Project VOICE - 1

WELCOME to the Project Voice blog. Please recognize that this is very much a work in process and I am putting out some structure to the blog to get it started. Recognize that I am new to blogging and learning literally as I process this message. Some might argue that this should all be researched in advance but at times my style has been appropriately described as Ready, Fire, Aim. So here goes....

The Project Voice blog is intended to facilitate communication within the Steering Committee, the Broadcast Partners, and, potentially, the community at large. As an initial structure, I have created categories for Project Voice General (where is post is categorized), for the Community Assessment process that is the focus of Project Voice in its planning stage and for the four focus points contained in the Grant Request, as follows:

Civic Engagement
Creative Expression
Wellness & Safety
Stakeholder Representation

Film

The last of the four focus points has been broadened at least as a temporary measure after the first Steering Committee meeting. At the present time there is no representation on the committee for "Environmental Stewardship" although that remains an areas of assessment. Similarly, there may be other stakeholders not fully represented on the committee that need a, well, Voice. For example, it was noted that the school system includes a 40% hispanic representation yet that element of community is not yet represented on the committee. The Stakeholder Representation category would addresss such concerns until a different structure is determined.

Film was also included as a functional focus intended to assist the other four focus areas and is represented by a separate subgroup within the Steering Committee.

Representatives of Project Voice attended a CFAA orientation session at the Arizona Community Foundation on Friday, November 21, 2008. The meeting was attended by the other four current "Planning" grantees from around Arizona and the "Leadership" grantees from 2004. The session began around 10:00 and concluded at 4:00. The following is intended to be a quick transcription of my notes rather than a more carefully prepared report. Others attending the session are encouraged to comment on my perspective of the meeting.

We were welcomed by Jacky Alling of ACF after which there was a presentation by Nancy Henkin, the Executive Director of Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning.

Nancy Henkin’s presentation was accompanied by a slide show included in binders distributed at the meeting and included the following points:

• The CFAA approach is prompted by the weakened family structure in our country, with individuals each going their own way and disbursing geographically.
• Limited resources are being used inefficiently when not applied on an intergenerational approach; a more synergistic approach is available via the CFAA lens.
• The CFAA approach requires consideration of how we relate to others in the community and an openness to changing how we conduct business.
• The CFAA approach requires all ages and cultural groups to be represented throughout the process in an atmosphere of shared values and the intentionality of both giving to and receiving from the community.
• The CFAA theory of change can be segregated into short, intermediate and long term outcomes. The initial focus must start at an agreement of where the process should end, with the common good defined at both the individual and institutional levels.
• The focus needs to be directed to changing the culture, not planning events.

In one of the exercises we had to derive a statement about the Sedona Community in seven words or less and in just several minutes. We came up with:

“A destination of great beauty and creative diversity igniting passionate community.”

The overall point, repeated several times in the meeting, was that the initial planning year should focus on just planning, including community assessment using tools such as surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, community meetings and the like. A timeline and an outline of the required assessment report was provided and discussed on an overview basis. Examples of surveys, focus group scripts and a final report (of the Concho project) were included in the materials distributed at the meeting.

Regarding the timeline, key milestones and dates are as follows:

• January 09-Expectations of initial team meetings and arrangements for technical assistance
• Mid February 09- Progress report will be requested
• Early March 09- Learning session to be scheduled for Phoenix area
• Early June 09- Learning session to be scheduled for Sedona area
• Mid July 09- Progress report will be requested
• August 09- Draft of Community Profile report completed and work begun on Action Plan for following years
• October 8, 2009- Final Community Profile and Action Plan reports submitted
• End of November 09- Up to 5 Implementation Grant Awards announced

Regarding the Community Profile report, a set of guidelines was distributed with the following major elements required:

• Introduction and approach- Definition of community studied, overview of planning process and overview of data collection methods
• Demographics- Profile of community as defined above re age, ethnicity, income (including subgroups) and trends anticipated going forward
• Community change- Discussion of how change occurs in the defined community
• Issues, challenges and needs- Segregated by age group, including major commonalities and differences , current initiatives to be built on, and funding sources for community change
• Community asset base defined- segregated between services, level of civic engagement and social capital, and physical infrastructure
• Conclusions and summary- Major learnings, issue (singular) to be addressed via CFAA lens, criteria used in prioritizing issues, and anticipated challenges

The Leadership group (prior grantees) presented a “fishbowl” session to the new planning group, with the following points being made:

• Visits to the leadership groups sites would be useful.
• Grants are unusual for a planning process, usually just for implementation.
• Don’t go into the planning process with pre-conceived notions.
• Begin the planning process with the end in mind.
• CFAA is a way of thinking not a program.
• Have people of all ages in the advisory group; bring youth in up front.
• Identify intergenerational gathering areas as sources of input.
• Come across as a listener, a partner, not an opponent or interest group.
• Identify the sources of community power, formal AND informal, and make sure they are all involved in providing input.

Other notes from the meeting include the following:

• The “Viable Futures Toolkit” is new following the 2004 planning grants and has not been used yet by ACF grantees though expected to be of great benefit.
• A community map might include the following quadrant:

o Public Sector- government & education organizations
o Private Sector- business & media organizations
o Voluntary Sector- faith-based and non-profits organizations
o Informal Sector- interest, kinship & affinity groups

• ACF will be flexible in changing the planning focus and budget from the original grant request. Budget variances of 20% or more should be noticed to ACF.
• The planning & assessment should cover issues that will affect everyone but need not attempt to be all things to all people- e.g. it need not cover the entire spectrum.
• The Nonprofit Resource Center of Northern Arizona website has various webinars that could be of benefit to the project.
• We should develop an “elevator speech” explaining the project to someone in the amount of time you might converse with them in an elevator- including what it is and why it is necessary and beneficial. Points re the speech include a broad statement, some audience tailoring and an invitation to offer input. The speech should not include the acronym CFAA.
• General communication elements re CFAA include:

o A inclusive way of thinking, as with a new paradigm or framework
o An attitude and a philosophy
o Synergies between age groups with collaboration & a coalition
o A life span approach to community problem solving; intergenerational
o Acting with “intentionality” and ownership

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