For almost a decade, LISC Greater Newark has been providing leadership development and support to Newark residents. Their collaboration with Victoria Foundation has centered on the neighborhoods of Upper Clinton Hill, Fairmount Heights, and Lower Broadway. In 2023, Greater Newark LISC partnered with Hester Street (HST) to build their internal capacity to more effectively and efficiently deliver, document, and evaluate their programming.
HST outlined a program structure for LISC Newark’s Neighbors Helping Neighborhoods grantmaking program. Our team also provided them with engagement and reporting guidelines, as well as an evaluation matrix, to support them in measuring their impact in community. Additionally, HST worked with LISC Newark to help deepen their relationships with changemakers and community stakeholders with a focus on engaging and cultivating their Newark Resident Leadership Academy alumni network. HST has developed an engagement strategy centered around outreach and retention, and provided LISC Newark with a set of best practices and principles to support cohort learning, in addition to developing surveys and evaluation tools to support LISC Newark in data collection and alumni retention.
Throughout this project, HST has implemented an active learning strategy where capacity building and training happens within the context of project delivery and service provision. This approach has produced tangible outcomes for Greater Newark LISC, and at the same time added tools to their toolbox for future engagement activities.
Photo credit: 2020 Newark Resident Leadership Academy, courtesy of LISC Greater Newark