Topic 3 - Opportunity for All

• Topic 3 - Opportunity for All

  Building on what your team learned in the previous module, Snapshot of Today, consider how your Association is fostering a culture which centers relationships. Relationships that promote belonging, cultivate leadership, drive innovation, and ensure lifelong learning and growth- to cultivate a community of collective care your programs, outreach, and among staff and volunteers. What does reflecting on current data and local population data and trends suggest?  What are your team's and your program strengths in partnering with diverse communities? What’s working well?  What are your opportunities for growth?  What gets in the way? What barriers do you notice?  

  Thinking about what belonging and being in right relationship means to you, how do you want to contribute? How are you connecting across differences? Then how do those intentions ripple through relationships, experiences, programs, our organization? 

  
  

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    WHAT WE’LL DO:  

    In this session, participants will: 

    • Notice how what you’re learning about your programs aligns (or doesn’t) with organizational values and goals. 
    • IMAGINE & CONNECT: Reflect on CCE’s commitment to Organizational Sustainability and being in right relationship.
    • REVIEW + CONSIDER:  Describe who is reached through which program delivery modes and in what settings - intervention strategies and examining equity (who has access to what and how) . Describe how your Association program reach compares to the community - working towards parity.  
    • DO + CREATE: Complete Worksheet 3: Opportunity for All
    • DREAM + PLAN:   Describe strategies your program can use to work towards parity.

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    IMAGINE + CONNECT:

    CCE ‘s Commitment to Organizational Sustainability 

    CCE has a strong commitment to organizational sustainability, in the development of its policies, programming, procedures and practices. Organizational Sustainability centers relationships that promote belonging, cultivate leadership, drive innovation, ensure life-long learning and growth- to cultivate a community of collective care. 

    CCE’s core mission, vision, and values encompasses a holistic approach to human connection and growth, fostering an environment where individuals can thrive and contribute meaningfully while feeling seen, heard, and valued. 

    What does this mean for you and your work with CCE? Let's explore this a bit together. 

    Self-Reflection

    

    “If we are in relationship with one another, then we are responsible to each other...To be in good relation means I acknowledge that there were peoples here before who were actually brilliant and brought things that I’m borrowing.”

    (Source: Indigenous Students and Right Relation: A Conversation With Bryan Brayboy, President's Professor, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University, from the Scholarship to Practice Podcast)  

    Take some time to reflect on your own on the following questions.

    • What does it mean to be in right relationship (mindset, characteristics, practices)?  
    • What is your experience with being in right relationship in terms of your work?  
    • What supports are needed to be in right relationship? 
    • What’s one impactful strategy for developing authentic relationships that came up for you? 

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    REVIEW + CONSIDER:

    Cooperative Extension has a fundamental commitment to have parity in program reach.  

    Parity 

    (information from the CCE Program Advisory Committee Handbook) 

    Parity is the state of being equal or equivalent to the demographics of a target population. It is looking at the demographic makeup of a particular population and then making sure that Extension programs and advisory committees reflect these demographics. For example, if a particular target population in a county or community is made up of 50% white, 30% African-American, and 20% Asian, then the parity the educator should be trying to reach in attendance at Extension programs should mirror these percentages. 

    Reaching parity isn’t always an easy process, but it is federally mandated for Extension program staff to show that they have done everything possible to reach parity. Extension advisory committees are subject to federal audits and reviews, and although county program staff aren’t always able to reach parity, they must provide proof that they have made every attempt to be in federal compliance. This may include advisory committee minutes in which methods of reaching target audiences have been discussed, as well as examples of the social media, fliers, newsletters, websites, individual visits, etc. that occurred because of these discussions. This information should be collected and stored for at least five years. Failure to provide this information during a federal audit or review could have serious consequences. They are generally conducted every ten years, but sometimes they occur more frequently and without a great deal of notice. 

    Living Our Values

    Even more than that, as we’ve already explored, CCE has a commitment to organizational sustainability and belonging. Living these values means noticing who has access to and who benefits from CCE opportunities and also who doesn’t yet. It means looking at who leads programs, who makes decisions, and how decisions are made. It means working towards being in right relationship with the whole community. 

    The foundations of right relationship are personal and professional identity development. There are a variety of opportunities and resources in CCE and beyond to support each of us on this journey. Building on that foundation, this module experience will focus on relationships and collaboration – the interpersonal, group and organizational implications of fostering a culture of belonging and collective care. 

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    Read and Explore 

    • The Relational Work of Systems Change

    Additional Resources 

    • How to maintain communities? A collective thought by Archipelago 
    • Diversity and Inclusion Among Advisory Membership (CCE course) – especially Qualities of Authentic Relationships Across Differences and Reflective Questions for Developing Authentic Relationships 
    • CCE Program Advisory Committee Handbook, available on the CCE Program Planning and Development page (example: Appendix IV. Cornell Cooperative Extension Affirmative Action Check-Up) 
    • NIFA Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights Resources (password is Equal Opportunity) 

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    DO + CREATE

    Program Analysis

    Realizing CCE’s organization sustainability vision requires individual and organizational reflection and growth.   Refer back to the data your team compiled in the previous module, Snapshot of Today, consider how your Association is contributing to closing the opportunity gap with communities. What does reflecting on current program reach and local population trends suggest?  

    Worksheet 3: Opportunity for all asks you to review your demographic reach, the county population and what parity could look like.

    Set your timer for 45 minutes. Add data and content to Worksheet 3 – data and calculating parity.

    Where Are We Now?

    Parity 

    Parity for Extension refers to achieving equal representation in Extension programs and advisory committees, ensuring they reflect the demographics of the target population. For example, if a community is 50% white, 30% African-American, and 20% Asian, Extension programs should aim for similar attendance proportions. Although reaching parity can be challenging, it is federally mandated. We should be able to show that we are striving for parity so that all demographics can benefit from Extension programs (and that Extension programs are planned considering needs and communities).

    •    See Program Advisory Handbook on the staff program planning page https://staff.cce.cornell.edu/units/orgdev/tools/planning for more details.

    Objective: Compare your organization's participant demographics with public demographics to evaluate parity and identify any gaps. Use this data to create strategies for improving inclusion and representation.

    Expanding Access

    Who doesn't have access to opportunities yet? What data do you have about why not? What are barriers that reduce access to those opportunities? Who does have relationships with those community members? What can you do to overcome barriers and increase access?

    How does your community learn about opportunities in you’re the opportunities you association provides? How are opportunities shared with everyone in the community? How are you reaching audiences who haven’t had access to the program?

    Strengthening Relationships

    How does your Association work collaboratively in community to expand opportunities for all?

    What are your program strengths in partnering with diverse communities? Which community members do you have trusting relationships with? How can you cultivate trusting relationships? Where is trust missing? What data do you have about why that is? What is the history of how Extension has connected with diverse communities? How can you build trust with communities who have experience challenging or painful relationships with Extension in the past?

    How do your participants describe their experience of belonging in your programs? Who and how often do participants return to program opportunities? What data do you have to support this? 

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    DREAM + PLAN:

     Strategies for working towards parity and equity - what could this look like in practice in your specific context? 

    Deliverable

    Create a document summarizing the steps your Association will take to work towards cultivating a culture of belonging and expanding access with your community. Who can help your Association be successful in these steps and provide accountability?