OUR NEWS

Do you want to be part of an organization of social change professionals where scientific rigor, practical solutions and progressive social values come together?

If you do, then consider that Community Science is recruiting for the following positions:

Associate in Research & Capacity Building

We've experienced growth in the past few months so we are recruiting for motivated professionals who can help us take the practice of social change through science and capacity building to a higher level. To apply, please click on a link above.

NPA Has Launched!

Community Science responsible for National Evaluation

On April 8, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services launched a major initiative to end health disparities with the release of two strategic plans: the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity, a product of the National Plan for Action (NPA). The two strategies complement each other: the HHS plan outlines the goals and actions HHS will take to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities and the NPA plan provides a set of goals and actions for public and private sector initiatives and partnerships to help racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved groups reach their full health potential. (see www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/npa).

Community Science is responsible for the national evaluation and is working closely with the Office of Minority Health and other experts to finalize both the evaluation plan for the NPA as well as a plan to build the capacity of community organizations to access and use data.

Recent Presentations by David Chavis, Community Science Principal Associate & CEO

Webinar, sponsored by FSG, June 15: "Focusing on what matters: Engaging stakeholders in developing evaluation questions". David was a panelist on this webinar, discussing the stakeholder engagement process described in "A Practical Guide for Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Evaluation Questions".

Society for Community Research and Action Biennial Meeting 2011, Chicago, Thursday, June 16: David was a panelist on a roundtable discussion of: "How does sense of community and social capital contribute to building communities"?

Saturday, June 18th: David presented a paper "Global Investigations Using the Sense of Community Index-2: Potential and Challenges" as part of a symposium on Advancing Theory and Measurement of Psychological Sense of Community. Dr. Chavis presented findings on recent research which tests a new measure of sense of community - the SCI-2.

Out and About: CS in the Community

Community Science is helping three local non-profit organizations write a proposal to the Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation for a program to support middle school aged youth. Associate Zachary Miller is working on behalf of Community Science on a pro bono basis with Arts on the Block, the YMCA and the Gandhi Brigade to facilitate their meetings, create a logic model and provide expertise on community-based work. Community Science is committed to working with local non-profits to strengthen our community. This pro bono work is in addition to our other charitable activities, such as our Day of Service, and year-end donations to each employee’s favorite charity.

New Employee Spotlight : Julia Lee

Community Science is pleased to welcome Julia Lee as our newest Managing Associate. Prior to joining Community Science, Ms. Lee worked for a non-profit organization in Georgia as a Program Coordinator for the Georgia Asian Pacific Islander Community Coalition and Research Program Director. Her main responsibility was to mobilize various grassroots organizations on issues that affect the immigrant community through various advocacy strategies and capacity building efforts. She will be defending her dissertation in June for a Ph.D. in Community Psychology.

Research & Development at Community Science

Community Science has a 14 year history in the research and development of products and strategies that help develop healthy, just and equitable communities. Our current research and development efforts are focused on three important products:

* JourneyStart - a unique on-line assessment and action tool for health-related and other organizations focusing on an organization's readiness to examine its cross-cultural competency and take action. JourneyStart focuses on an organization’s policies, procedures, and practices and provides advice on how to strengthen the organization’s cross-cultural capacity, not the individuals within the organization.
* ChangeThinkers - an on-line "space" for grantees and others to share ideas and best practices, get help and find resources in order to create a learning community.
* Strength of Community Workshop and Toolkit - an assessment and action kit that builds on our internationally used Sense of Community Index-2 to help funders, government agencies, and community groups learn how strong a community they have and how to strengthen it even further.

Evaluating the Andrus Family Fund's Community Reconciliation Program

Over the past six months, Community Science has been working with the Andrus Family Fund (AFF) to assess its Community Reconciliation Program and develop a theory of change for its future work in this area.

Continue reading to find out more about Community Science’s work in developing a theory of change that AFF board and staff members will use to help analyze applications and provide clearer information to applicants about the strategies and anticipated outcomes AFF supports.

How the MAAX Program is Having a Positive Impact on the Academic Aspirations of Urban Youth

Community Science Senior Associate Dr. LaKeesha Woods is one of the co-authors of an article in the Winter issue of The Community Psychologist entitled "Creating a safe space to learn: The significant role of graduate students in fostering educational engagement and aspirations among urban youth."

Works in Progress

Building Healthy Communities: Capacity for Community Change Assessment- Community Science has been leading the research and development of the instruments and methods to assess the capacity of The California Endowment’s 14 Building Healthy Communities sites in order to benchmark and plan place based capacity building. Community Science’s role is to receive and analyze assessment questionnaires and then report the results in an easy to read and use format.

New Generation Community Change - Community Science is assisting the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) to determine what they and other funders have learned and are experimenting with in order to create community changes that provide opportunities for children and their caregivers. The culmination of this foundation wide learning process will come in January with a retreat where we expect to develop strategic options for future community change work based on evidence from the research and the practical experience of other funders.

New Employee Spotlight - Nyquana Manning

Community Science is pleased to welcome Nyquana Manning as our newest Associate. Nyquana has a Masters in Public Health from the University of Sciences in Philadelphia and joins Community Science from the Maryland Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene where she conducted secondary data analyses of Maryland's medical care programs and data in the Maryland Medicaid Information System. In her spare time, she works as a vision therapist for children in Baltimore.

Community Change Initiatives: Community Science at the Forefront

Community Science has long been recognized for our expertise in the development, implementation and evaluation of comprehensive community and other large systems change initiatives.

Here's a brief overview of our work on three Community Change Initiatives:

Crossroads Charlotte: Community Science is working with The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to learn about the impact of the Foundation’s grant making in Charlotte, North Carolina through a project called Crossroads Charlotte.

Building Healthy Communities: Community Science continues to work with The California Endowment on executing its strategic vision - bringing about community change in order to make measurable differences in improving the health of underserved communities and in creating environments where children are healthy, safe and ready to learn.

Next Generation Community Change: What have we learned about implementing successful CCIs? What works and what doesn't? The Annie E. Casey Foundation has contracted with Community Science to help them plan the next generation of CCIs for the foundation.

Is Your Organization Cross-Culturally Competent?

It's a tough question to answer but a necessary one if your organization is to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. For the past several years, Community Science has been researching this issue as well as working on projects that have focused on evaluating the cross-cultural competency of organizations and other initiatives.

Based on our work, including an extensive literature review, we are in the process of developing an organizational cross-cultural competency assessment, a unique tool that assesses the readiness of organizations to engage in an effort to build its cross-cultural competency and measures the cross-cultural competency of the organizations, not the individuals within the organization.

New Client: Knight Foundation

Community Science is working with the John S. and James L Knight Foundation to document and assess the impact of Crossroads Charlotte, an initiative with the goal of creating an inclusive and equitable community in Charlotte, North Carolina, by building organizational capacity for change and developing the leadership to implement change. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, Community Science's team is examining the impact of the initiative through interviews with key stakeholders and a survey of community leaders.

Introducing Our New Model: Innovating for Social Impact

We're proud to launch a five-point model called Innovating for Social Impact, which enables Community Science to work with organizations where change management is an ongoing process and finding solutions for complex social problems is an urgent mission.

Community Science Announces Two Staff Promotions

We're pleased to announce that Kien Lee, Ph.D., has been promoted to Vice President and Principal Associate. In addition to her ongoing leadership of various projects and services, going forward, Kien will be responsible for managing our network offices and government grants and contracts. Kien is an internationally recognized expert in the evaluation and implementation of immigrant integration, cross cultural competence, community change and leadership diversity programs.

We're also pleased to announce the promotion of LaKeesha Woods, Ph.D., to Senior Associate. With her strong technical management and leadership skills, LaKeesha will lead Community Science’s work on the implementation and evaluation of systems of care improvement initiatives.

In Print: Strategic Factors for Building Community

The Five C's: Community, Connections, Control, Cash, & Collective Action

First published in 2006, this Community Science publication continues to resonate with capacity building practitioners today. The Austin, TX chapter of the Community Associations Institute highlighted the article on the cover of its Q2 journal.

New Employee Spotlight x2!

We're proud to welcome Senior Associate Joy Amulya, Ed.D. and Associate Zachary R. Miller, MPA, to the Community Science team! We look forward to their contributions and impact.

Out And About: CS in the Community

Last month, David Chavis was invited to speak at Collaborations in Early Care and Education:
Establishing a Framework for a Research Agenda, sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation.
The purpose of the meeting was to construct a framework for research and evaluation regarding collaborations in early care and education.

Dr. Chavis was invited to speak at the session entitled Defining and Measuring State-Level Collaboration in recognition of his research and evaluation work in this area.

Principal Associate Ricardo Millett Speaks at the Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute's 2010 Conference

In March, Principal Associate Ricardo Millett delivered the Mary E. Corcoran Endowed Lecture at the Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute 2010 conference, "If Social Betterment Is the Goal, Are Evaluators Leading the Way?" Click below to read what Dr. Millett had to say.

Kien Lee Appointed to Statewide Commission on the Impact of Immigrants

Principal Associate Kien Lee was appointed by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley to be part of a member Commission to Study the Impact of Immigrants in Maryland, including a study of the demographic profile, and the economic and fiscal impacts of immigration. The appointment is recognition of Lee’s work on immigrant integration for Community Science clients throughout the years. Continue to check back for periodic updates on the Commission.

NEW CLIENT: The Partnership for a Drug-Free America

Community Science to evaluate effectiveness of Parents: You Matter! for this nationally known organization

Community Science was recently hired for a 10-month engagement with The Partnership for a Drug-Free America to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Partnership's "Parents: You Matter!" program -- a community education presentation designed to educate parents of 12- to 17-year-olds about adolescent substance abuse, as well as provide tools and resources to prevent it. For more information on this program, click here.

What Does Our Community's Growing Diversity Have To Do With Evaluation?

Like many areas of the country, Colorado's racial and ethnic populations have grown more diverse, particularly through an increase in immigrants and refugees. The Colorado Trust wanted to ensure that its grant making and evaluations continue to evolve to better serve people of myriad cultures. With that goal in mind, they engaged Community Science to help deepen their understanding about what it takes to do a cross-culturally competent evaluation.

Making a Difference: Community Science Pitches in to Help a Local Family

On March 23rd, 13 members of the Community Science team pitched in with Habitat for Humanity to give a local Maryland family a new start -- and a new home.

What's Happening: The Importance of Building and Measuring a Sense of Community

Colorado's Neighborhood Liaison Forum - David Chavis and Joy Amulya discussed the importance of building and measuring a sense of community in Colorado. Dr. Chavis has written about the five strategic factors for building community in this article and for measuring a sense of community here.

For more information about the study of a sense of community, visit senseofcommunity.com

A Murder in Broad Daylight

Greensboro, North Carolina. 1979. Five members of the Communist Workers Party, holding a Death to the Klan rally, are killed in broad daylight.The murders are captured by TV cameras, yet no one is ever convicted of the crime.

Team Players: LaKeesha N. Woods, Ph.D.

As passionate about practice as she is about research, Dr. Woods is focused on cultural influences on the development and functioning of youth and families of color; and culturally congruent preventive interventions for youth placed at risk. Currently serving on the evaluation team for the The Colorado Trust's Equality in Health Initiative and as co-project director for both Nassau County Family Support System of Care, and The Partnership for a Drug-Free America Parents:You Matter!, Dr. Woods' contributions to the team and the community are seen first-hand on a daily basis. Click here for her resume.

Kien Lee shares knowledge on the growing diversity of Montgomery County

Cultural diversity, intergroup relations, and immigrant integration are topics of continuing interest and exploration for Community Science's Kien Lee. She recently participated in a Senior Leadership Montgomery Diversity Day event at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. Her presentation, entitled Deevali, Mooncakes, Eid, Salsa, etc., explored what leaders need to know to lead in a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse community.

Share, Vote, Discuss + Influence

ChangeThinkers.com is a community of social change agents transforming the way ideas are shared -- not just for the causes we represent but for the way we practice and make change happen. We reconnect individuals, nonprofits and other community groups with funders and foundations to share information, from finding volunteers and crafting a great proposal to learning a new method.

Community Science Welcomes Three New Staff

Community Science continues to grow and in the past few months we've added three new people to our staff. Denise L. Baer, Ph.D., joins our staff as a Senior Associate with expertise in performance measurement and management. Zachary R. Miller, MPA, is Community Science's newest Associate bringing professional experiences pursuing social change throughout the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to our staff. And, Pamela T. Robb joins Community Science as our Project Manager responsible for ensuring that client deliverables arre on time, on budget, and are of the highest quality.

Community Science welcomes new Associate Vera Miles

Community Science welcomes new associate Vera Miles

Vera Miles, MA, has recently joined our staff, bringing more than ten years of diverse experience in the mental health field in both clinical and analytical capacities. She has conducted clinical assessments, provided crisis intervention counseling and therapy, and conducted mental health intakes. On the analysis side, she implements evaluation procedures, maintains information management systems, and provides technical support. She is experienced at collecting and analyzing data for evaluations, ensuring quality and consistency of data.

David Chavis to present at the AEA Conference

Community Science's David Chavis will address ways to make a large scale impact on complex social problems in communities, when he presents at a session called Community as Context: Evaluation of Comprehensive Community Initiatives, at November's American Evaluation Association (AEA) conference.

Boosting the Impact of a Foundation

Community Science helps measure progress

How does the work of Community Science directly impact a foundation's efforts to help its grantees? We talked to Jane Mosley, PhD, Program Officer for The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (HCF), which works to eliminate barriers to quality health care for uninsured and underserved in its service area.

The Change Agent: What particular obstacles does HCF face in working with grantees?

Jane Mosley: One of our key issues, a key obstacle, is in our ability to report on what the grantees are doing. Grantees are great at providing services, but collecting data and information to actually quantify their impact - that's a challenge for them. That's a need for them and not just for us.

To find out how Community Science is helping HCF overcome data reporting challenges, click below to read the full Q&A with Jane Mosley.

Community Science Principals Participate in National Health Disparities Plan Consensus Meeting

In 2006, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) sponsored the inaugural National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health. A direct outcome of the Summit was the formation of the National Partnership for Action (NPA) to end health disparities for minority populations. OMH asked Community Science principals to participate in a consensus meeting to advance the NPA's first national health disparities plan, with David Chavis serving on the Evaluation Advisory Group and Kien Lee on the Implementation Planning Group.

Special ASDC Report:

The Importance of Culture in Evaluation
A Practical Guide for Evaluators
Cross Cultural Guide

The Importance of Culture in Evaluation, a publication funded by The Colorado Trust, provides examples of where cross-cultural competency is critical in evaluation. While not intended to be the definitive answer to all questions about cross-culturally competent evaluation, it provides a good start in recommending questions and strategies that an evaluator should consider when practicing this form of competency.

Currency through Diversity

Foundations that believe in a just and equitable society must do more to address diversity and equality issues -- or risk failing in their missions.

Community Science's Dr. Ricardo A. Millett recently prepared a case study for Diversity in Philanthropy, a group committed to increasing field-wide diversity through open dialogue and strategic action to increase effectiveness and impact.

A New Model to Fight Childhood Obesity

Among the more challenging issues facing our poorest communities is childhood obesity. Marginalized communities face formidable barriers to healthy dietary habits and lifestyles including access to healthy foods and to recreational spaces for exercise.

Community Science has just completed an evaluation of a public education campaign intended to combat childhood obesity.

In The Community

Community Science's Kien Lee has been selected to the Leadership Montgomery Class of 2010. Leadership Montgomery identifies a diverse spectrum of leaders in the community and provides a forum for them to address issues and effect positive civic change.

Torn From Home: My Life as a Refugee

Most children cannot imagine being forced from their homes. Today, more than 30 million people around the world have been displaced due to war and violence. Of those, nearly 10 million are children. Torn From Home: My Life as a Refugee is an exhibit that takes young audiences on an inspiring, hands-on journey into the lives of refugee children.

Enlisting a Community to Fight Childhood Obesity

Being black and poor in Washington D.C.'s Ward 8 increases the probability of obesity, particularly in young people. A 2008 Rand health study found that 71.2% of Ward 8 residents were overweight or obese, the highest rate of any Ward in the city. A survey of teens and adults conducted by the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation revealed that awareness of obesity as a health issue in the Ward is very low. The Ward also gets the lowest marks in the city for access to grocery stores, availability of community gardens and little organized community effort to educate residents to consider healthier lifestyles.

How can evaluation improve community and other systems change initiatives?

At last November's American Evaluation Association (AEA) meeting, Community Science's David Chavis participated in an invited session on the evaluation of community change initiatives (CCI’s) within their context. He reported on a Community Science study that reviewed 11 CCI’s to identify factors related to scale, scope and sustainability. He also addressed the changing landscape of evaluation. A post-session discussion sheds light on how the work of community change will evolve in 2010 and beyond.

Culturally Competent Capacity Builders: What will it take?

How are changing demographics and growing diversity affecting the nonprofit workforce? The task of helping nonprofit leaders manage diversity and, subsequently, improve their ability to comply with antidiscrimination laws, leverage differences, and practice inclusivity, requires the expertise of professionals or capacity builders, trained to help nonprofit leaders understand how diversity can lead to effectiveness.

In the Community... Excel Beyond the Bell

Supporting children and keeping them safe and engaged in a variety of out-of-school settings are goals of Excel Beyond the Bell, a partnership program in Maryland established by the Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families.

No Wrong Door

Addressing the Spectrum of Needs for Youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance Helping children with serious emotional disturbances and their families requires an integrated, innovative approach to care and services. To that end, Nassau County, NY, is establishing the No Wrong Door Family Support System of Care (NWD-FSS) providing a single point of access to care for children and youth with serious emotional disturbance and their families. The program, modeled after Nassau's unique program of health and human services delivery known as No Wrong Door, represents a shift from top down medical models to a more collaborative team strategy. No Wrong Door offers a family-driven, youth-guided empowerment approach. Three accessible Family Resource Centers will offer a convenient gateway to multiple services, developed in targeted, high-needs communities.

Also In the Community... A Renewal of Support for New Americans in Maryland

In December, 2008, Governor Martin O'Malley signed an executive order to create the Maryland Council for New Americans. The council aims to help integrate new immigrants into Maryland's workforce and civic life.

Special ASDC Report

The Five C’s
Strategic Factors for Building Community

Have you ever wondered what would have the greatest and broadest impact on the well being of individuals, families, and communities? This brief report describes the strategic factors for stimulating community-wide health and well-being. It illustrates how each of the Five C’s - Community, Connections, Control, Cash and Collective Action - can be put together to develop an effective, broad-reaching, and sustainable community development strategy.

The Five Cs

Kien Lee, Ph.D., Community Science Principal Associate, to speak on civic engagement of immigrant seniors

The Temple University Center for Intergenerational Learning is facilitating a national conversation on the civic engagement of older immigrants and refugees. We are convening practitioners and policy makers in the fields of immigration, civic engagement and aging to discuss the findings and implications of a new report entitled, Community Treasures: Recognizing the Contributions of Older Immigrants and Refugees.

For more information, click here