CityClub is hiring!
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CMC Youth Focus: Letting the youth speak for themselves
Submitted by saraneppl on Thu, 10/01/2009 - 11:19amAs we're talking with youth and working with Puget Sound Off during the 2009 Community Matters Campaign, one thing we're hearing is that youth violence is a big issue for them.
In a recent blog post at Puget Sound Off, a young person expresses confusion that no one seems to be paying attention to the issue. "I hear how there are concerns but when a event is thrown for our Youth there is no one present to show their concern. Why is this?" This person was out marching for friends who have experienced violence, and was met with rows empty chairs. Read the whole blog here.
Stay tuned (and save the date!) for more information about an upcoming program CityClub is doing with The Seattle Channel on this topic: "Seattle Speaks: Youth Violence" coming on Tuesday, November 10.
As education is a focus of CMC this year, we also wanted to share another great video put together by youth technology interns at the YMCA of Greater Seattle. -
Feedback Wanted! How are you feeling about Twitter?
Submitted by saraneppl on Wed, 09/30/2009 - 9:31amWhen we first started talking about using Twitter at CityClub, much of our conversation was about tweeting from events. We'd been brainstorming ideas about how to reach more people, how to extend program content and impact beyond those folks who could actually physically attend the program.
It was also a response to the common question of whether we accepted questions for panelists in advance, or just in absentia. With the technology for livestreaming not quite available to us just yet, Twitter seemed like a good option: we could tweet snippets and quotes from the programs, and if people following the stream had questions, we could try to sneak them into the audience question period.
As our group of followers grew, we realized via feedback from followers that the tweeting from events was a little too much - it was a bit spammy. "There's a limit to what you can say in a 140 character bursts," one user responded. And it's true. I was trying to catch everything - not only the question but all of the panelist responses. It's actually an extension of a difficulty I've always had - I think everything is important. In school, the most excruciating part of a paper for me was cutting parts out. I get long-winded.
We also realized that people were following our stream for different reasons - some want info about events, links to online video, etc. Others did want that live stream from events. We tried taking some of the Twitter-from-events content and doing a sort of liveblog, but weren't happy driving traffic away from Twitter. We started to suggest Twitter Snooze so that people who didn't want our event tweets could just turn us off temporarily instead of un-following us.
Now, we're trying something new. During yesterday's "Education Series: Getting Ahead - Educating for Today's Job Market" program, we transmitted our event tweets from a new account: @CityClubLive. I peppered our original Twitter feed with just the occasional quote and a link to the new account. It has a handful of followers now (although because of our name I'm never quite sure if they think we are a rock club or a health club or civic engagement club).
Social networking is very new, and as it keeps shifting, we'll keep trying to adapt. We'd love to hear from you: How are you feeling about Twitter? In lieu of livestreaming video (we'll get there someday) how do you prefer to remotely participate? Is a liveblog a better option? Will you follow both CityClub Twitter accounts? Or will you only access it when the topic is of interest to you? If the live tweets are from a different account, do we still need to cut down on the amount of tweeting?
You tell us! Read more -
Education for Today's Job Market: A Few Links
Submitted by saraneppl on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 4:49pmIn his announcement of the American Graduate Initiative on July 14, 2009, President Obama "set a goal for America: by 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world…"
Calling it "the most significant down payment yet on reaching this goal in the next ten years", the Initiative is set to focus on community colleges, helping them get resources and better provide for students to enter the workforce prepared.
There are a lot of good people working on this issue. On Tuesday, September 29, we'll ask a few of them some questions:- What does it take to produce a robust workforce and are we offering enough accessible and affordable opportunities for Washington State residents to obtain a postsecondary education, both out of high school but also later in life?
- Is it necessary to obtain a traditional four year degree in order to earn a family supporting wage?
- What career pathways exist in the health care industry, green sector or through labor apprenticeships?
- How are community colleges dealing with increased demand as unemployment continues to rise?
- Are any stimulus funds available to help people achieve their educational goals?
The American Graduation Initiative - Remarks from President Obama and information about the initiative - "Stronger American Skills Through Community Colleges" - can be found on WhiteHouse.gov.
Building Pathways to Success for Low-Skill Adult Students: Lessons for Community College Policy and Practice from a Longitudinal Student Tracking Study - This research report builds the case for at least 1 year of post-secondary education and it may include wage gains as well.
Investing in the Forgotten Middle: A Tested Strategy to Grow America's Economy - The Workfore Alliance weighs in on the issue: "Middle-skill jobs, which require more than high-school, but less than a four-year degree, make up the largest part of America’s labor market."
This publication from the Lumina Foundation discusses changes in the way colleges and universities are approaching adult education.
Charting A Path: An Exploration of the Statewide Career Pathway Efforts in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin - a paper written by CityClub volunteer and event chair for this program, Rosanna Stephens.
What do you think? Can we reach President Obama's goal by 2020? -
Coming Soon: Education for Today's Job Market
Submitted by saraneppl on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 3:44pmWith our 2009 CMC theme in mind - education and economic opportunity - we're gearing up for next Tuesday's program, "Education Series: Getting Ahead - Education for Today's Job Market" I know, I know - sounds like a perfect fit, right? That's because it is (if we do say so ourselves).
Our expert panelists represent organizations in our community that are deeply involved in work on these issues, and we wanted to tell you more about them! Here's a quick glance at their work, taken from their websites:
Health Work Force Institute
In response to the burgeoning heath care personnel crisis, the Washington State Hospital Association founded the Health Work Force Institute as a non-profit affiliate in 2004. Since then, the Institute has made great strides in building a more sustainable health work force for the state of Washington. The Institute has brokered partnerships that have resulted in an investment of more than $56 million for health care training, retention and recruitment efforts.
The Institute is chartered to look past economic, educational, and regulatory boundaries to develop, test, and launch the most promising catalysts to increase the supply of skilled health care workers. HWFI's strategies focus on increasing capacity of the state's colleges and universities to train people, especially those from diverse backgrounds, to enter a health profession. Improving our health care system, increasing its diversity, and bolstering our economy - this is the work of the Health Work Force Institute.
Seattle Jobs Initiative
Lack of job skills, transportation, housing and childcare, and limited English proficiency can be major hurdles to long-term job success. Seattle Jobs Initiative approaches the problem from a big-picture point-of-view. Through partnerships and innovative approaches, SJI eliminates these barriers by providing participants with the full range of services necessary to ensure their long-term financial stability. By partnering with community-based organizations (CBOs), community colleges, and employers, SJI links Seattle’s low-income and low-skilled residents to jobs – jobs that pay living wages, offer room for advancement, and include necessary work supports such as health coverage, sick leave and paid vacation. Our policy team complements our efforts on the ground by keeping abreast of the current labor market and supporting legislative changes that improve access to training and services for low-income residents. Seattle Jobs Initiative’s comprehensive approach creates real opportunities for Seattle residents to support themselves and their families.
Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation
As part of their United States Program, Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation puts a focus on education: "We work to make sure high school students graduate ready for success and prepared to earn post-secondary degrees. We fund college and graduate school scholarships. We support high-quality early learning programs in Washington state." The foundation breaks down focus - high school, post-secondary education, scholarships, and early learning - and goes into more detail about their work in those areas on separate webpages. Click here to find your way to each.
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges has the following vision: "Build strong communities, individuals and families, and achieve greater global competitiveness and prosperity for the state and its economy by raising the knowledge and skills of the state’s residents."
Higher education is vital to society and individuals. Economic prosperity, the livelihood of families and individuals, and the strength of communities are just a few tangible results. People who attend colleges and universities live healthier lives, and give back to society locally and globally. For these reasons, the state must find ways to create more higher education opportunities for all residents across the state.
Their website details principles and 10 year goals - click here to learn more. -
Civic Engagement - Now from the Comfort of your Living Room
Submitted by saraneppl on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 11:19amWhat would we discover if all of King County had the same conversation?
Where do we agree and disagree and what should we do about it?
The answers may surprise us, but to find out we need you to join the conversation.
Last year, when our traditional Civic Participation Month became the Community Matters Campaign (CMC), we added a new component - community dialogues - which we've been mentioning in our past few blogs as we shared the faces of this year's topics.
Dialogues take many forms. Some take place during a community organization's regularly scheduled meeting. Some take place in classrooms. Some take place in living rooms, and hosts invite their friends and family to attend. Our board of directors will participate in a dialogue during their October board meeting.
Our facilitators, once trained and ready, spread out across King County - north, south, east, west - and lead the same discussion, to see what we find out. What are the common strains being echoed at many dialogues? What things are different, and how? Each dialogue attendee receives a one page document that includes all of the information we've been giving you - the facts and the faces - along with questions for discussion. (All of the facts and faces, plus some handy charts, are available in one place at our main CMC page - click here and scroll down a bit.)
CityClub wants everyone to be involved. Soon, you'll be able to sign up for a dialogue - if you're not part of a group that's holding one, the Seattle Public Library is hosting three of them, which will be open to the public and available for online registration soon. If getting to a set meeting is difficult for you, we encourage you to participate online. The questions are below, and the comment button is ready for you to click! (Don't be discouraged when your comment doesn't appear right away - we have to click a button on our end, too.) You can also take part in other parts of the dialogue online: pledge your action and fill out a Personal Engagement Plan, and vote on a strategy for change in our People's Choice Awards.- What change in the community is needed to achieve educational and economic opportunity for everyone in King County?
- What strategies address both these issues together and are there examples of effective efforts, synergies and progress you can tell us about?
- What should be the priorities for the community investment to advance these goals?
- How would you prefer to engage with community leaders and your elected officials on these issues?
- How will you be involved?
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CMC 2009: THE FACES Part 2
Submitted by saraneppl on Mon, 09/14/2009 - 10:44amAs of Friday, September 11, our 2009 Community Matters Campaign has officially launched! (Click here to visit the CMC website.) There have been just two dialogues so far, both CityClub staff facilitated - but there are many more to come. Yesterday afternoon we hosted a successful training for about 15 volunteer facilitators, arming them with the information they need to lead various dialogues all over King County!
Our first quote is from a youth dialogue, the second from the Seattle Foundation Health Community Report.
“They’re doing all these cuts at these schools…They’re firing all these teachers and it’s just going to add more to the classes. And if you’re gonna to kick out a new teacher – a really good teacher, even if they’ve only been there for a year - compared to a teacher that has seniority... Based on where I go – they’re cutting down all the schools that are relevant. Like, if you’re living in South Seattle and you want to go to school in West Seattle, they’ve cut down the buses and all this stuff. If you think you have a better education elsewhere, why can’t you just go there? They won’t let you go to the school that you want. You get put in the school where you live around. That makes it worse, because you’re living in this area where like, people think ‘oh, well you’re going to be stupid so I’m going to put you here’.”~ High School student and summer Green Jobs Intern
“We need to attract and keep large employers – and they need to know they can find talented workers here. And that brings us back to education… Unless we can close the school preparedness gap, our K-12 and higher education systems alone will never overcome some of the factors that are depriving our economy of the work force we need both for today and tomorrow. We must offer a hand up to children likely to enter school with the largest preparedness gap.”
~ John Stanton, Co-Founder and Partner at Trilogy Equity Partners1
1 “A Healthy Community: Strategies for Giving,” Seattle Foundation, June 2009 report available at www.seattlefoundation.org -
CMC 2009: The Faces
Submitted by saraneppl on Thu, 09/10/2009 - 12:07pmA large part of the Community Matters Campaign is the community dialogue. CityClub will convene 25-30 facilitated conversations - conducted live at diverse community gathering places and times of day. Community volunteers train to be facilitators, provide spaces and attendees. The feedback we gather at these dialogues goes into our CMC final report.
The insights and personal experiences people share at these conversations can be astounding. Here are just a few quotes about this year's topics: education and economic opportunity.
“We need to make sure that parents are educated as well and encourage parents to go back to school, because it starts at home. The parents are always the first teacher I believe. And some parents – they don’t know how to read themselves, or do math – my mom struggled with math but was expected to help me with geometry in high school.”~Danielle Corbray, YMCA of Greater Seattle, AmeriCorps Volunteer
“Some people can take a step back to their parents in their 20’s; I took my step back at about 31. They (my parents) let me come back and straighten up some things. I was able to keep my bills down; I was able to keep a job… I like my job a lot. I have adapted to it. This is the first job that I have kept for over a year… I like it a lot because of that reason, because it’s a major accomplishment in my life and I also like it because after 6 years, I really know what I am doing. I’m confident in it. I know that as long as the company stays open, I’m stable, because I can do my job.”
~Greg of Federal Way, recounting his path out of homelessness and joblessness
If you're not part of an organization that is hosting a dialogue and want to be involved, check back on our website soon to sign up for a dialogue held at the CityClub office.
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CMC 2009: THE FACTS Part 3 - What are the jobs?
Submitted by saraneppl on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 9:15amCityClub's Fall Community Matters Campaign (CMC) begins on September 11. Our forums, candidate debates, community dialogues and calls for action will focus on the themes of education and economic opportunity - two urgent challenges profiled in the recently released The Seattle Foundation's Healthy Community Report.
As part of this year's dialogues, we'll be providing dialogue participants with some facts about Washington State. To get you geared up for the launch of our CMC webpage (which will include many resources to know, connect, trust and act, we'll be putting some of the facts here on CityBlog - start thinking, start a conversation!
Our last installment of THE FACTS focuses on the job market. Today's stats also come from The Seattle Foundation's 2009 report “A Healthy Community: Strategies for Giving”:
> A recent survey of Washington firms found that the highest vacancy rates were for jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a baccalaureate degree.
The full report is available at www.seattlefoundation.org.
> The number of green jobs could quadruple in the Northwest by 2020 and add billions of dollars to Washington’s $270 billion economy.
Two of our CMC programs address these final facts. What are today's jobs? How can the education system help?
On Tuesday, September 29, our Education Series will tackle this topic in a discussion titled "Getting Ahead: Education for Today's Job Market". What does it take to produce a robust workforce and are we offering enough accessible and affordable opportunities for Washington State residents to obtain a postsecondary education, both out of high school but also later in life?
Then, on October 15, our Environment&Sustainability Series discusses the future of green building jobs during our panel, "Green Building in Puget Sound: Can Everything Old Be Green?" Upgrading the tens of thousands of existing structures that are not green-built (the vast majority) is one of the biggest ways we could help the environment, and perhaps our local economy, too.
What are your thoughts? How should we define our priorities to address these challenges? -
CMC 2009: THE FACTS Part 2 - Economic Opportunity
Submitted by saraneppl on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 10:21amCityClub's Fall Community Matters Campaign (CMC) begins on September 11. Our forums, candidate debates, community dialogues and calls for action will focus on the themes of education and economic opportunity - two urgent challenges profiled in the recently released The Seattle Foundation's Healthy Community Report.
As part of this year's dialogues, we'll be providing dialogue participants with some facts about Washington State. To get you geared up for the launch of our CMC webpage (which will include many resources to know, connect, trust and act, we'll be putting some of the facts here on CityBlog - start thinking, start a conversation!
In our last blog post we shared a few stats about education in Washington State from the Healthy Community Report, linked above. We're also using Communities Count's 2008 report “Communities Count: Social and Health Indicators Across King County”, which is where our numbers come from today.
> The gap between the rich and the poor continues to rise. In 2007, 49% of all income in King County went to the top 20% of households while around 3.5% went to the lowest 20%.
The full report is available at www.communitiescount.org.
> 64% of King County’s jobs do not pay a “living wage” for a two-parent household with two children (one parent working). A living wage is the minimum amount of money a family needs to earn to provide the basic necessities of living. For a family like the one above, the living wage is $50,000.
One of the questions we'll be asking our dialogue participants is: What is your vision for successful educational and economic opportunity for everyone in our community? Certainly a giant, potentially overwhelming conversation, but one that can help frame the conversation going forward. Do you have a vision for Seattle? King County? Washington State? -
Community Matters Campaign 2009: THE FACTS
Submitted by saraneppl on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 11:28amCityClub's Fall Community Matters Campaign (CMC) begins on September 11. Our forums, candidate debates, community dialogues and calls for action will focus on the themes of education and economic opportunity - two urgent challenges profiled in the recently released The Seattle Foundation's Healthy Community Report.
As part of this year's dialogues, we'll be providing dialogue participants with some facts about Washington State. To get you geared up for the launch of our CMC webpage (which will include many resources to know, connect, trust and act, we'll be putting some of the facts here on CityBlog - start thinking, start a conversation!
> Washington leads the nation in jobs for people with degrees in science and engineering but ranks 38th nationally in the number of students graduating with those degrees.*
These are some pretty extreme numbers. How can Washington change them?
> Washington ranks 37th in the nation in high school graduation rates.*
We'll keep you posted about when registration is open for a CityClub hosted dialogue, should you wish to attend!
* Both of these statistics come from “A Healthy Community: Strategies for Giving,” Seattle Foundation, June 2009 report available at www.seattlefoundation.org
