An Introduction to the Alliance A Partnership of the Minnesota Alliance With Youth, AmeriCorps,...
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Transcript of An Introduction to the Alliance A Partnership of the Minnesota Alliance With Youth, AmeriCorps,...
An Introduction to the An Introduction to the AllianceAlliance
A Partnership of the Minnesota Alliance A Partnership of the Minnesota Alliance With Youth, AmeriCorps, Serve Minnesota & With Youth, AmeriCorps, Serve Minnesota &
Partners across the statePartners across the state
Alliance MissionAlliance Mission Minnesota Alliance With Youth is a
collaborative network advocating with and for youth to ensure that all young people have the proven resources they need to be successful: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, effective education, and opportunities to serve.
The Focus of Our WorkThe Focus of Our Work Engagement:Engagement: Connecting youth with service
& leadership opportunities in order to create meaningful change in their communities.
Voice:Voice: Providing a variety of avenues for youth to work with adults in addressing the critical needs facing our state.
Success:Success: Targeting youth with programs and supports to impact their academic achievement, school engagement, and overall success in life.
A Brief History & OverviewA Brief History & Overview Founded in 1997, the Alliance is the
State affiliate of America’s Promise (www.americaspromise.org).
We use the framework of the Five Five PromisesPromises to inform & shape our work.
We convene & connectconvene & connect statewide partner organizations with each other & to local communities.
We contribute resourcescontribute resources through the Promise Fellows (which are funded by AmeriCorps & the Corporation for National & Community Service (www.americorps.org), Red Wagon Award, and Global Youth Service Day efforts.
We support & encourage youth support & encourage youth voice & youth/adult partnerships voice & youth/adult partnerships as a key way to sustain & support young people and create lasting change.
Our Philosophy of Partnership: Our Philosophy of Partnership: Our Core ValuesOur Core Values
The most effective way to impact youth is through strengthening partnerships: both at the community level and at the statewide level.
Youth development is not just an effort of those in education or youth development: it is a community-wide effort.
We work to empower and support those working throughout Minnesota to ensure all young people have access to the Five Promises.
We convene key partners to share best practices, research, and recognize the work of communities.
We are the leader in connecting & mobilizing partner organizations to build capacity around the resources young people need to be successful.
The Alliance works to contribute resources to help youth success through the Promise Fellow program, funded by AmeriCorps.
Statewide Partner Network
The Alliance convenes the Statewide Partner Network made up of large statewide and national youth development and education intermediaries to engage, collaborate and facilitate the sharing of resources with local communities.
The goal is to avoid duplication but replicate when necessary—as always, sharing information, best practices, and the newest research which helps to inform our collective & individual work.
100% of Statewide Partners report hosting an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow increases their capacity to support local communities more effectively.
Organizations include: Search Institute; YIPA; MN Campus Compact; NYLC; MN Mentoring Partnership; Youth Community Connections, and more …
Partnerships at the Partnerships at the Community LevelCommunity Level
School-Community Partnerships (SCPs) are made up of collaborating organizations, schools, faith communities, parents, businesses, government agencies, and youth working to ensure young people have access to the resources they need to be successful.
Youth-Adult Partnerships are key to making these efforts sustainable and productive in meeting the challenges facing youth& communities.
Strengthening PartnershipsStrengthening PartnershipsEach year, the Alliance works with between 40-45 School Community Partnerships to:Increase opportunities for youth voice,Promote civic engagement,Increase academic success, and Ensure access and opportunities for all young people to achieve.
Gallup Poll (2009)Gallup Poll (2009) Only 50% of youth are hopeful
(that is, have ideas and energy for the future—hope predicts GPA and retention in college better than high school GPA/SAT/ACT scores)
20% of youth are actively disengaged and additional 30% are not engaged (show lack of involvement and enthusiasm for school)
About 2/3 of youth are considered to be “thriving”—they think about their present and future life in positive terms.
Overall, the Gallup Poll found that only ¼ of the youth meet the criteria for being hopeful, engaged, and thriving.
So what does this mean for us?
What Does It Mean for Us?What Does It Mean for Us?
More than ever, young people need: Caring Adults in their lives to keep them
ENGAGED Effective Education to give them HOPE Opportunities to Serve to help them
THRIVE
This is what the Alliance works to achieve alongside schools, parents, communities, organizations, and youth themselves.
How does our model work in How does our model work in Communities?Communities? Brooklyn Park & Brooklyn Park &
Brooklyn CenterBrooklyn Center NorthfieldNorthfield WorthingtonWorthington
The Brooklyns: Lunch/in-school tutoring,
afterschool homework help & leadership activities at the Middle School
Mini-Summit recipient; outcomes focused on connecting youth with programs & safe places and in bringing together two neighboring communities
Strong stakeholders in Community Education, Church/Faith-Based Orgs, School, Local bakery/gas station, police department support, youth council
Working on figuring out volunteer & Civic engagement piece
What’s working, continued…What’s working, continued… Worthington
Schools in 4 Districts, Integration Collaborative, Local Businesses, CBOs
Afterschool Programming with lots of youth voice/engagement in the planning and execution of activities (Dance/hip hop group, peer mentoring program, etc)
Focus on career/college access for new immigrants/ELL students
Looking for ways to engage volunteers in ongoing roles, rather than one time events
Northfield Strong collaboration
between school, CBOs, health organizations, mayors council, local colleges
Both MS/HS/Youth Orgs provide wraparound tutoring, afterschool programming, service projects, and summer activities
Over $1 mill in support for mentoring programs has come into the community as a result of their SCP
Still navigating ways to engage law enforcement, business sector
What is the Impact?What is the Impact? Fellows have recruited
over 25,000 youth volunteers who have served over 100,000 hours
And recruited over 15,000 adult volunteers to serve as well
Over the past 10 years, Fellows have served over 145,000 youth & worked in over 150 communities to strengthen school-community partnerships
2/3 of youth in programs facilitated by Fellows improve their academic performance
92% of youth say they feel more connected to their communities as a result of the projects they complete with Fellows and adult mentors
Youth-Adult PartnershipsYouth-Adult Partnerships Groups of youth and adults come together to:
Develop authentic relationships and Identify areas that the partnership wants to strengthen as a group in support of the community, and youth in particular
Work on improving communication in order to avoid duplication of programs and services
Assess the political climate within a community for engaging youth as assets and develop more intentional means of collaborating across programs and organizations
Meet regularly (bi-monthly or quarterly) and provide ongoing financial, human, and programmatic resources (such as access to space, materials, etc) to the work of the Partnership
Youth Advisory CouncilYouth Advisory Council The Youth Advisory CouncilYouth Advisory Council
(YAC) provides youth with a forum to exercise their voice by discussing policy issues while advising the work of the Alliance and its partners. By engaging young people in the work of the Alliance, YAC empowers them to learn, develop and contribute to transform their communities and the state.
Partner organizations select 2-3 youth representatives to participate as part of the council
AmeriCorps Promise AmeriCorps Promise FellowsFellows 70 members serve in schools, community
organizations, and youth development intermediaries for one year
Build the capacity of organizations and leverage community resources to more effectively meet the needs of youth
Funded by the Corporation for National & Community Service and Serve Minnesota
Hosting an AmeriCorps Hosting an AmeriCorps Promise FellowPromise Fellow
Applications available in January (www.mnyouth.net); due in March with notification in late April/early May
Cash Match of $6000 plus in-kind for office space, technology, resources, materials, etc
Must demonstrate a need AND the capacity or willingness to form partnerships with community organizations, government, businesses, faith community, and academic institutions
Expectations for Host SitesExpectations for Host SitesOur Expectations for the Fellow’s Service at School-Community
Partnership Sites: Serve a cohort of 25+ youth who are high risk and/or experiencing the
achievement & civic engagement gaps Provide youth in cohort with some sort of academic and social
support/intervention Connecting 30+ Caring Adults to be tutors, mentors, service project
sponsors, etc for youth in the cohort Engage youth in 20 hours of service, service-learning, and/or civic
engagement & leadership activities Provide assistance and support to additional youth as directed by Host
Site Participate fully in all Alliance-related activities from monthly
meetings, retreats, progress reports, special events such as GYSD, etc.
AmeriCorps ProvisionsAmeriCorps ProvisionsWhat Fellows Can’t Do, according to AmeriCorps Provisions:Promise Fellows may not displace other paid staff of the organization;Promise Fellows may not perform secretarial functions for other staff;Promise Fellows may not lobby politicians or organize voter registration drives;Promise Fellows may not attempt to influence legislation;Promise Fellows may not organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes;Promise Fellows may not assist, promote, or deter union organizing; Promise Fellows may not engage in activities that have connections to religious instruction, religious proselytizing, or maintenance or construction of facilities that serve a religious purpose.These are prohibited activities while Promise Fellows are accruing hours that count towards their living allowance and education award. However, a Promise Fellow can participate in activities of this nature on their own time. For a complete listing of the provisions, visit www.americorps.gov
Alliance ContactAlliance Contact www.mnyouth.net Check us out on our Facebook page and
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