Twenty-five Project and Program teams representing twenty-six Cooperative Extension institutions attended the first Virtual Impact Collaborative Summit on October 13th and 14th. Using technology - including Zoom and virtual whiteboards - participants were connected with tools, resources, coaches, facilitators, and Key Informants in a customized experience designed to catalyze their work.
The Summit kicked off with a thought-provoking keynote by Dr. Scott Reed, Emeritus Vice Provost-University Outreach & Engagement, and an eXtension Catalyst, who spoke about “Legacy and Future: Disruptive Innovation Wins.”
Teams were provided one-on-one coaching by the Impact Collaborative’s network of Innovation Facilitators, including twenty six coaches. Twenty-five Key Informants from across Extension and other external organizations assisted teams on a range of topics, including catalyzation, innovation, program development and evaluation; community partnerships; communications, marketing and digital engagement; diversity, equity, and inclusion; educational technology and instructional design; visualization; and more.
After two days of hard work, teams participated in a showcase, where they presented their project or program to the Summit community and beyond. All teams have been invited to apply for seed funding grants to support their projects. A graphic summary of the projects is included below:
Results
Highlights of the participant feedback evaluation include:
- 93% of participants got what they needed
- 95.3% will recommend the Impact Collaborative Summit to others
- Aspects of the event that were most useful
- Team Time (83.7%)
- Team Coaches (83.7)
- Key Informants (79.1%)
When asked “What did the Impact Collaborative Summit provide that you can’t get anywhere else?”, participants offered the following responses:
- The Collaborative helped us to focus on a clear impact statement and messaging to improve our grant application
- Focused time around a single opportunity with interested colleagues and volunteers; tools specifically designed to hone in on strategies to address issues
- One-stop-shop for personalized feedback and advice from subject matter experts... without having to secure the services of an external consultant
- Fresh perspectives, mentorship, connectivity with peers across the country
- Expert input
- Help!
- Tools and resources to move our project forward to fruition
The next Virtual Impact Collaborative Summit is slated for October 12th and 13th, 2021.
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