Planning Committee

Meeting Notes
November 6, 2003
Hismen Hinnu

In Attendance: Jennie, Fred, Francell, Elena, Deb, Karen, David

Transition from Planning to Implementation

• Changes in the way the initiative is rolling out
• We’re at a critical juncture
• First phase: getting to know each other
• Second phase: planning
• Third phase: implementation
  • Increased level of activity around accountability. Tied to results and indicators
  • More local control—less of a leadership role from foundation. Neighborhood organizations will assume more responsibility. More money going to the neighborhoods but less Casey presence. Need more local ownership
  • Need for increased coordination
  • Not sure current structure will work well with increased expectations around accountability
• Fred reviewed four agenda items
• Resident engagement closely connected to structure
• Pieces don’t feel as connected as they should be

Results & Indicators

• By end of year, need closure to results and indicators
• LLP will develop and then give to planning committee for input
• Lobbying for us to have deeper results for prioritized outcomes, less detail for other outcomes
• David, Jennie, and Francell will work with LLP
• Owusu to send out framework

Resident Engagement

• Opportunity to focus on goals of resident engagement
• Challenge about not being clear where we’re going with this
• Objectives:
  • Select a model of resident engagement
  • Send out bulleted list of resident engagement that’s happening
• Stuff is happening that’s engaging residents but not within Making Connections orbit
• Should have one to two concrete proposals with implementation strategies
• Look at things that people are coming together around. What are opportunities for people to come together around issues
  • Issue areas as a starting point
• TOC gave us a framework. How to implement that approach
• What is pipeline of resident engagement?
• Proposal: What’s the operating principle and function of resident engagement in all aspects of the work. Have to grapple with this control question in each work group
• Objective: Development of operating principles and standards for Making Connections
• Build framework from the ground, get onto the same page
• Look at PAC’s /Town Hall/MCMO
• How can collaborative support community organizing that’s going [on? wd missing], rather than focus on how to bring people into collaborative
• Settle on something and consciously undertake it
• Common definition
• Have a conversation about how this is going to be operationalized—what’s the vehicle for doing it
• Would be helpful to hear from leaders of different projects about what their operating principles are. Hear from those who have an organizational commitment to organizing/resident engagement
• Help with agenda
• Do we want to set concrete goals for our resident engagement work?
• Seems hard for collaborative to make decisions on these things and to embrace them. Need to make hard decisions about what’s most important

Work Plans

• Build work plan for each work group
• Guide the work
• Set priorities in 2004
• Promoting accountability
• Help Casey and other funders make investments
• Deb will develop a template
• Don’t need long, drawn-out process. Leadership of work groups pull together
• Not a formal education work group, but things going on with residents. Making Connections has to embrace something about education
• Make priorities based on levels of resident engagement. If residents aren’t involved, not a priority or work plan focuses on how to engage residents
• Talk to Bill T. about how we resolve unresolved issues post-retreat
• EBALDC— 23rd Avenue
  

Mini-Grants

• Looking at models of mini-grant programs. Public Health has a program. Opportunity to do leadership development
• Very small grants, not meant for organizations
• Explore how this program could be a benefit for the collaborative
• Start in January. Public Health starts their program in January
• What would funding priorities be?
• Need collaborative groups to participate—maybe not one of the currently active groups

Urban Habitat

• Met with David and Jennie to pitch their leadership institute for the LSA. Did it in Richmond, West Oakland, Transit Groups
• Popular education format
• Individual organizations bring residents/members who participate in the training
• At the end work on a campaign
• David proposed focus on Oak to Ninth or Safety on 23rd Avenue
• Jennie would like to see it tied to 23rd Avenue work
• This is a way to increase resident involvement in an area where it’s weak
• Requirement of organizational buy-in and commitment to ongoing work

Resident Engagement Retreat

• Principles and standards
• Pipeline of activities
• Hard decisions
• How do they relate to Bill’s model
• How do we turn activities going on into a pipeline

Assessing What We Have

• How to transform to a pipeline
• How to apply to the work groups
• Principles and standards
• What’s going on that’s not part of the collaborative and where there’s momentum
• Definitions

Framing

• Repeat TOC
  • What falls under resident engagement
  • What’s in play on the ground
  • TOC
  • Review report
• Definition
  • What do we mean by resident engagement
  • What falls within it
• Principles and standards
• Inventory of what we’re doing
• Pipeline of activities
• How to apply to work groups
  • Housing
  • FES
  • Health & Safety
  • 23rd Avenue

Next Steps

[No copy here]

Invitees

• Ada or Vivian
• Brendan Mulholland
• OCO (ask David)