An Introduction to the Alliance A Partnership of the Minnesota Alliance With Youth, AmeriCorps, Serve Minnesota & Partners across the state

Alliance Mission Minnesota Alliance With Youth is a collaborative network advocating with and for youth to ensure that all young people have the proven resources they need to be successful: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, effective education, and opportunities to serve.

The Focus of Our Work  Engagement:  Engagement: Connecting youth with service & leadership opportunities in order to create meaningful change in their communities.  Voice:  Voice: Providing a variety of avenues for youth to work with adults in addressing the critical needs facing our state.  Success:  Success: Targeting youth with programs and supports to impact their academic achievement, school engagement, and overall success in life.

A Brief History & Overview  Founded in 1997, the Alliance is the State affiliate of America ’ s Promise ( Five Promises  We use the framework of the Five Promises to inform & shape our work. convene & connect  We convene & connect statewide partner organizations with each other & to local communities. contribute resources  We contribute resources through the Promise Fellows (which are funded by AmeriCorps & the Corporation for National & Community Service ( Red Wagon Award, and Global Youth Service Day efforts. support & encourage youth voice & youth/adult partnerships  We support & encourage youth voice & youth/adult partnerships as a key way to sustain & support young people and create lasting change.

Our Philosophy of Partnership: Our Core Values  The most effective way to impact youth is through strengthening partnerships: both at the community level and at the statewide level.  Youth development is not just an effort of those in education or youth development: it is a community-wide effort.  We work to empower and support those working throughout Minnesota to ensure all young people have access to the Five Promises.  We convene key partners to share best practices, research, and recognize the work of communities.  We are the leader in connecting & mobilizing partner organizations to build capacity around the resources young people need to be successful.  The Alliance works to contribute resources to help youth success through the Promise Fellow program, funded by AmeriCorps.

Statewide Partner Network  The Alliance convenes the Statewide Partner Network made up of large statewide and national youth development and education intermediaries to engage, collaborate and facilitate the sharing of resources with local communities.  The goal is to avoid duplication but replicate when necessary — as always, sharing information, best practices, and the newest research which helps to inform our collective & individual work.  100% of Statewide Partners report hosting an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow increases their capacity to support local communities more effectively. Organizations include: Search Institute; YIPA; MN Campus Compact; NYLC; MN Mentoring Partnership; Youth Community Connections, and more …

Partnerships at the Community Level  School-Community Partnerships (SCPs) are made up of collaborating organizations, schools, faith communities, parents, businesses, government agencies, and youth working to ensure young people have access to the resources they need to be successful.  Youth-Adult Partnerships are key to making these efforts sustainable and productive in meeting the challenges facing youth& communities.

Strengthening Partnerships Each year, the Alliance works with between School Community Partnerships to:  Increase opportunities for youth voice,  Promote civic engagement,  Increase academic success, and  Ensure access and opportunities for all young people to achieve.

Gallup Poll (2009)  Only 50% of youth are hopeful (that is, have ideas and energy for the future—hope predicts GPA and retention in college better than high school GPA/SAT/ACT scores)  20% of youth are actively disengaged and additional 30% are not engaged (show lack of involvement and enthusiasm for school)  About 2/3 of youth are considered to be “thriving”—they think about their present and future life in positive terms.  Overall, the Gallup Poll found that only ¼ of the youth meet the criteria for being hopeful, engaged, and thriving. So what does this mean for us?

What Does It Mean for Us? More than ever, young people need:  Caring Adults in their lives to keep them ENGAGED  Effective Education to give them HOPE  Opportunities to Serve to help them THRIVE This is what the Alliance works to achieve alongside schools, parents, communities, organizations, and youth themselves.

How does our model work in Communities?  Brooklyn Park & Brooklyn Center  Northfield  Worthington  The Brooklyns:  Lunch/in-school tutoring, afterschool homework help & leadership activities at the Middle School  Mini-Summit recipient; outcomes focused on connecting youth with programs & safe places and in bringing together two neighboring communities  Strong stakeholders in Community Education, Church/Faith-Based Orgs, School, Local bakery/gas station, police department support, youth council  Working on figuring out volunteer & Civic engagement piece

What’s working, continued…  Worthington  Schools in 4 Districts, Integration Collaborative, Local Businesses, CBOs  Afterschool Programming with lots of youth voice/engagement in the planning and execution of activities (Dance/hip hop group, peer mentoring program, etc)  Focus on career/college access for new immigrants/ELL students  Looking for ways to engage volunteers in ongoing roles, rather than one time events  Northfield  Strong collaboration between school, CBOs, health organizations, mayors council, local colleges  Both MS/HS/Youth Orgs provide wraparound tutoring, afterschool programming, service projects, and summer activities  Over $1 mill in support for mentoring programs has come into the community as a result of their SCP  Still navigating ways to engage law enforcement, business sector

What is the Impact?  Fellows have recruited over 25,000 youth volunteers who have served over 100,000 hours  And recruited over 15,000 adult volunteers to serve as well  Over the past 10 years, Fellows have served over 145,000 youth & worked in over 150 communities to strengthen school-community partnerships  2/3 of youth in programs facilitated by Fellows improve their academic performance  92% of youth say they feel more connected to their communities as a result of the projects they complete with Fellows and adult mentors

Youth-Adult Partnerships  Groups of youth and adults come together to:  Develop authentic relationships and Identify areas that the partnership wants to strengthen as a group in support of the community, and youth in particular  Work on improving communication in order to avoid duplication of programs and services  Assess the political climate within a community for engaging youth as assets and develop more intentional means of collaborating across programs and organizations  Meet regularly (bi-monthly or quarterly) and provide ongoing financial, human, and programmatic resources (such as access to space, materials, etc) to the work of the Partnership

Youth Advisory Council Youth Advisory Council  The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) provides youth with a forum to exercise their voice by discussing policy issues while advising the work of the Alliance and its partners. By engaging young people in the work of the Alliance, YAC empowers them to learn, develop and contribute to transform their communities and the state.  Partner organizations select 2-3 youth representatives to participate as part of the council

AmeriCorps Promise Fellows  70 members serve in schools, community organizations, and youth development intermediaries for one year  Build the capacity of organizations and leverage community resources to more effectively meet the needs of youth  Funded by the Corporation for National & Community Service and Serve Minnesota

Hosting an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow  Applications available in January ( due in March with notification in late April/early Maywww.mnyouth.net  Cash Match of $6000 plus in-kind for office space, technology, resources, materials, etc  Must demonstrate a need AND the capacity or willingness to form partnerships with community organizations, government, businesses, faith community, and academic institutions

Expectations for Host Sites Our Expectations for the Fellow’s Service at School-Community Partnership Sites:  Serve a cohort of 25+ youth who are high risk and/or experiencing the achievement & civic engagement gaps  Provide youth in cohort with some sort of academic and social support/intervention  Connecting 30+ Caring Adults to be tutors, mentors, service project sponsors, etc for youth in the cohort  Engage youth in 20 hours of service, service-learning, and/or civic engagement & leadership activities  Provide assistance and support to additional youth as directed by Host Site  Participate fully in all Alliance-related activities from monthly meetings, retreats, progress reports, special events such as GYSD, etc.

AmeriCorps Provisions  What Fellows Can’t Do, according to AmeriCorps Provisions:  Promise Fellows may not displace other paid staff of the organization;  Promise Fellows may not perform secretarial functions for other staff;  Promise Fellows may not lobby politicians or organize voter registration drives;  Promise Fellows may not attempt to influence legislation;  Promise Fellows may not organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes;  Promise Fellows may not assist, promote, or deter union organizing;  Promise Fellows may not engage in activities that have connections to religious instruction, religious proselytizing, or maintenance or construction of facilities that serve a religious purpose.  These are prohibited activities while Promise Fellows are accruing hours that count towards their living allowance and education award. However, a Promise Fellow can participate in activities of this nature on their own time. For a complete listing of the provisions, visit

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