helped adoption spread naturally.

“Small-group sessions helped staff learn better and feel comfortable asking questions.” — Becky Rosick, Technology Coordinator

Discovering the Invisible Gaps

One of LEAP’s biggest “aha” moments came from service documentation.

“We were documenting everything under a case note — and didn’t realize we weren’t fully capturing our services.” — Becky Rosick

Quick but meaningful work — phone calls, referrals, follow-ups — wasn’t being reflected accurately in reporting.

Through consulting, LEAP shifted documentation practices to ensure services are now:

• accurately captured

• consistently tracked

• easier to report

• and reflective of the real work happening with families

Goodbye paper-chasing

Another major win: signatures and documentation workflows.

Before GoEngage:

• board signatures were tracked down manually

• volunteer and in-kind forms lived on paper

• documents were scanned and uploaded later

• staff spent time double-checking nothing was lost

Now, key workflows are moving into GoEngage so documentation is:

captured, signed, and stored in one step.

“She showed us an easier way that didn’t take as much of my time to capture our in-kind.” — Becky Rosick

“I was pretty excited — I’m not going to lie.” — Becky Rosick

And importantly, the consultant didn’t force rapid change — she helped LEAP plan a comfortable pace toward paper reduction.

Collaboration That Stays in the System

LEAP also highlighted a benefit they didn’t have before: cross-program collaboration inside the platform — including coordination between Head Start and Community Action services.

Instead of scattered emails that disappear when staff leave, communication and documentation now live inside the system — visible, searchable, and continuous.

“When collaboration happens inside the system, it’s already documented — you don’t have to go back and enter it later.” — Becky Rosick

“The time and money spent was worth it.”

LEAP sees consulting not as an add-on — but as a value investment.

Because the real cost isn’t training time.

It’s the hidden cost of:

• slow adoption

• inconsistent workflows

• missed documentation

• and staff frustration

“The time and money spent into the consultation is worth it for us.” — Shannon Stockwell

Lessons Learned

• Plan for a slow-and-steady rollout

• Expect setup to feel overwhelming without guidance

• Hands-on consulting connects the dots faster

• Department-based sessions build buy-in

• Digitized documentation saves time immediately

• Supportive partnership increases staff confidence

About LEAP

LEAP is a mission-driven nonprofit serving Washington County, New York, supporting individuals and families on the path to self-sufficiency through services, shared resources, and community collaboration. Their Head Start and Early Head Start program operates across five centers.

You Don’t Have to Figure It Out Alone

GoEngage consulting is designed to meet programs where they are — validate what’s been built, connect workflows across departments, and move teams from “we’re learning” to “we’ve got this.”

👉 Want to talk through what consulting could look like for your agency?

Schedule time to map out your rollout plan.

Not using GoEngage yet

Already using GoEngage

“All the staff have been extremely supportive — they’re really there to do what’s needed to get us where we need to be.” — Shannon Stockwell