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The National Public Housing Museum Youth Advisory Council Action Plan Fall 2014 Alanna Heyer Avra Mouzakis Enkhmend Gereltogtokh Jordan Porto

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Page 1: NPHM Deliverable

The National Public Housing Museum

Youth Advisory Council Action Plan Fall 2014

Alanna Heyer

Avra Mouzakis

Enkhmend Gereltogtokh

Jordan Porto

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………1

Background……………………………………………………………………………….2 National Public Housing Museum Youth Advisory Council

Problem Definition……………………………………………………………………….3 Problem & Hypothesis Scope

Youth Engagement……………………………………………………………………….5 Best Practices of Youth Programs Implementation Recommendations

Community Engagement……………………………………………………………...….8 Strengthening Community Engagement University Partnerships – Best Practices & Justification Current University Partnerships & Joint Programming Future Partnership Opportunities When to Engage with Universities Benefits to Strengthening University Partnerships

Timeline of Implementation……………………………………………………………16

Grants……………………………………………………………………………………18

Concluding Remarks…………………………………………………………………....21

Works Cited…………………………………………………………………….……….22

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

From its inception in the 1990s as an idea generated by Chicago Housing Authority

community leaders, to its incorporation as a 501(c)(3) in 2007, to undergoing its current

preparations to move into a physical site, the NPHM has never been a conventional social

history museum. Achieving the highest ideals of the museum would involve providing

valuable contributions to public dialogues surrounding public housing, integrating museum

programming into communities of public housing residents, and providing quality exhibits

that successfully communicate the American experience in public housing.

In the service of a strategic pursuit of these ideals, we have crafted an Action Plan for the

NPHM’s Youth Advisory Council. The Action Plan draws extensively on best practices

research, and features feasible recommendations given the NPHM’s resource and capacity

constraints.

The Action Plan will feature a two-pronged approach, emphasizing engagement with public

housing youth, and engagement with the broader public housing community. Both areas of

focus will contain a set of specific recommendations, some of which are guided by analysis

carried out by our team, some of which will be contingent upon future actions carried out by

the NPHM.

Throughout the process of crafting an Action Plan, our team has sought to strike the right

balance between specific, feasible recommendations in the short term and broader,

conceptual goals that the NPHM can integrate into its long term mission. The ultimate goal is

to present a Plan that can act as a strategic backdrop for the NPHM as it moves forward. This

plan will prioritize the role of the YAC within the NPHM, allowing the museum team to

make better decisions about which resources to pursue and how to allocate them, all while

articulating a clearer vision of what success looks like the YAC.

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BACKGROUND

National Public Housing Museum The National Public Housing Museum (NPHM) is the nation's first cultural institution

devoted to interpreting the American experience in public housing. The culmination of

nearly a decade of planning and discussion by Chicago Housing Authority resident leaders,

civic leaders, historians, and other stakeholders, the institution was incorporated in

December 2007 as a 501(c)3, aiming to preserve and transform the only remaining building

of the historic Jane Addams Homes on the Near West Side. Located at 1322-24 West Taylor

Street, the three-story brick building opened in 1938 as the first federal government housing

project in Chicago. During its more than six decades of operation, it housed hundreds of

families of diverse backgrounds, providing pioneering social services and security that were

unprecedented in the American urban experience.

The institution expects to reopen the doors of the Jane Addams building in the summer of

2015. This initial phase will consist of a series of restored apartments corresponding to

different periods in the history of the building, providing a compelling, authentic context

within which the lives of public housing residents and the effect of public policies can be

understood. The second and final phase is projected to open in 2016, providing more than

5000 square feet in space for exhibitions, youth programming, community gatherings,

research facilities, and administrative offices.

Youth Advisory Council

The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a hallmark NPHM program founded with the museum

in 2007. At the time of its founding, it had 60 members recruited through connections to the

NPHM board. Presently, it has 10 members between 15-21 years old recruited through an

application process. The existing program structure for the YAC differs slightly depending on

the season. During the summer the council meets twice a month and focuses around a large,

youth-led project. Namely, this has culminated in an ongoing documentary on violence

crafted through student-gathered testimonials and footage. During the school year, YAC

members meet once a month on Saturdays and are receive mentorship on job, college, and

scholarship applications. There are yearly trips to sites of professional, historical, or cultural

significance to help further the YAC members’ education and expose them to potential

opportunities. This year, YAC and staff members visited Detroit, Michigan. Previous

excursions have brought the YAC members to Kentucky, Indiana, the South and the East

Coast. Due to the potential for board involvement, the NPHM’s Programs and Development

Associate’s expertise, and expressed interest from the current YAC members, youth

programming in 2015 and beyond will be focusing on exposing members to further arts and

culture opportunities.

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PROBLEM DEFINITION

Problem & Hypothesis With a new Executive Director arriving in January 2015, NPHM finds itself in the midst of a

transition. Established under the first Executive Director, Keith L. Magee, the YAC remains a

vital part of the institution, but its significance and future within the institution are

increasingly unclear.

Problem How can the Youth Advisory Council be reframed to better reflect the

overall vision of NPHM?

Hypothesis By creating an Action Plan for the Youth Advisory Council, it can better

reflect the vision of NPHM.

In delineating an Action Plan for the YAC centered on youth and community engagement,

we aim to ensure the longevity and essentiality of the program within the organization.

Figure 1: YAC Action Plan Framework

Scope

Our scope has steadily evolved since the beginning of the quarter. When we began

examining our work plan we found four broad areas of interest: developing a marketing and

communications plan, impact metrics and performance measurement, creating a

development plan for funders, and youth engagement.

After carefully analyzing these four subjects groups, we determined that youth engagement

would be the most effective way to target the interest areas as a whole. Youth programming

is attractive to funders; it can be used as a platform from which to derive impact metrics, and

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ultimately can be shared on social media and on the NPHM’s website to help generate

interest in the museum’s work.

Throughout our work with the NPHM, we saw the YAC repeatedly come up as an avenue

with a great deal of potential to engage youth and the community in the dialogue of public

housing. Through the following areas of our scope, we created an action plan that prioritizes

the YAC within the NPHM and provided a suggested timeline for the implementation of

new programming:

• Review of 2013-2014 grants

• Examination of best practices for youth programming

• Research on potential partnerships

• Examine community engagement potential

• Strategic clarification of YAC goals

We feel leveraging this research to develop the YAC further as a keystone museum program

will address the NPHM’s primary goals of storytelling, improved funding, and youth

programming as a whole.

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YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

The second aspect of the Action Plan is Community Engagement. This portion of the plan

entails synthesizing the YAC’s goal of providing quality youth programming with the

museum’s founding commitment to engage with public housing communities. Throughout,

we will present cost-effective strategies that recognize the importance of engaging with

stakeholder communities, and prioritize the communication of stories of public housing

residents. By forming strategic partnerships, the YAC will be able to expand the capacity and

quality of programming for its participants, and strengthen its connection with youth, their

families, and broader public-housing communities.

Best Practices of Youth Programs There are three primary aspects that effective youth programs have in common. The first is

that they have participants work on specific actionable goals and products, concrete and

tangible results that the youth can be proud of. Secondly, the effective youth programs have

a system of rewarding and celebrating their participants’ hard work. This often comes in the

form of an end-of-program graduation ceremony, an art exhibition, a poetry reading or

another type of ceremony showcasing their work. Lastly, retaining the interest and loyalty of

the youth in the programs is tied to how valued they see their opinion is in the growth of the

program. At the end of a program cycle, effective youth programs bring their participants to

the table in discussions of evaluating their experience in the program, areas of improvement,

and new directions the program could take (Downs, 2008).

Tangible products and goals are extremely important to a youth program, and are closely tied

with the youth having a sense of commitment to the project. The primary drivers of

commitment and development of responsible participants are that the youth ownership of

their commitment to the organization, the programs follow an “a priori structure” where

deadlines and role demands are very clearly defined, and meeting said demands is the norm,

and not meeting them has direct consequences (Wood, 2009). Furthermore, program leaders

play a very important role in facilitating youth development. In addition to setting the

expectation of the program and making sure they are met, they also serve as a source of

balance within the program. (Larson 2006) They regularly keep in touch with participants to

hear their concerns and frustrations, usually resulting from inflated expectations at the

beginning of the program, and help them get accustomed to more adult levels of

responsibility.

The terms under which youth accept to adhere to the demands of a project, whether that is

attendance, deadlines, etc. follow three themes. Youth feel dedicated to programs where they

feel they are carrying out a commitment, they anticipate there will be consequences for

others, or anticipate there will be consequences for themselves. (Wood 2009) In most cases,

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youth felt they were carrying out a commitment when they saw the program as a job. Often

these youth came into the programs with an intention to follow through on their

commitment, but upon being given more challenging roles and obligations saw a deepened

commitment to the project. It is important to note that the intention to follow through on a

project came with the understanding a goal and timeline for that project. Motivation to

adhere to demands based on anticipating repercussions for others is dependent on feeling a

sense of community with the other participants (Wood 2009). That in turn is associated with

a focus on group endeavors, namely productions, plays, murals, etc. where each participant

had ownership of a vital piece of the project.

Implementation Recommendations

For the arts workshops in 2015, we know there is a playwright board member who has

expressed interest in conducting a workshop for youth. Beginning the workshop cycle with

her would allow for time to search for other workshop leader for the summer and fall cycles.

We believe the ongoing documentary project would also be an excellent project for a

summer workshop.

Based on best practices research, we recommend that the third workshop be on mural

painting. Mural painting serves the three main aspects of a successful youth program. It is a

showcase piece with a concrete result for the youth to feel ownership over, and is a launch

point for evaluation by the participants for future programs. Most importantly it is a great

way to enter the dialogue on public housing and ties very closely to the story-telling aspect

of the NPHM’s mission. The group project aspect of the mural painting could also inspire

increased investment in participation by the youth because their would see their role as vital

to the success of their peers as well.

The arts workshops of 2016 should be informed by the feedback and evaluations and given

by the youth who participated in the 2015 cycle.

We have crafted a chart comparing docent programs from several museums. Based on those

we would recommend a six-month docent program whose training completion would

coincide with the opening of the museum in the summer of 2015 and continue on an annual

cycle. Ideally graduates of the docent program would return to help train future cohorts.

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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The second aspect of the Action Plan is Community Engagement. This portion of the plan

entails synthesizing the YAC’s goal of providing quality youth programming with the

museum’s founding commitment to engage with public housing communities. Throughout,

we will present cost-effective strategies that recognize the importance of engaging with

stakeholder communities, and prioritize the communication of stories of public housing

residents. By forming strategic partnerships, the YAC will be able to expand the capacity and

quality of programming for its participants, and strengthen its connection with youth, their

families, and broader public-housing communities.

Strengthening Community Engagement & Best Practices

The NPHM’s mission to tell the stories of the American public housing experience

necessitates strong community engagement and interaction. The NPHM already puts

significant effort into collecting and telling the stories of public housing residents. We

believe that these efforts would be greatly supplemented by expanding opportunities for

community engagement via YAC

.

Focusing on engaging communities through the YAC would allow the NPHM to enhance the

quality and diversity of stories of the American public housing experience. This can be

accomplished in particular by involving families more directly with the YAC, and creating

bridges between the youth and the greater community. Museums can function as important

community institutions when they connect youth, families, and other community members

in meaningful ways (IMLS). The youth represent the next generation of stories to tell, and as

a part of our families, communities, and our future, we recommend that the NPHM focus on

initiating direct family programming within the YAC in order to strengthen connections

between youth and the greater community.

We recommend that these initiatives take the form of Family Night with the YAC or

Parent Orientation meetings in which the parents of the youth feel especially engaged

with the YAC.

We recommend that these programs be held three times a year to reflect seasonal

changes in YAC programming: once at the start of the school year, after the students

return from winter break, and at the start of the summer.

We believe this would supplement the existing dialogue surrounding the YAC and

would ultimately further the NPHM’s mission of telling the story of the American

public housing experience.

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In addition to furthering the dialogue surrounding the story of public housing, focusing on

broader family engagement by way of the YAC has the potential to increase awareness of

YAC initiatives, leading to higher visibility for the NPHM as a whole, and potentially to

funding opportunities for youth programming sustainability. According to a best practices

report released by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, “Youth programs are most

likely to be sustainable if they build community awareness of the project’s impact on the

participants and community.” Furthermore, by engaging with the youths’ families, the

NPHM has the potential to inspire in the youth an increased sense of ownership and

belonging regarding the YAC and the NPHM overall. This strategy of engagement not only

points to increased program growth and sustainability, but additionally furthers the NPHM’s

mission to emphasize the importance of place and belonging. On a personal level, engaging

families to a greater degree has the potential beneficial effect of increasing the sense of

belonging that the youth feel towards YAC programming.

Additional benefits to increasing engagement with families include a diversification and

expansion of the quality of the youth experience as well as increased program attractiveness

to funders. According to a best practices program released by SEARCH the “Involvement of

family and community members provides reform efforts with the moral authority and

personal relationships that powerfully motivate students to thrive and succeed.” Focusing on

family engagement will not only further spread awareness of the NPHM and YAC initiatives,

but will also strengthen the quality of the programming that both the NPHM and YAC

currently provide. A fundamental aspect of the YAC’s programming includes preparing

youth for college as well as the workforce, and by strengthening family engagement,

especially as a means to strengthen overall community engagement, the NPHM will be able

to improve upon their commitment teaching youth valuable skills and to preparing youth for

success beyond the YAC. Further engaging families will not only enhance community buy-in

to the organization, but will strengthen funder buy-in (SEARCH Institute). Hence, by

involving multiple layers of the community in its programming the NPHM will be able to

reach a larger and more diverse array of community members, while also making the

organization as a whole more attractive to funders.

University Partnerships: Best Practices & Justification At this stage in the NPHM’s growth as an institution, there is much to be gained in working

with other organizations towards a common goal. The Compassion Capital Fund National

Resource Center’s report “Strengthening Nonprofits: A Capacity Builder’s Resource Library”

defines such a partnership as “A collaborative relationship between entities to work toward

shared objectives through a mutually agreed division of labor”, emphasizing that this type of

relationship benefits both parties when a common goal is clearly defined and resources are

efficiently allocated. Keeping these factors in mind, we recommend that the NPHM engage

in cross-sector partnerships with local Universities including, but not limited to, Loyola

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University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, Northwestern University, and the

University of Chicago. We see this type of partnerships as strategic alliances in which both

parties are able to find a common ground or purpose that they are strongly committed to. In

the following discussion of best practices for such a partnership between the NPHM and

local universities, we plan to emphasize the importance of sharing decision-making power,

pursuing joint-programming while simultaneously allowing each entity in the partnership to

operate independently, and ultimately establishing programming that is of mutual relevance

to the participating organizations’ missions (Capacity Builder’s Resource Library)

In order to establish a strong foundation for a strategic alliance between the NPHM

and local universities, it is absolutely paramount that parameters of the partnership are

defined early on in the process. We recommend the creation of a memorandum of

understanding that clearly and concisely defines the goals, expectations, and duties involved

in the collaboration. This will not only cement the commitment of each group to a common

goal, but will serve to cultivate a more sustainable partnership. Entering the partnership with

this framework should lead to an “improved coordination of policies, programs, service

delivery, and, ultimately, better outcomes” by ensuring that both parties are on the same

page and additionally, can be held accountable to the expectations set from the very

beginning of the partnership. Additionally, it is essential that both the NPHM and the

universities that they may choose to engage with understand their collaboration very much

as a balance of power. Such a partnership acknowledges and affirms the autonomy of and

distinct roles for each partner. This initial framework of clearly laying out goals,

expectations, and duties for both organizations will ultimately allow for a clear roadmap

moving forward that ensures both parties will pursue jointly agreed upon aims and

objectives. (Hanover, 2012)

Once a jointly-defined and clearly laid out memorandum of understanding is set, the

following three steps we recommend that the NPHM take in conjunction with the

Universities that they may choose to partner with are as follows: divide resources, build a

long-term decision-making process, and establish a regular means of evaluating the

partnership. The first aspect of this process, dividing resources, involves assessing and

cultivating an awareness of the resources each organization brings to the table, establishing

an appropriate balance of power and participation based upon what each organization has to

offer, and focusing primarily upon the process and outcomes as opposed to the structure and

inputs. Once the two parties divide resources in such a manner that strikes the most

beneficial balance of power, the organizations turn to the decision-making process. One of

the most fundamental aspects of this process involve building trust between partners,

encouraging an ongoing spirit of cooperation, and ultimately pursuing an “Ongoing priority

to listen to each need, develop a common language, and validate and clarify the mean of

terms.” In order for the two organizations to make effective and beneficial long-term

decisions, cooperating throughout the decision-making process is fundamental. Lastly, it is

paramount that the organizations in the partnership evaluate their relationship at regularly

scheduled intervals as well as clarify each partner’s role in monitoring performance

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(Hanover, 2012). In order to better connect and solidify relationships between universities

and nonprofits, the organizations need to connect through commonalities, encourage

reciprocal assessment, and seek to blur boundaries between campus and community to truly

take advantage of their strategic partnerships (Carpenter). Hanover’s report summarizes the

possibilities behind nonprofit-university partnerships by explaining, “Bringing together the

wisdom and lived expertise of community members with the theoretical and research

oriented expertise of academics, community-higher education partnerships have great

potential as agents of social change.” (Hanover, 2012)

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Current University Partnerships & Joint Programming

Up to this point in time the NPHM has run a number of successful programs with local

universities. These diverse programs have featured a wide range of topics, university

partners, and have allowed the NPHM to get their foot in the door, so to speak, by furthering

the dialogue surrounding the importance of preserving and telling the story of public

housing in Chicago. The programs that have been run in the past several years in

conjunction with local Chicago Universities include the “Architecture for Change Summit”

which was held at multiple sites including the University of Illinois in 2010; the UIC forum

“CHA Operation Warm: Impact Beyond Warmth Dialogue” which was held in 2010; the

2012 “So Rich, So Poor” Lecture run in conjunction with Chicago State University and

Northwestern University School of Law; and most recently, a talk held at the University of

Chicago by Ta-Nehisi Coates: “The Case for Reparations.” It is evident that the NPHM is

committed to engaging the larger Chicago community in the story of public housing,

particularly through University partnerships. This type of burgeoning relationship between

Universities and nonprofits can be further strengthened by cultivating a partnership with

universities at the youth programming and engagement level. This type of relationship is an

incredibly beneficial means of strengthening community engagement, and constitutes a low

costs means of diversifying and growing non-profit youth program.

Future Partnership Opportunities

There are a multitude of diverse programming opportunities presently available at various

local Universities in which those organizations partner with nonprofits to engage in service

learning programs, research initiatives, and intensive capstone projects. The NPHM has

already begun to tap into this goldmine of resources by partnering with local universities to

host lecture series as well as summits. We recommend that the NPHM take on the exciting

and enormously beneficial opportunity to strengthen their present relationships with these

local universities by specifically targeting programs that can be used to diversify and grow

their youth programming initiatives, with a particular focus on the YAC and the workshops

that the museum plans to offer and expand upon in the upcoming years.

The first of these programs that we recommend that the NPHM strengthen its current

relationship with is the Engaged Learning Requirement of Loyola University’s Core

Curriculum. Currently, the NPHM is engaged with this department at Loyola University via

an internship program in the department of history. Students can earn three course credit

hours while gaining valuable professional experience as an intern in public and private

institutions engaged in history-related projects. In this capacity, interns have worked with

staff at the NPHM on research related to the museum’s focus in documenting the history of

public housing in Chicago and understanding the impact of public housing on residents and

communities from the past through the present. We believe that, due to this partnership that

currently exists between Loyola University and NPHM, it is feasible and would be

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enormously beneficial for the NPHM to diversify and grow its partnership with Loyola

University to include internships in which University students work directly with the YAC

as well as with youth programming workshops. The criteria that must be fulfilled as part of

the engaged learning requirement at Loyola, which includes 20+ hours of service, a clearly

articulated connection between the learning objectives of the course and the service

experiences, and activities and assignments which encourage students to reflect on larger

community issues and social structures, would be easily met by an internship offered through

the engaged learning program that allowed students to work with the YAC and other youth

programs at the NPHM. This would constitute an incredibly low-cost means by which the

NPHM could strengthen community engagement while simultaneously diversifying and

growing its youth programming (Service Learning).

Another program that has potential to help the NPHM strengthen its community

engagement and to further its mission of telling the story of public housing is the Great Cities

Program at the University of Chicago at Illinois (UIC). This initiative began in 1933 and

involves hundreds of committed faculty, students, and staff from every UIC college. These

individuals partner with government organizations, corporations, and the community to

focus on common urban concerns - such as healthcare, education, affordable housing,

economic development and transportation. The goal of the Great Cities Program is to support

commitment in urban research, so as to improve the quality of life in Chicago and various

other cities around the world (Great Cities Institute). This program would not necessarily be

as directly targeted towards youth programming as the Engaged Learning Requirement at

Loyola has the potential to be, but engaging with this program in a partnership has the

potential to provide the NPHM with a research based opportunity to expand the

proliferation of the stories of public housing.

The third university that we recommend the NPHM partner with is Northwestern

University. The Center for Civic Engagement at Northwestern offers two programs that we

believe would provide fantastic resources and volunteers to the YAC and general youth

programming at the NPHM. The first of these programs is Engage Chicago, which is an eight

week-long summer program in which students work full-time at a nonprofit organization

(Engage Chicago). The second program is the Civic Engagement Certificate Program, a two

year program that provides students with five credits of coursework, and requires that

students engage in one hundred hours of direct service. Furthermore, this certificate program

culminates in a capstone project in which students work directly with a local community

organization (Civic Engagement Certificate). Both of these programs have the potential to

provide the NPHM with a low-cost means to strengthening and growing the diversity of

youth programming.

The fourth and final university program that we believe will offer another opportunity for

the NPHM to grow the resources available to the YAC and youth programming is the

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Summer Links program at the University of Chicago. NPHM has engaged with the Chicago

Studies Program of the University of Chicago Community Service Center in the past

alongside the Chicago Housing Authority in a project centered on the Vivian Carter

Apartments. In this project students interviewed residents from the Vivian Carter

Apartments and transcribed their stories. These stories were incorporated into an exhibit “Up

from the Roots” to debut in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation

Proclamation. We believe that the NPHM can build upon this existing relationship with the

University of Chicago by engaging in Summer Links. This program was launched in 1997 and

is an intensive ten-week program for returning undergraduate students at the University of

Chicago committed to public service, community-building, and social change. Furthermore,

past internships through Summer Links have been conducted with CHA, which has often

partnered with the NPHM (Summer Links). This program is similar to Engage Chicago at

Northwestern University, and similarly would provide an incredible, low-cost resource for

diversifying and strengthening the YAC as well as the overall experience of the youth

involved with the NPHM.

When to Engage with Universities We recommend that the NPHM reach out to, connect, and strengthen relationships with

these universities as soon as is feasible in order to implement low-cost and effective ways of

diversifying, growing, and strengthening the YAC. The students, instructors, and programs

that these universities feature would constitute fantastic resources for supplementing the

current youth programs, and for supporting the projected goal of offering an increased

number of workshops, particularly in the next two years.

To offer a more specific timeframe, we recommend that the NPHM begin cultivating

relationships with these University programs as soon as is feasible with the goal of engaging

with the programs that are available during the academic year beginning during the 2015-

2016 academic year and with the summer programs beginning during summer 2016

Benefits to Strengthening University Partnerships There are a multitude of benefits to engaging with local University programs. If the NPHM

engaged with each one of the programs detailed previously, they would receive an annual

800+ hours of service work, youth programming, research, etc. Not only do these programs

constitute a goldmine of low-cost resources, providing instructors, field experts, research,

and youth programming, but partnering with these organizations also allows the NPHM to

gain access to more substantive partnerships in the future. As the NPHM grows, it is crucial

to lay the foundations for strategic partnerships down the road, which could lead to greater

access to sponsorship for the YAC field trips, funding for other youth programming, or

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funding for other aspects of the museum. Furthermore, these programs would ultimately

constitute more than temporary partnerships and engagement. Both the prospect of long-

term capstone projects and utilizing these partnerships to get a foot in the door regarding the

NPHM’s relationship with local universities would serve to establish long-term, sustainable

relationships that would solidify the YAC.

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TIMELINE OF IMPLEMENTATION

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GRANTS

Institutional grants are extremely important to the NPHM. During the 2014 fiscal year,

grants comprised 64.3% of the institution’s revenue, or $364,000 out of a total budget of

$474,900, as noted in an income statement dated August 21st, 2014. This amount was sourced

from 8 foundations, with the Ford Foundation providing nearly a third.

In pursuing the outlined Action Plan, NPHM can increase its eligibility and strengthen its

case for an immensely large pool of funding. According to the Foundation Center 2014

report “Key Factors on US Foundations”, about 20% of grants or $4.4 billion were focused on

children and youth, and about 31% or $6.8 billion were focused on the economically

disadvantaged. Locally, in Illinois, of the grant dollars awarded in the state, about 30%

benefit children and youth and about 35% benefit the economically disadvantaged, as noted

in the Foundation Center 2014 report “Giving in Illinois”. The work of the YAC fits into

both of these broad categories, which together represent a considerable amount of funding to

be accessed.

Figure 4.1: Breakdown of Foundation Giving in the US by Population Group

Source: Key Facts on US Foundations, 2014

Figure 4.2: Breakdown of Foundation Giving in Illinois by Population Group

Source: Giving in Illinois, 2014

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As of 2014, NPHM has yet to focus its funding appeals on youth-centric grants. An

examination of fourteen of NPHM’s funding proposals from the last two years reveals that

seven outlined the youth outreach work of the institution, and only three focused on YAC

activities. In other words, only a fifth of the proposals were youth-focused. This proportion is

far too low, given the considerable amount of money allocated not only for YAC activities,

but also to pay staff for overseeing these activities. Interestingly, of the three youth-focused

grants, two were funded. Although this success rate would likely decrease with greater

sample size, this suggests that the NPHM provides at least a slightly compelling case via the

YAC.

Figure 5: Youth in the NPHM’s Grant Proposals from 2013-2014

By following the recommendations outlined in this paper and strengthening its standing for

youth-related grants, the NPHM has the opportunity to cultivate connections among

institutional donors. The organization should ultimately view youth-focused grants as a

means of introducing its mission and its work to a broad range of donors. The grant proposals

do not need to be successful; they have sufficient value as tools to spread the name of the

NPHM. This may seem dubious, but receiving grants is dubious by nature, as it requires one

to actively cultivate relationships with foundation staff. Proposals to the Ford Foundation

and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, for example, were funded in part due to the

personal connections of NPHM staff and board members. By introducing itself and

cultivating connections with the staff of donors, the NPHM instantly becomes a prospective

candidate for various other types of funding, including credit lines and unrestricted operating

grants. Moreover, these personal connections replace the ones NPHM will certainly lose.

Personal connections are extremely ephemeral, dependent on the continued presence of the

same employees in both the donor and the NPHM, an unlikely scenario in this day and age.

The NPHM knows well the perils of a reliance on a static group of connections after the

7/14 mention youth

3/7 are youth-focused

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recent departure of its contacts at the Ford Foundation and the Driehaus Foundation, which

results in reduced insight and guidance from the donors, thereby reducing its likelihood of

receiving future grants. To this end, backing up connections with a reputation for quality

youth programming and a diversity of funding sources can increase the NPHM’s resilience to

changes in funder relationships.

Moving forward, potential sources of youth-focused grants include The Annie E. Casey

Foundation, the Polk Bros Foundation, and the City of Chicago. The two former

organizations focus primarily on youth development, and the NPHM does have an existing

relationship with the Polk Bros Foundation, having received a grant in 2008 for $10,000 on

an oral history project. The City of Chicago has also recently revamped its DCASE CityArts

program, and one of its funding categories is centered on providing underserved youth

exposure to Chicago’s arts. The application deadline is January 14, 2015 at 5pm CST.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

In the immediate future, the NPHM will be integrating a new executive director into their

team, navigating the process of finding new sources of funding, and overseeing a physical

move into its new site at the historic Jane Addams Homes. In the midst of these substantial

changes within the organization, we see the Youth Advisory Council as one of the museum’s

greatest potential assets in its mission to tell the stories of America’s public housing residents

and to better engage with communities of public housing residents.

We strongly believe that the strategic clarification of various aspects of YAC structure and

initiatives will help the NPHM provide the best youth programming possible. While many of

the recommendations addressed in the Action Plan are formulated around resources and

capacity that the NPHM already has in place, we recognize that carrying out the Plan

comprehensively is no small feat for a growing organization. However, centralizing the role

of the YAC within the NPHM, as laid out by the Action Plan, is an excellent way to address

not only issues of youth and community engagement, but of the museum’s long-term mission

and foundational ideals.

Ultimately, we as consultants don’t have all the answers to the challenges NPHM is facing,

and will continue to face in the coming years. But what we do have is a strategic framework

for building upon and evaluating the quality work that has already been carried out with the

YAC, which represents the museum’s central programming component and outreach

apparatus. As they move forward, an Action Plan for the council that involves taking steps to

strengthen its capacity, quality, and scope will ensure continued success for both the YAC

and the NPHM.

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WORKS CITED

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2. Carpenter, H. (n.d.). How We Could Measure Community Impact of Nonprofit

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4. Engage Chicago. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.engage.northwestern.edu/ec/

5. Getting the Questions Rights. (n.d.). Exploring the Role of Community Engagement in Preparing All Young People for Post-Secondary Success.

6. Great Cities Institute. (2014, January 1). Retrieved from https://greatcities.uic.edu/

7. Partnerships: Frameworks for Working Together. (n.d.). Strengthening Nonprofits: A Capacity Builder's Resource Library.

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http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/keyfacts2014/grant-focus-

priorities.html

12. Giving in Illinois 2014. Retrieved from

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13. City Arts Program. Retrieved from

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/dca/Grants/CityArtsGuidelines

Packet15.pdf

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http://www.districtsix.co.za/Content/Education/Learners/YoungCurators/index.php

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20profile.pdf

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http://chmuseums.org/junior-docents/

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http://www.biggsmuseum.org/programs/education.html#docent

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19. Philadelphia Museum of Art Docent Program. Retrieved from

http://www.philamuseum.org/communityengagement

20. Sonora Desert Museum Junior Docents. Retrieved from

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http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/jrdocent_schedule.php

21. Whaley House Museum Volunteers. Retrieved from

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22. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Retrieved from

http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/juniordocents.html