The Community and Economic Development Office is pleased to announce fifteen agencies chosen to participate in the We All Belong program is recruiting and fourteen AmeriCorps members to serve in these agencies in the coming year.
Vermont’s population is becoming more diverse and reflective of a global citizenry. The We All Belong Program is in its third year working with Burlington area non-profits, schools and city departments to help them create more inclusive workplaces and to more effectively serve Burlington’s ever diversifying community.Funded by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, AD Henderson Foundation, and participating agencies,the program is housed in the City ofBurlington’s Community and Economic Development Office.
The fifteen agencies selected to participate in the 2012-2013 We All Belong training program include:
BurlingtonCityArts
BurlingtonSchool District
ChittendenCountyRegionalPlanning Commission
City ofBurlington, Community and Economic Development Office
City ofBurlington, Human Resources Department
City ofBurlington, Office of the Mayor
ECHOLakeAquarium andScienceCenter
Fletcher Free Library
GreaterBurlingtonYMCA
Local Motion
National Park Service,Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and Saint-
Guadens National Historic Site
United Way ofChittendenCounty
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden andGrandIsleCounties
YWCA Vermont
A team from each participating agency will gain valuable skills through a unique coaching and training package to support system-level change which includes:
·Strategic Planning, Assessment and Skills Training related to diversity and inclusion
·Coaching in one-one or small groups
·In select participating agencies, an AmeriCorps member to serve for one year. These members provide direct service in addition to supporting the organization’s cultural competency work.
Last year, the We All Belong program provided 24 hours of cultural competency training to 70 leaders representing 11 organizations, schools and city departments. We All Belong will continue to partner with CQ Strategies, a highly skilled consultant team that delivered coaching and training to participants. The training received in the WAB Program has broad and long-lasting impact on its participants. Martha Maksym, Executive Director of theUnited WayofChittendenCountyshared, ‘The We All Belong trainings have been extremely valuable for our staff and Board of Directors. Participating has certainly raised our awareness as an organization about the critical need to become more culturally competent in order to better serve our community. It requires leadership and systems being put in place so the change isn’t dependent on one or two people within the organization but becomes embedded in the organization’s standard operations.’
By participating in the We All Belong program, service agencies become more effective in servingVermont’s changing demographics and agency workplaces become more inclusive with staff diversity. Other organizational advantages include:improved community relations, effective cross-cultural communication, strengthened staff relationships, heightened employee morale, implemented practices to recruit and retain diverse staff, increased strategic and diversified planning and stronger, diversified and more engaged Board of Directors.
The We All Belong program is now recruitingBurlingtonarea residents to serve as AmeriCorps members in these agencies to support their community engagement and organization improvements. Fourteen full and part-time positions are available beginning September 1st. AmeriCorps members will receive a $12,100 living stipend and a Segal Education Award of $5,350 that can be used on past and continuing educational pursuits.
For more information, go tohttp://www.burlingtonvt.gov/cedo/.
Picture of AmeriCorps Team Leader Jeetan Khakda at January’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Event