The AE Community is a network comprised of graduates, current participants and leadership of the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence in Community Development program.
We believe that excellence in community development is achieved by a clear focus on performance-driven outcomes. We commit ourselves to continue in this work by focusing on performance challenges critical to our own organizations, including those that call for cross-organizational collaboration, and to our own professional development in this area.
Through the AE Community, we can connect, communicate and collaborate in order to expand our knowledge and our networks, to share innovative ideas and maintain the enthusiasm and intellectual stimulation created by theAE program. Together, we aim to use our powerful collective voice to create positive change in communities across the country.
AE Listserve
The AE listserve will be operational and online shortly. Check back soon for a link to this valuable communications resource.
If you are an AE graduate and you would like to join the AE listserv, please e-mail Christina Deady at CDeady@nw.org or 202-220-2432.
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AE Tools
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Articles and Other Resources
- NET GAINS: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change, by Peter Plastrik and Madeleine Taylor. (You can download a free copy immediately by providing your name at www.in4c.net/index.asp?lt=net_gains_download.)
- More to come...
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List of Performance Challenges
To enable as much collaboration, best-practice sharing and support among the AE graduates and participants as possible, here is a list of current and past performance challenges (effective February 2008) that have been shared by some of the graduates. If you’d like to share your performance challenge, please send it to Christina Deady at CDeady@nw.org.
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Press Release and Letter to Elected Officials
Graduating class of AE3—would you like to let the local press as well as your mayor, your Congressional representatives and other political leaders know about your recent accomplishment of completing the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence in Community Development program? If so, we have two great options for you—no need to choose, you can have both!
- Press Release Template—AE3 graduates, feel free to download this Press Release Template (in Word) and fill in your own information (your name, organization, your own quote, etc.), then send it to your local press offices.
- Letter to Political Leaders—You said that you want NeighborWorks America to let your political leaders know about your recent accomplishment, and we are happy to do that. Download this very simple Excel spreadsheet, fill in the name and contact info of any political leader that you would like to receive a letter, save the completed Excel spreadsheet and send it back to Christina Deady at CDeady@nw.org by 12pm EST on Monday, March 10, 2008. We will then create all of the letters on NeighborWorks America letterhead with Ken Wade’s signature and we will send the letters in mid-March. Include your own name and address when you send the e-mail and we’ll also copy you on the letters.
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Resources from the 2008 AE Forum
On February 26, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia, we held the third bi-annual NeighborWorks® Achieving Excellence in Community Development Forum and graduation of the third Achieving Excellence class. Below are some tools and resources that we think you’ll find useful that were shared that day or referred to:
- “Join” a nationwide performance challenge—Resident-Owned Manufactured Home Communities (ROC USA)—Paul Bradley and Sheila Rice, facilitated by Margo Kelly
- "Excellence in a Box" PowerPoint presentation -- Fred Alsup, Mark Levine and Doug Smith [PDF]
- More to come...
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To learn more about the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence in Community Development program, click here (www.nw.org/ae)
For other questions or comments about the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence in Community Development program or suggestions of content for this web site, contact Christina Deady at CDeady@nw.org, 202-220-2432; or contact our Customer Response unit at training@nw.org, (800) 438-5547.
