Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23
Outputs Target Audience: Audience Emphasis Technical assistance providers Underserved agricultural producers Value-added producers Participants Served Enter the total number of unique participants in your project. This number should reflect the individuals who hadmeaningful engagementin your programming, and whose participation you have documented/verified. Total Number of Participants: 50 Total Number of Participants: 22 Changes/Problems:Challenges - Q1 Project delays and adjustments The original project start date as proposed was late 2022. The project did not officially start until 2/15/2023. This delay impacted the assembly of core team members and initiation of 3-month initial contracts which were not started until 3/15/2023. Due to changes in team member commitment and availability since the time of proposal submission, we needed to readjust the project budget (see "accomplishments'' above). Due to an unrelated SAM.gov delay (related to an organizational address change and duplication of UEI), project funding was not available to our team until April 17th. We had to seek out and secure other funding sources to help start core team member contracts Managing a new team, personal/family/health obligations, 3 different time zones, team dynamics and other factors has added an additional layer of complexity to the project. Rapidly scaling up technical assistance activities has also come with its own unique learning curve. Challenges - Q2 ? Project adjustments & learning curve The original project start date as proposed was late 2022. The project did not officially start until 2/15/2023. This delay impacted the assembly of core team members and initiation of 3-month initial contracts which were not started until 3/15/2023. This project delay and subsequent timeline shifts continue to have repercussions on the project's activities, although issues with accessing ARPTA funds were resolved in mid-April. Given the timing of the growing season impacting the availability of farmer / food producer engagement in off-farm activities, the project team is continually adjusting timelines. Creating systems to scale existing OurSpace Calabash activities has taken more time than expected given the variety of target audiences, their inherent overlaps, and the tracking and evaluation considerations necessary. The team continues to work through challenges related to internal communication, work styles, coordinated work plans, personal/family/health obligations, and more. Challenges - Q3 The project team continued to work through challenges related to internal communications and shared decision-making across team members in different time zones and with varying levels of time commitment on the project. The summer months meant the team also juggled summer vacation travel, the height of weed pressure, and unforgiving heat. Deploying and testing various new digital tools took longer than anticipated, and project management continued to be an area lacking in capacity. In initiating a business planning NCBA contract, we also realized that not all farmers/food producers are ready to engage in a TA consulting contract around business planning. These learnings are ongoing and will be incorporated into future client assessments and learning modules to ensure that clients that the Calabash engages in more intensive consultations are indeed ready to fully participate in the TA activities. In planning for 2024, we will organize our work to more closely align with seasonal commitments and schedule demands of various audiences and team members. Additionally, our initial project manager / event coordinator transitioned off the project during this quarter, which impacted the roll out of Dubsado and planning for the retreat. Fortunately, the most junior member of our team was able to be supported by our lead consultant to increase her capacity, which has led to her transition into a role on the project management team going into Q4, increasingadministrative capacity and facilitating organizational communication and project development moving forward. Challenges - Q4 The team continued to experience growing pains of limited capacity but is beginning to address this with the addition of a team member to the project management team and preparing to onboard short-term content curators in early 2024. Having the unexpected exit of our Marketing/Communications team lead has also been a challenge since the momentum of that team is stalled until we fill that position. Finally, accurately determining client readiness for off-site TA engagements continues to be a challenge, which we hope to address in 2024. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Delivery Total Meetings: 29 Total Meeting Participants: 161 Total Webinars: 0 Total Webinar Participants: 0 Total Website Visits: 0 Total Online Course Participants: 0 Total One-to-one Meeting Entries: 5 Total One-to-one Meeting Participants: 101 Meetings 1/17/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 7 2/24/2023: Virtual, VA -- Number of Attendees 2 3/22/2023: Virtual, DC -- Number of Attendees 3 3/31/2023: Virtual, AL -- Number of Attendees 3 4/5/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 1 4/7/2023: Virtual, DC -- Number of Attendees 2 4/7/2023: Virtual, DC -- Number of Attendees 3 4/13/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 1 4/14/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 2 4/18/2023: Virtual, DC -- Number of Attendees 3 5/22/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 3 5/24/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 1 6/6/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 3 6/7/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 3 6/15/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 3 6/20/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 3 6/27/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 5 6/29/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 4 8/25/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 10 7/5/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 12 8/2/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 14 9/6/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 14 10/4/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 8 11/1/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 7 10/6/2023: Bowie, MD -- Number of Attendees 6 10/8/2023: Crewe, VA -- Number of Attendees 7 12/4/2023: Virtual, AL -- Number of Attendees 3 12/6/2023: Virtual, MD -- Number of Attendees 8 10/21/2023: Philadelphia, PA -- Number of Attendees 20 One-to-one Meetings 1/3/23-1/13/23: Topics Cooperative development, Market planning and access, Logistics and supply chain issues, Number of Attendees 3 February - March 2023: Topics Agricultural production skills, Number of Attendees 8 April 2023 - June 2023: Topics Agricultural production skills, Number of Attendees 46 July - September 2023: Topics Agricultural production skills, Cooperative development, Market planning and access, Logistics and supply chain issues, Number of Attendees 39 10/23/23-10/27/23: Topics Agricultural production skills, Number of Attendees 5 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Promotional Materials Calabash Website Calabash branded slide presentation template Calabash collective brand kit Calabash one-sheeter Calabash Structure Design Consultant orientation and introduction to the Calabash Collective Consultant welcome video Computer Love: Cultivating Soulful Learning Experiences for Black and Brown Food Producers and Growers What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?2024 Project Work Plan Development During the 4th quarter of 2023, we developed the following detailed quarterly work plans for each project area: program management, teaching and learning, TA training programs, TA projects, Marketing and Communication, and Evaluation (which is integrated into the other project plans as needed). Program Management Team In addition to supporting evaluation work plan and reporting infrastructure development, the primary 2024 work plan goals and activities for the Program Management Team include: Development of a consultant orientation and tool to evaluate orientation content and process Developing a process for new hires to increase our capacity to prepare to fully implement project activities. Hiring a marketing and communications lead to continue to develop the marketing and communications plan as well as to create content that helps the team to communicate with its various audiences Hiring a social media director to develop content to educate the broader community about the Calabash's TA works and to recruit trainees and future clients to the Calabash Hiring TA consultants as content developers for training modules that will be tested The program management work plan priorities also include activities to further develop the core team including but not limited to regular "team huddles" to facilitate communication and build team cohesion, retreats to deepen our relationships, and bring intensive focus on key priorities to advance our work; and conference participation for our own learning, share our work, and build our network of potential project participants (clients, consultants, and partners). Other program management 2024 work plan priorities include long-term strategic planning and bringing attention to project sustainability by exploring NGO funding raising opportunities and connecting with related national and international movements. Teaching and Learning Team The primary 2024 work plan goals and priority for the Teaching and Learning team include: Developing a draft framework for learning modules (number of lessons, lesson content, and assessment), Building out a digital archive that will have producer resources formatted as self-guided lessons. Developing learning content levels to meet the needs of mixed audiences (i.e., beginner, intermediate, and expert) Hosting a business planning webinar in the first quarter of 2024. Designing and implementing a training program pilot including outcomes and evaluation tool Developing a process and schedule to prototype, test, and select learning platform, including managing back-end features Identify, recruit, and orient 10-20 growers/food producers to test the platform and evaluate the content. Training Program Team The 2024 priorities for the Training Program team include: Confirming budget for pilot (trainees, trainers, supplies, travel, etc.) Curating content for 101, 201, and 301 modules of the USDA Grants track Developing instructional design storyboards for 101, 201 and 301 modules of the USDA Grants track (401 to be included if time permits) Finalizing application and enrollment process for trainees and trainers of the pilot program Conducting outreach & recruitment for trainees and trainers of the training program (ideally, 3-5) The training program team will develop a Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) document for key content areas to build the knowledge and skills of potential consultants that we will test, evaluate, and implement in 2024 to include: Government Funding (101) Grant Advising (201) Grant Writing (301) Project Management (401) In the Fall (likely October), we will pilot a USDA Grants curriculum that will include the first three content areas, Government Funding (101), Grant Advising (201), and Grant Writing (301). To support their training program priorities, during the first quarter of 2024, the team will develop logistics infrastructure and systems that will include: Drafting pathways for internal Calabash roles vis-à-vis the training program Drafting pathways to be eligible for TA projects Revising the budget for the training program (needs for trainers, trainees' time, and materials) Technical Assistance (TA) Project Team The primary work plan goals for the TA Project Team are to continue to identify on- and off-site projects and clients in alignment with Calabash goals and capacity, with an eye toward integrating consultant trainees into our work activities. In quarters 1 and 2 of 2024, the team will also complete the webinar phases of 3-4 NCBA contracts initiated in 2023 which involve curating content, drafting webinar slide decks, hosting webinars and collecting participant feedback, and submitting reporting requirements to NCBA. These same webinars will be integrated into our learning platform to facilitate learning by all of our target audiences. Webinars to be completed include: FSOP LFPP/FMPP Maryland Healthy Soils Business planning Marketing and Communications Team The primary work plan goals for the Marketing and Communications Team are to continue to make progress toward building a robust marketing and communications scope of work that supports the Calabash's work. During the 2024Q1, goals include: Planning of e-Newsletter (to include determination of newsletter frequency, goals, objectives, etc.) Update Calabash Definitions document Re-branding existing member content - prior to joining the collective - for digital archive & public presentations Complete draft of marketing/outreach/communications plan Priorities for 2024 Q2-Q4 include Ongoing fulfillment of Graphics/Visual Requests (related to conference attendance and recruitment of trainees, trainers, and more farmers/growers/food producers) Newsletter implementation PR (Develop a plan to include a formal public launch of the Calabash project. Brand Establishing SM/Newsletter presence for Core Team members' immediate network Shared Photo Album (on-site Calabash activities / events) Social Media templates Evaluation Team The primary goal of the Evaluation Team for 2024 is to finalize the evaluation tools, systems, and infrastructure as these relate to the work plans of other teams. This will include, but not be limited to: Developing reporting tools and processes that allows consultants and other key personnel to enter RVS and other outcomes, challenges, and client success stories into a form that will be aggregated in a single database. Working to develop and integrate evaluation into content on the learning platforms as needed. Continuing to develop case study framework and methods Assuming full leadership of federal quarterly and annual reporting with the aid of the Program Management Team.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
Outcomes: What Producers Learned, Achieved, Applied Outcome Topic Producer action Est # Act # When verified? How verified? 1. Target audience will increase their awareness of various USDA offerings. Accessing USDA programs and services Understand 300 7 Before Program; During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant pre/post surveys, 1:1/group interviews 2. Target audience will report that they plan to develop applications/proposals for USDA grant programs Accessing USDA programs and services Implement 100 5 During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant Consultant engagement, interviews, surveys, polling (via learning platform) 3. Target audience will take efforts toward developing applications/proposals for USDA grant programs Accessing USDA programs and services Develop 50 4 During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant consultant engagement, interviews, surveys 4. Target audience will learn new agricultural production skills. Agricultural production skills Understand 400 2 Before Program; During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant pre/post surveys, 1:1 or group interviews 5. Target audience adopts a new agricultural production skill. Agricultural production skills Implement 150 2 Before Program; During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant direct observation / longitudinal photo or video documentation, surveys, 1:1/group interviews 6. Target audience will understand the essential components of a business plan. Business planning Understand 100 0 Before Program; During Program; Prior to end of grant pre/post surveys, 1:1 interviews, consultant assessment 7. Target audience will write a business plan. Business planning Develop 50 1 During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant participants submit a business plan (draft submissions in phases if applicable) 8. Target audience will identify different markets available in their region. Market planning and access Understand 100 2 Before Program; During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant surveys, interviews (1:1 or group) 9. Target audience will take steps toward entering into a new / different market. Market planning and access Implement 50 10 Before Program; During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant surveys, interviews (1:1/group), photo/video documentation 10. Target audience will increase awareness about the history, principles and practices of cooperation. Cooperative development Understand 400 34 Before Program; During Program; Immediately After Program; Prior to end of grant online engagement analytics, pre/post surveys, interviews (1:1/group)
Publications
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