Strategy for Sustainable Regional Engagement:

CO9to25 Community Connectors

Rationale for Community Connectors

As a strategy to support ongoing engagement with regional partners in local communities, we propose launching a cohort of CO9to25 Community Connectors during the Summer of 2017 to be piloted through Summer of 2018. Community Connectors are individuals in local communities who are deeply involved with collaborative, youth-systems building work in their communities and are willing to use their existing relationships, communication channels, and meetings to connect their local youth systems building efforts with CO9to25. See page 4 for description of CO9to25 Community Connector role, including expectations and opportunities.

The concept of “Community Connectors” is taken from a commonly used community organizing strategy. The strategy has been found to be particularly effective in contexts like Colorado9to25’s where a larger entity is trying to interact with, influence and/or organize unique and diverse communities. In this context, it can be problematic to employ uniform engagement strategies and very challenging for someone who is not of that community to understand how to effectively engage the members. Since Community Connectors are members of the community, they can tailor communication and engagement strategies to what they know works for their community. Furthermore, Community Connectors can be particularly effective when a larger entity, such as CO9to25, does not have the capacity to build deep relationships in all the communities is it trying to impact and/or has not earned the trust to do so yet.

This strategy was developed to address primary concerns and recommendations that were discovered through the RPP action team’s conversations with two groups of key informants including state-level staff and local youth champions. A leading recommendation was to utilize existing groups, meetings, and structures to engage communities to avoid sucking collaborative capacity out of local communities, which was a primary concern of some local leaders. Community Connectors would address this by utilizing one community leader, serving in a liaison role, connecting their community to CO9to25 through existing infrastructure and enhancing existing efforts, rather than using superfluous capacity from CO9to25 and all youth partners in a community to connect in new way that feels separate from their local priorities.

Additionally, using Community Connectors can help to overcome the barrier of rural communities feeling skeptical of people and initiatives that “come from the Front Range” by utilizing a local leader who can make a statewide initiative relevant in their own local context and culture. For these reasons and more, the “Community Connector” strategy has the potential to effectively and sustainably engage local communities with the Colorado9to25 network and is recommended as a strategy to develop and support ongoing engagement throughout the state.

Plan for CO9to25 Community Connectors Pilot

Regional Partnership events during May-June of 2017 will be utilized to identify and recruit potential individuals who would be well-positioned to be a CO9to25 community connector.

The goal during the first year is two recruit a cohort of 12 connectors to start together in late Summer 2017 and to evaluate the strategy with the Connectors during the Summer of 2018 to determine the effectiveness of the strategy and if it should continue, be adapted, or discontinued.

Action Plan for Pilot Implementation

When / What / How
May – July / Recruit 12 Community Connectors / Identify and recruit individuals who are well-positioned to be a “CO9to25 Community Connector”. Utilize regional meetings to recruit connectors.
Interested participants complete brief questionnaire and have informal conversation with CO9to25 RPP member to ensure interested person understands purpose of CO9to25 and expectations of role. (No formal interview process required for Pilot).
August / Launch Pilot Cohort / All individuals who volunteer to be a community connector sign a Partnership Agreement.
Orientation is provided for all Community Connectors to participate in remotely. Orientation includes:
●Opportunity for Connectors to introduce themselves to each other (consider using Zoom so everyone can see faces)
●Training on CO9to25 utilizing resources created by Spark & Spokesperson Training being developed by Professional Development Action Team
●Discussion of role of Community Connector (give and get). Connectors generating and sharing ideas with each other for how they will connect CO9to25 to their work.
November / Check In / All community connectors participate in conference call/webinar to share learning and information, provide feedback to CO9to25 to inform SYDP, learn about resources and opportunities to share with their community, etc. May also consider having connectors provide written feedback through surveys, discussion boards, or other electronic written means so that it is easier to document and catalogue feedback.
February / Check In / All community connectors participate in conference call/webinar to share learning and information, provide feedback to CO9to25, learn about resources and opportunities to share with their community, etc.
June / Check-In & Year Review / In-person convening of community connectors at Annual Shared Risk & Protective Factors Conference for normal quarterly check-in and end of year review of pilot program to inform future direction of Community Connectors.

Sustainability Recommendations for Community Connectors

Recommendation #1:

An individual should be identified, or an action team formed, to support the Community Connectors.

●onboarding individuals as Community Connectors,

●planning and facilitating quarterly calls/webinars/surveys

●communicating with Connectors as needed throughout the year,

●evaluating and recommending course of continued action for next year.

Recommendation #2:

Identify funding to provide a stipend to each Community Connector to cover the cost of their time and any expenses to fulfill expectations, as well as provide incentive and express appreciation. This will be particularly important for recruiting and retaining individuals in rural communities where many collaborative leaders are not employed full-time and do not have organizational support to do collaborative work. Recommended stipend amount for Community Connector role, as currently defined, would be $250- $500.

Description of Colorado9to25 Community Connectors

Colorado9to25 (CO9to25) is looking for individuals throughout Colorado with strong connections to collaborative efforts focused on improving outcomes for youth and young adults in their community!

✓Do you want to help ensure all young people ages 9-25 in your community and in Colorado are safe, healthy, educated, connected and contributing?

✓Do you have connections in your community to youth-serving organizations, youth councils, local public agencies, and committees/coalitions/collaborative groups?

The role of a CO9to25 Community Connector is to connect their community to the CO9to25 state youth system. By connecting communities across Colorado to each other and to the statewide youth system, we can create a coordinated, comprehensive youth system in Colorado that supports ALL youth and young adults in Colorado to reach their full potential. CO9to25 is supported by the Statewide Youth Development Plan (HB13-1239) so by connecting to CO9to25, your community can join in a unified voice to advocate for youth and young adults in our state and inform to the Colorado State Legislature of needs.

Community Connectors use their existing relationships, communication channels, and meetings with youth, youth-serving partners, and collaborative groups in their community to:

➢identify needs, areas to focus resources, and policies to be developed or changed and shares the information with CO9to25 to inform CO9to25 efforts and Statewide Plan

➢share information, resources, and opportunities related to CO9to25, youth-systems building, and Positive Youth Development with their community

Community Connectors have opportunities to:

-Create a unified voice to the Colorado State Legislature regarding needs and priorities for young people in Colorado by influencing the CO Statewide Youth Development Plan.

-Inform CO9to25 priorities, particularly related to the development of resources and opportunities that respond to your needs.

-Receive resources, training, and technical assistance on youth-systems building and Positive Youth development

-Connect with other collaborative leaders and share learning about local youth-systems building efforts in Colorado communities – likely leading to leveraging resources and learning to make the work of yours and others more effective and efficient.

Community Connectors are expected to:

-Participate quarterly in a conference call/webinar to share information with CO9to25 & other Community Connectors or submit information in written form (approx. 8 hrs. per year)

-Attend convening of CO9to25 Community Connectors at Annual Shared Risk & Protective Factors Conference (approx. 3 hrs. - more if you attend entire conference, which is free).

-Become a trained Colorado9to25 Spokesperson (approx. 1-2 hours)

-Share CO9to25 resources and opportunities with your network (approx. 4 hrs. per year)

-Optional: contribute to shared learning about local youth-systems building in our state by creating a short article/video/webinar that highlights learning, best practices, keys to success in your community related to collaborative, youth-systems building. (approx. 2 hours)

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