RFA: ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams: Resilient Economies and Community Health (REACH)
ELIGIBILITY: Competitive opportunity available to ALL Land-grant universities (LGUs) (1862, 1890, 1994) by completing a simple online application.
The Extension Foundation in partnership with the ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams, is offering two opportunities to apply and be selected to pilot a community development initiative in a community of their choosing. More specifically, successful applicants will have the opportunity to pilot test how Cooperative Extension can catalyze a community-driven initiative to foster entrepreneurship, workforce development, and social determinants of health using a model developed by the Innovation Collective and supported by a corporate partnership. The Innovation Collective is already showing success in Idaho, Florida, and Texas as measured by the number of attendees at community events and start-up businesses formed.
The goal of the pilot is to implement the first year of the 3-year Innovation Collective process to discover its applicability to the work of Cooperative Extension professionals who are catalyzing community health, entrepreneurship and workforce development.
AWARD AMOUNT: There are two opportunities:
Opportunity One:
- $50,000 scholarship for participation in the next cohort of cities implementing the Innovation Collective’s process plus $50,000 to cover an Extension professional’s time in leading the one-year pilot and airfare for participation in one required event (March 2023 – February 2024) No indirect costs are allowed. (Total Value is $100,000)
Opportunity Two:
- $50,000 scholarship for participation in the March cohort for the Innovation Collective program described below. No funding for Extension professional time. (Total Value is $50,000)
SUMMARY: Innovation Collective’s program and support is scholarshipped for the two pilot winners and includes support and resources for both Extension and it’s board/supporters to map, launch, and grow their communities:
- Series of live monthly one-hour cohort online coaching sessions for local leads based on community cadence, covering:
- How to identify your innovation vertical through strengths and ecosystem mapping
- Setting your community up for success
- Building a stakeholder coalition
- Monthly Fireside Chats: including training of proper interview skills, choosing speakers, and then inspiring the community with their local heroes
- Bi-monthly Coffee & Concepts meetups where community members take their big ideas out of their head and work on them together
- Monthly reporting
- Understanding and identifying stages of growth: staffing, capital, and placemaking needs
- How to paint your community’s Picture of Success and Roadmap (three year plan)
- How to secure funding for Level 2
- Access to sequence of on-demand event format and soft skills guides, webinars, and quizzes including:
- Fireside Chats
- Coffee & Concepts
- Local Outreach
- Facilitation
- Securing sponsors
- Securing stakeholder coalition
- Monthly reporting
- Picture of Success development
- Stakeholder management
- Monthly half-hour one-on-one online coaching sessions
- Live one-hour cohort online coaching sessions for local sponsors/funders on:
- Setting your local lead up for success
- Building your stakeholder coalition
- Unlocking real estate 101
- Investment clubs and angel investing 101
- Identifying the case to level up
- Plug and Play rolling member and marketing services so each community has a compelling offering and promotional support:
- Own community webpage on IC website
- Own community channel on IC Eventbrite to list events
- Templates for event marketing collateral
- Own community ICx Facebook group with weekly scheduled posts
- Global monthly Insider email newsletter flagging event cadence, full of inspiration and tips with potential to feature entrepreneurs
- Promotion of community stories on IC social channels
- Opportunity to feature local success stories in national marketing program
- Eight free tickets per annum for community members to any IC Story Summit (travel and accommodation not included)
- ICx and Level 1 event licenses
- Access to tools and templates for local leads to run their communities effectively:
- Access to on-demand content via learning management system with guides, videos, and quizzes
- Access to detailed project management template mapping tasks and timings for all key experiences
- Access to Slack for cohort and IC coaching messaging
- Templates for your local Facebook Page, flyers, EventBrite, and Customized Monthly Insider Newsletter
APPLICATION ACCESS:
Apply for both opportunities by December 8th, 2022, January 6th, 2023, by 11:59 PM PT [https://registry.extension.org/223205016126946]
PDF of Application Questions: Available Here
All Land-Grant Universities are eligible to apply.
Program cohort begins March 1, 2023 – February 28, 2024
For questions, please contact Roger Rennekamp at rogerrennekamp@extension.org
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