 |
|
|
|
A Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership between the
Community and Economic Development Office, City of Burlington, and
the University of Vermont
Submitted to Dr. Chris Koliba, Community Development and Applied
Economics, University of Vermont & Beth Truzansky, CEDO’s Center for
Community and Neighborhoods, City of Burlington
23 May 2008
By Gwen A Pokalo, Community and International Development
Undergraduate, University of Vermont
Abstract
The Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) in
Burlington, VT, is an essential organization for empowering
communities in the Burlington area through community development
initiatives and progressive local economic programs. CEDO provides a
range of resources to human service organizations in the Burlington
area, and manages the AmeriCorps VISTA program, a national service
program which is aimed at alleviating poverty at the community level
through building capacity of non-profits and municipalities. CEDO is
widely visible within the Burlington community through its stories
of good works, but the office struggles to maintain the crucial
capacity building evaluative data which enforces its VISTA projects.
A research partnership was thus established with the University of
Vermont, with the purpose to find a sustainable evaluation tool to
examine the capacity of each VISTA host organization CEDO serves and
the impact of the AmeriCorps VISTA position on the host
organization’s capacity. This research modified the McKinsey
Capacity Assessment Grid by Venture Philanthropy Partners for use as
the central tool in evaluating organizational and VISTA impact, and
also utilized an AmeriCorps VISTA Responsibility Inventory to
explore the application of the VISTA role through time in individual
organizations. We found that there are a few key areas of strengths
and weaknesses manifested by the capacity assessment and inventory,
which can serve as a reference for CEDO in future resource
allocation and knowledge outreach.
|
 |
|
