Check out our newly released mini-guide that offers tips for evaluating community engagement. It is not meant to be fully prescriptive on evaluation but it is a practical, hands-on tool to help you determine if you are ready to evaluate your community engagement work, and if yes, it offers considerations for implementing an evaluation.
In late August, 2018, teams from 20 states participated in the first group of the Southern Rural Development Center's (SRDC) "Train the Trainers" program "Coming Together for Racial Understanding." The purpose of the initiative was to build capacity within the national Cooperative Extension Service to help communities engage in civil dialogues around racial equity. The training was designed to prepare participants to build capacity within their home institutions.
With over 400 community members and 44 community-based, non-profit organizations participating, Families United for Education is a leader in the nation when it comes to engaging families toward improving school outcomes. As one of four finalists for Everyday Democracy’s distinguished Paul J. Aicher Leadership in Democracy Award, and now announced as a Civic Change Champion, Families United for Education is a national model for diverse communities working to achieve educational equity.
Communities Creating Racial Equity, an Everyday Democracy initiative launched in 2007 helped us better understand the intersection of civic engagement using the Dialogue to Change process.
Key lessons we have learned about addressing racism in community initiatives
Imagine quitting your job, selling your home and taking your three small children on the road for a year in an RV to visit all 50 states in our nation, with the goal of understanding our current divides and finding ways to bridge them toward an undivided nation.
This is the Leaverton’s American Dream and they are living it, state by state, from south, to north, east to west, community by community on a yearlong, enlightening and heartfelt listening tour.
Imagine quitting your job, selling your home and taking your three small children on the road for a year in an RV to visit all 50 states in our nation, with the goal of understanding our current divides and finding ways to bridge them toward an undivided nation.
This is the Leaverton’s American Dream and they are living it, state by state, from south, to north, east to west, community by community on a yearlong, enlightening and heartfelt listening tour.
Central New York’s Interfaith Works’ El Hindi Center for Dialogue continually confronts “hot topics” in the community head on, with thoughtful, facilitated listening and sharing sessions that gather people together and lead to planning and action. From dialogues on Police Community Relations to Ending Racism to Youth Cultural Exchanges to conversations on Education Equity, the Center has been successfully building bridges of understanding throughout the community, and is a sought after source for institutions and initiatives seeking racial equity and equitable solutions to day-to-day challenges they may be facing.
Central New York’s Interfaith Works’ El Hindi Center for Dialogue continually confronts “hot topics” in the community head on, with thoughtful, facilitated listening and sharing sessions that gather people together and lead to planning and action. From dialogues on Police Community Relations to Ending Racism to Youth Cultural Exchanges to conversations on Education Equity, the Center has been successfully building bridges of understanding throughout the community, and is a sought after source for institutions and initiatives seeking racial equity and equitable solutions to day-to-day challenges they may be facing.
How would a person who comes from a marginalized group in society come to know that she had the power to transform that society? How would a person with three or four degrees of “otherness” come to believe that her society is reliant on her to solve its most intractable problems – her voice matters, her contribution and her participation are imperative?
Our ultimate goal is to create positive community change that includes everyone, and we believe that our tools, advice, and resources will help foster that kind of change. Whether you’re grappling with a divisive community issue, or simply want to include residents’ voices in city government, Everyday Democracy's Dialogue to Change process, using a racial equity lens, can help.
