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Community Capacity Building

Tools

Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group - Wealth Creation Knowledge Transfer. 2011 - 2012.Yellow Wood is collaborating with the Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group to develop a knowledge transfer platform for development practitioners who want to use the wealth creation approach developed through the Ford Foundation’s Wealth Creation in Rural Communities initiative. Yellow Wood supplied Aspen with foundational tools we created for use with value chain intermediaries in the field and is a participant in Aspen’s Project Development Advisory Team.

Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE). 2011. Shanna Ratner was invited to serve as one of three external advisors to CATIE to help refine and finalize 5Capitals - A toolkit to improve impacts of pro-poor value chain development. The toolkit is for all those who are interested in understanding the context in which value chain development takes place, who are ready to question previous assumptions and make new ones about its impact, and who are able to collect, manage and assess data from multiple sources. The toolkit facilitates the development of a theory of change which outlines the pathway towards increasing assets at the household level; uses an assets-based approach that recognizes multiple types of assets; addresses both household and enterprise level impacts; allows for multi-source interventions; includes guidance on analyzing the context in which value chain development takes place; and allows stakeholders within the chain as well as service providers outside the chain to continuously improve their interactions to move jointly toward sustainable, pro-poor value chains.

Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy. 2010. Yellow Wood partnered with the Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) to develop the Community Roadmap to Renewable Woody Biomass Energy: A step-by-step decision-making tool for NH communities through a contract with the North Country Resource Conservation and Development Area Council. This workbook is a civic decision-making tool to help New Hampshire communities through the information-gathering process required to decide whether woody biomass heating technologies applied to one or more buildings can help meet one or more community energy goals. This valuable tool was created so that communities will have the information they need, and a logical process to follow, to make informed decisions about the role biomass may play in their energy future. Click here to access the Roadmap electronically.

Evaluation

Environmental Education Evaluation. October 1999 - June 2000. Yellow Wood worked with the Boquet River Association to evaluate the effectiveness of the “Adopt-A-Salmon Family” environmental curriculum used by seven schools in the Adirondacks. YWA analyzed results and summarized key learnings. Teachers recorded their expectations and assumptions about the curriculum at the outset, providing reflections midway through and at the end of the year. Teachers also conducted pre and post-tests of students. Contact Robin Ulmer, Bouquet River Association c/o Essex County Government Center, PO Box 217, Elizabethtown, NY 12932, (518) 873-3688.

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Outcome Funding. January 2000. Yellow Wood worked with NESARE in piloting an outcome-funding approach to grantmaking. The work included two year’s participation in the design process, proposal reviews, interviews with potential grantees, committee work to select grantees, and process documentation. Contact Fred Magdoff, Regional Coordinator, Northeast Regional SARE, Hill Building, 105 Carrigan Drive, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405-0082, (802) 656-0472.

Research

U.S. Endowment for Forests and Communities. 2009. Shanna Ratner and Susanne Moser, PhD worked together to explore the issue of community resilience from the perspective of literature and key informant interviews with 25 rural development practitioners from around the country. They identified stages of community resilience and investigated the role of institutions, policies, leadership and culture in creating the capacity for resilient response to stressors. The relationship between community wealth and community resilience was also explored. The final report can be found at http://www.usendowment.org/communityresilience.html. Appendices contain tools, selected research, an essay on the historical evolution and meaning of the concept of resilience, and a list of interviewees.

Online Planning. April - June 2001. Yellow Wood prepared a short lesson on Planning for Economic Development for Vermont municipal officials and used as part of the Lincoln Land Institute’s Online Planning Series, sponsored by The Orton Institute. The lesson plan included information on defining terms, deciding what people really want for their communities, understanding existing conditions, measuring progress, and applying innovative approaches. Contact: Joanna Whitcomb, Burnt Rock, Inc., 23 Fuller House/Main Street, PO Box 172 , Waitsfield , VT 05676. (802) 496-9909.

Town of Cambridge, Vermont Planning Commission. September 1997 - February 1998. Yellow Wood assisted the Town of Cambridge, Vermont Planning Commission in designing and implementing a process to engage local residents and landowners in a dialogue about guiding future growth in the Town. Specifically, the dialogue focused on the type and degree of control that should be implemented. Tools used included a mail survey providing information about various regulatory and non-regulatory techniques, and a series of neighborhood focus groups with local facilitators trained by YWA. Contact Chris Bolen, Chair, Cambridge Planning Commission, PO Box 127 , Jeffersonville , VT 05464 , (802) 644-2251.

Rural EZ/EC Benchmark Analysis. December 1996 - March 1997. Yellow Wood analyzed the EZ/EC Communities’ Annual Benchmark Progress Reports and prepared a summary document for the Community Partnership Center of the University of Tennessee . The report discusses areas of accomplishment, common obstacles and lessons learned by the EZ/EC Communities. An accounting of jobs retained/created, funds leveraged and partnerships formed by the EZ/EC program is provided.

Preliminary Survey of State Programs. June 1995 - March 1996. Yellow Wood worked with the Aspen Institute to survey eleven states supporting rural community development. The purpose of the work was to identify the role of state government in supporting communities after they have completed some type of community plan. Yellow Wood prepared a paper titled, “From Planning to Action: What States Have Learned About Helping Rural Communities Implement Strategic Community Economic Development Plans,” distributed at a national meeting of State Rural Development Councils. Contact Meriwether Jones, Executive Director Communities Strategies Group, 1 Dupont Circle NW suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 736-5849.

Community Sustainability in the Adirondacks .December 1993 - June 1994. Worked with The Adirondack Council to identify and assess the cultural, economic and social factors in the Adirondacks that provide both obstacles and opportunities to the emergence of strong, thriving communities. Work included detailed case studies of two Adirondack communities and development of qualitative and quantitative indicators of community development capacity in physical, human, social, environmental, political and economic sectors. Particular attention was given to the ways in which the resources of the Adirondack Council, an environmental non-profit organization, can support local communities and provide a model for economic viability in an environmentally sensitive region. Contact Tim Burke, Executive Director, PO Box D-2, Elizabethtown, NY 12932, (518) 873-2240.

Facilitation

USDA Rural Development Best Practices. July - October 2000. Yellow Wood facilitated nine net meetings with USDA State Rural Development staff to share stories about projects/activities that have contributed to community capacity building, leveraging, and partnerships, and that represent a new way of doing business for USDA Rural Development. The result was a compilation of “stories from the states” for the Washington office of USDA Rural Development Policy and Planning. Contact Alicia Petersen, USDA, Office of Policy and Planning, Washington , DC 20250 , (202) 690-0569.

Adirondack Study Tour. August - October 1998. Yellow Wood and the Madagascar Collaborative Program of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development provided an administrative framework for a six day, five night Adirondack study tour that provided exposure to a range of issues, organizations and landscapes that are characteristic of the Park’s unique land ownership situation. The purpose of the study tour was to broaden the participants’ perspectives and understanding of strategies used for managing natural resources and human conflicts in a Park context. Contact Louise Burck, Cornell University of Natural Resources, Fernow Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, (607) 255-5994.

East Tennessee Community Foundation. March 1994 - January 1996. Yellow Wood was invited by the Aspen Institute to participate in a review of the East Tennessee Community Foundation’s rural communities initiative. Offered feedback and advice on delivering technical assistance to community groups. Contact Terry Holley, East Tennessee Foundation, 360 Nationsbank Center, 550 West Main Street suite 550, Knoxville, TN 37902, (865) 524-1223.

Community Foundation Learning Retreat. April 1995. Yellow Wood served as a resource person for the Aspen Institute’s Community Foundation Learning Cluster retreat in Polson, Montana. The purpose of the retreat was to provide a mid-course correction for the Foundation. YWA helped prepare and facilitate sessions on working with partners in program delivery, and working with community foundations from around the country. Contact Janet Topolsky, Aspen Institute, 1 Dupont Circle NW suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 736-5800.

Training

Measurement

Missouri Multi-Agency Initiative. February 2001. Trained 26 people from Missouri Departments of Economic Development, Health, and Mental Health, in "You Get What You MeasureSM," Yellow Wood’s unique approach to measuring progress toward goals. Participants applied "You Get What You MeasureSM" to the Multi-Agency Initiative and prepared to take the process into communities across the state. The purpose of the Multi-Agency Initiative is to increase communication and collaboration between community-level workers in the three agencies for the benefit of communities.

Massachusetts Rural Development Council. Nov 1996. Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. delivered a two-day training program in collaboration with Vicki Creed of Learning Partners on community capacity building for the Massachusetts Rural Development Council (MRDC) and the Agency of Community Development. The first day included a training in facilitation for MRDC board members who represent federal, state and non-profit organizations involved in rural community development. The second day had these facilitators focus on training ten community teams in the community capacity building process. Contact Tom Guerino, Massachusetts Rural Development Council, 216 Draper Hall, University of Massachusetts., Amherst, MA 01003, (413) 545-4404.

Navajo Hogan Project. December 2000. Yellow Wood trained nearly 60 people in "You Get What You MeasureSM" at the Navajo Chapter House in Cameron, Arizona in December 2000. Participants included a mix of Native and non-Native Americans, youth and elders, men and women, who came together to establish the goals and indicators of progress they would use for the Navajo Hogan Project. The Navajo Hogan Project seeks to provide affordable housing for elderly Navajos and others in a traditional structure using small diameter wood from the National Forest.

USDA Rural Development Office of Policy and Planning. May - June 2000. Co-delivered training with Daryl Hobbs of the University of Missouri Office for Social and Economic Data Analysis on Yellow Wood’s measurement process to over 120 USDA Rural Development staff from around the country at the 4th Annual Rural Community Development National Training Conference. Contact Alicia Petersen, US Department of Agriculture, Office of Policy and Planning, Washington, DC 20250, (202) 690-0569.

Missouri Conference Keynote and Training. March 2000. Facilitated training and presented a keynote at "Seeing Beyond the Symptoms: A Conference of Community Change Agents," sponsored by the Missouri Association of Community Task Forces in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Economic Development, Missouri Department of Health, and the Southwest Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies. Introduced the portion of YWA’s measurement training related to analyzing indicators in a systems context. Ongoing consultation will include collaborative planning for future trainings. Contact Kathy Craig, Missouri Association Community Task Forces, 1648B East Elm Street, Jefferson City, MO 65101, (573) 635-6669.

Rural Action. January 2000. Designed and delivered "You Get What You Measure: Becoming a Learning Community" for the staff and 31 Vista volunteers of Rural Action in Athens, Ohio. Staff and volunteers used the workshop to develop goals, indicators and measures for their work in key program areas. Also designed and facilitated a session for special forest products professionals to assist Rural Action staff in determining priority interventions in the context of the ongoing work of many different groups. Contact Karen Affeld, Rural Action, One Mound St. Athens, OH 45701, (614) 593-7490.

Community Forestry. November - December 1999. Invited by the Aspen Institute to deliver two training to Ford Foundation grantees during the Community Based Forestry Demonstration Program Meeting in Memphis, Tennessee in December, 1999. One training focused on portions of "You Get What You Measuresm" while the second focused on the continuum from pre-feasibility study to business plan and the role of business networks in sustainable development. Contact Barbara Wyckoff-Baird, Aspen Institute, One Dupont Circle, NW Suite 700, Washington DC 20036, (202) 736-5800.

Cyprian Center Measurement Workshop. November - December 1999. Designed and delivered interactive workshop, "You Get What You Measuresm," for state government employees at Vermont’s Cyprian Center, a state personnel training center. Follow-up from the initial workshop included working with an eight-person unit of the Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, Waste Prevention Section to redesign their annual work plan in terms of goals, indicators, measures and actions. We offered an expanded 2-day version of the workshop in the fall of 1999 with time in between sessions for participants to test the material in their workplaces. Contact Nancy Simoes, Cyprian Learning Center, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, VT 05671, (802) 241-1114.

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. May 1999. Conducted a workshop, "Integrating Social Responsibility Into Your Business Plan: How Do You Know When You’re Doing Good?" at the annual meeting of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. Workshop participants developed ideas for concrete steps they could take to measure progress toward the socially responsible goals of their businesses. Contact Mandy Ferland, Vermont Business For Social Responsibility, 30 Communiy Drive So Burlington VT 05403, (802) 862-8347.

Rural Development Initiatives, Inc. February - March 1999. Introduced our measurement training, including an intriguing exercise on assumptions, to the staff of Rural Development Initiatives, Inc. in Oregon. In preparing for this work, we developed a complete workbook on the measurement process designed to be used in training trainers. Contact Kathleen Jaworski, Rural Development Initiatives, 1410 Oak, Suite 102, Eugene, OR 97401, (541) 684-9077.

New Mexico Rural Economic Development Forum - Build Community Capacity: Tools for Vitalizing Our Rural Economies. October - November 1997. Presented workshop on measuring progress toward community goals for economic development practitioners. Contact Amy Miller, New Mexico Rural Economic Development Forum, Plains Electric, 2401 Aztec Rd, NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87107, (505) 889-7328.

Working Toward Community Goals: Helping Communities Succeed. July 1996 - October 1997. Worked with Cornelia Butler Flora of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development and the Heartland Center for Leadership Development to develop and test a training program for measuring progress toward community goals for use by Rural Community Assistance Program officers of the U.S. Forest Service, other rural development service providers and community members. Contact Cornelia Butler Flora, 1115 Elway Street, Apt #217, St. Paul, MN 55116, (515) 294-8321.

State of Maine Community Foundation Training. October 1997. Conducted training for the staff and grant recipients of the Maine Community Foundation's Rural Initiative. Training focused on defining poverty and economic security and learning how to measure progress toward the goals of the Rural Initiative and the goals of the individual grant recipient initiatives. Contact Diane Morton, Aspen Institute, 1 Dupont Circle, NW Washington, DC 20036, (202) 736-5800.

U.S. Forest Service Regional Trainings. July 1996 - September 1997. Delivered eight trainings on measuring progress toward community goals to Rural Community Assistance staff of the U.S. Forest Service and other federal, state and non-profit rural development service providers for the Alaska, Eastern, Inter-Mountain, Rocky Mountain, South, and Southwestern Regions. Contact Jayne Hager Dee, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Iowa State Univeristy, 107 Curtiss hall, Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-2303.

Rural Community Capacity Building. November 1996. Delivered a two day training program in collaboration with Vicki Creed of Learning Partners on community capacity building for the Massachusetts Rural Development Council and the Agency of Community Development. First day included a training in facilitation for MRDC board members who represent federal, state and non-profit organizations involved in rural community development. The second day had these facilitators focus on training ten community teams in the community capacity building process. Contact Tom Guerino, Massachusetts Rural Development Council, 408 Goodell, University of Mass. Amherst, MA 01003, (413) 545-4404.

State of New Mexico Community Foundation Training. September 1992. Yellow Wood provided training to staff and grant recipients of the New Mexico Community Foundation to assist in integrating community capacity building into the foundation, rural livelihood, and strengthening family grantee initiatives. Training was conducted in collaboration with Bruce Boggs of Rural Development Initiatives in Oregon and Janet Topolsky, Aspen Institute, One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 736-5800.

Business Networks

Community Forestry.November - December 1999. Invited by the Aspen Institute to deliver two training to Ford Foundation grantees during the Community Based Forestry Demonstration Program Meeting in Memphis, Tennessee in December, 1999. One training focused on portions of "You Get What You Measuresm" while the second focused on the continuum from pre-feasibility study to business plan and the role of business networks in sustainable development. Contact Barbara Wyckoff-Baird, Aspen Institute, One Dupont Circle, NW Suite 700, Washington DC 20036, (202) 736-5800.

Marketing & Business Development

ACEnet. May 2000. Provided feedback to ACEnet staff on ACEnets strategic plan, and introduced Yellow Wood’s measurement process and the business network evaluation model developed with the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. Contact June Holley, President, ACEnet, 94 Columbus Road, Athens, Ohio, 45701, (740) 592-3854.

Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association. September 1999. Delivered a workshop on Adding Value From Stump to Mill, focused on alternative approaches to marketing wood products, at the Vermont Wood Product Manufacturers’ Association annual meeting. Contact Mary Jeanne Packer, Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association, PO Box 196, Poultney, VT 05764, (802) 278-4284.

Participatory Research

Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. January 1996 - November 1997. Yellow Wood worked with John Gaventa at the University of Tennessee and Vicki Luther of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development to prepare a workbook, training manual, and four-day workshop on participatory evaluation of rural Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Recipients of training included professional researchers and members of community-based learning teams from around the country. Provided advanced training for the same audience after several months of implementation through three national cross-site trainings. Contact Dr.Vicki Luther, Ph.D., Heartland Center for Leadership Development, 941 "O" Street, Suite 920, Lincoln, NE 68508, (402) 474-7667.

National Training. March 1998.Yellow Wood continued its collaboration with the Community Partnership Center of the University of Tennessee and the Center for Community Change to further develop a participatory evaluation training curriculum and to adapt the methodology for use with a wide array of interested clients. In addition, YWA provided ongoing consulting with the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Contact Vicki Creed, Learning Partners, 2915 Ginn Drive, Knoxville, TN 37920, (423) 974-9030.

Learning Communities

Reflections and Visions on the Learning Community-The Community Development Society Annual Conference. June 1997. Presented two interactive workshops on promoting learning communities through measuring progress toward community goals. Learning communities are communities that build the capacity of individuals, groups, and the community as a whole to respond effectively to changing circumstances. The learning process requires a continuous cycle of action-reflection-action. Participants learned how to distinguish a goal from an activity and develop meaningful indicators and measures of progress toward community goals. Cornelia Flora of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, and Janet Topolsky of The Aspen Institute were co-leaders of these workshops. Contact Ronald Hustedde Univ. of KY Sociology Dept., 500 Garrigus Building Lexington, KY, 40546, (606) 257-3186.

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