Social Capital and Learning Communities

University of Minnesota Extension Service

February 2003 - February 2004.The Leadership and Civic Engagement Program of the University of Minnesota Extension Service selected Yellow Wood Associates to work with a team of extension professionals to create an interactive tool to measure social capital in Minnesota communities. Social capital refers to social networks and norms of reciprocity and trust that facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit. Extension professionals hope to use the tool to help community groups examine the links between social capital, civic engagement, and vital communities, as well as to assess the effectiveness of Extension’s work in building social capital.Contact: Donna Rae Scheffert, State Program Leader for Leadership and Civic Engagement, (612) 625-3334.

"I was constantly impressed with Shanna Ratner's astute responses to and suggestions for the myriad issues that constantly arose during the project].She thinks on her feet very well and can keep a group moving forward toward the common goals.This was the kind of clear-thinking, goal-oriented work that we needed from a consultant on this project.I highly recommend Yellow Wood Associates."

-Michael Darger, University of Minnesota Extension Service

University of Minnesota Extension Service February 2003 - February 2004. The University of Minnesota Extension Service Business Retention and Expansion Program selected Yellow Wood Associates to develop a tool to test the theory that building social capital in communities while focusing on community economic development goals will increase the probability that business retention and expansion will occur. Yellow Wood Associates will use a modified version of a network analysis tool developed several years ago to assess the effectiveness of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund’s work with business clusters. One version of the tool will be used with community leaders and another with business owners. Contact: Michael Darger, University of Minnesota Extension Service, Business Retention and Expansion Program Manager, Department of Applied Economics, 249 Classroom Office Building, 1994 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108-6040, (612) 625-6246.

New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. March - October 2000. Yellow Wood worked with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation on integration of social capital into their grant-making process. The work involved facilitating the Social Capital Multiplier Group, researching social capital applications used by other foundations, and developing and testing a social capital assessment tool. Following up on work initiated by Robert Putnam and associates at Harvard University, this project also worked with six grantees of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to evaluate the extent to which their work contributed to creating social capital. Contact Stuart Comstock-Gay, Vice President for Programs, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, 37 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH 03301, (603) 225-6641 x245.

Rural Community Capacity Building Learning Cluster. 1994 – 2000, YWA surveyed members of the Learning Cluster to determine the variety of approaches being used to build rural community capacity, resulting in a report entitled Community Capacity Building, What Is It?, for the Aspen Institute.Results are of interest to communities, practitioners, funders and policy-makers. The Principal of YWA is a participating member of the Aspen Institute’s Rural Community Capacity Building Learning Cluster. Members of the Cluster include experienced rural development practitioners from around the country. Meriwether Jones, Executive Director Communities Strategies Group, The Aspen Institute, One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 736-5849.

Learning Communities. October 1996 - March 1997. YWA prepared a paper on the concept of learning communities for the Appalachian Regional Commission. The paper focused on how to identify traits common to learning communities and how to foster the development of these community traits. The paper drew on ideas from the physical sciences, leadership training, learning theory, rural development, public work, organizational learning, systems thinking, and community capacity building.Contact Thomas Hunter, Executive Director, Appalachian Regional Commission, 1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20235, (202) 884-7700.

World Bank Workshop. January 1996. Invited by the World Bank to participate in an international workshop on “Indicators and Methods to Measure Participation, Demand Orientation, and Local Organizational Capacity in Community Driven Projects.” Yellow Wood represented the work on community capacity building developed by the Aspen Institute’s Learning Cluster on Rural Community Capacity Building, and contributed experiences gained through training citizen groups in participatory evaluation of the Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities in the U.S. Contact Deepa Narayan, The World Bank Social Policy and Resettlement Division, 1818 H. Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, (202) 473-1000.