Facilitation of Community-Driven Process Example

The Need: A local foundation had been trying to fund a long-needed citywide program in a local community and had run into a number of challenges. The staff and board were beginning to doubt their prospects for success. They hired MGA to facilitate a fresh design approach.

How we helped: We facilitated the process, provided program design expertise, and conducted best practice research. We worked with a broadly representative program startup committee and structured an aggressive series of meetings over the course of a few months, taking the critical decisions before the group in turn. We fashioned a thorough communication strategy, providing research and design options not only to the committee, but also to any interested stakeholders from the community. We solicited input broadly and throughout. We held ourselves and the committee to the established timeline, striking a balance between engagement, consensus and forward progress.

The Results: The committee completed its work in 3 months. Not only were they successful in designing a strong program, MGA was also able to provide critical implementation and strategy advice. Now entering its third year, the program is going strong and has served hundreds of youth.