New Staff Take KC!

Neighboring Movement staff Marisa and Tasha adventured to Kansas City, MO to attend the Advocacy and Civic Engagement Learning Community convening held by Heath Forward Foundation! The Health Forward Foundation’s mission is to achieve health equity and secure a fair and just region through leadership, advocacy, and resources. The Neighboring Movement is excited to be a part of the 33 nonprofit organizations that were awarded a total of $4.9 million in grants. These grants were awarded with the purpose to support and build community through advances in civic engagement and supporting advocacy coalitions.

During the convening, 16 grantees gathered to make design decisions for the new Learning Community. The Learning Community places an emphasis on evaluation through collaboration. As a group, we developed relationships between fellow grantees, created a shared purpose for engaging in the Advocacy and Civic Engagement Learning Community, and strategized on how best to share knowledge with peers. The cohort will continue to meet over the next six months to identify strategies for collaborative engagement and develop peer-to-peer learning opportunities. 

It was the first work trip that either of us have been on for the Neighboring Movement! After networking with the other nonprofits in attendance, we went on a short walk to ride the trolley down to the Power and Light district where we ate loaded tater tots at BRGR. The tots were SO good. We are excited to continue the relationships we made with the KC nonprofit community and it was such a great time to connect as new staff members!