Activator Highlight: Neighborhood House

Neighborhood House has been a committed Sprockets partner from the beginning and has worked with elements of the Activator Improvement Cycle in the past.  This year was the first time they have completed the entire process.  The Activator Improvement Cycle starts in the fall and extends through the school year through an Assess, Plan and Improve cycle. Sprockets partners interested in becoming Activators attend a Quality Kick-off in the fall that includes YPQA training along other workshops that bring the network together to energize around quality.

Data-driven reflection is essential to many elements of Neighborhood House’s program planning and the Activator Improvement Cycle allows their youth programs to do this with the support of expert facilitators.  It also has helped them to identify program narratives that can be used both internally and externally. “It’s really making meaning out of your data sets,” said Sarah Lindeman, Neighborhood House's Community Impact Manager.

Now trained Activators, Neighborhood House’s youth team continues to think about how they keep the improvement plan relevant and use data to make informed decisions.   They also plan on using the data for grants and to enhance their level of reporting. If you’re interested in learning more about the Activator Improvement Cycle, contact Jocelyn Wiedow (jwiedow@ywcaofstpaul.org). Also, check out Neighborhood House's website!