Growing and Strengthening Our Networks
By Greg Jacob and Anna Schmidt, Network Facilitators
At the start of the summer, we wrapped up our first full round of network meetings as new network facilitators at Cradle 2 Career. It was a big learning curve, but it gave us the chance to shape the roles into something that works for both us and our partners. We focused on four key areas to strengthen the networks and ensure their growth over time: understanding who is at the table through a “composition analysis,” creating a new three-month meeting cycle, reviewing and simplifying our network lifecycle, and building clear network agreements.
Composition analysis helped us identify the unique strengths and roles that each network member brings, demonstrating that we have well-rounded groups across all three networks. The new meeting cycle makes participation more flexible, with a mix of large group, small group, and professional development sessions. We also began working on updating the network lifecycle to better reflect our approach to creating long-term change. Finally, we developed written network agreements so that members understand their commitment to our collaborative partnership and our work together. These four areas give us a stronger foundation to support collaboration and keep making progress as a community.
The Prenatal to Age 3 Network has been working diligently to outline the next steps before launching its strategies to support pregnant individuals in Rochester. Most recently, a small group of doulas and network participants gathered to plan provider education sessions and discuss how to host networking sessions for doulas and obstetrics (OB) providers and nurses. The network has made strong progress and now has a clear path forward to begin implementing its community supports.
The Prenatal to Age 3 Network at our provider/doula planning session in August
This network has also been developing a local doula registry to make it easier for families to connect with the support they need. This tool is designed with families in mind, featuring the most relevant and helpful information when searching for a doula. Our next step is to create a directory of all local doulas so families have access to a comprehensive list. Visit DoulasMaketheDifference.org to see the resources currently available.
Meanwhile, our Transition to Kindergarten and High School Graduation Networks have come together for their first meetings of the school year. These meetings grounded network partners in our collaborative action work and informed them of important network process updates.