Blair

Semester in Detroit Work Plan: Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD)

Background:

The Community Development Advocates of Detroit (CDAD) has been working for 15 years as a liaison to the community members of Detroit.  CDAD is a membership organization that has about 100 members who are involved in the city of Detroit and their own smaller communities through community development organizations (CDOs), community-based organizations, block clubs and other sorts of engagements.  CDAD’s role is to engage these members through public policy advocacy, technical assistance, sharing of information, and facilitation of community efforts.

            In specific, my role with CDAD will be using tools around public policy such as social media to advance the policy agenda and share the information with members of CDAD.

Project Goals:

1)                    To expand the organization’s community outreach through social media

2)                    Develop and share information on policy updates, CDAD’s monthly newsletter, and public policy newsletters

3)                    Expand my own knowledge on policy and see how a non-profit works

Objectives: 

-To expand the organization’s community outreach through social media. 

Share information via social media such as Facebook and twitter about CDBGs, CBAs, CACs, etc.

Attend District meetings, Detroit Future City meetings, and various other meetings in order to expand the network of people whom CDAD reaches.

-Develop and share information on policy updates, CDAD’s monthly newsletter, and public policy newsletters.

Write up policy updates to keep community members informed about the work that is going on around the city.

Assemble information and write up short stories for the newsletter about different initiatives that CDAD is working on.

Create folders with the public policy agenda and past newsletters to hand out and inform others about the happenings.

-Expand my own knowledge of policy and see how a non-profit works

Attend public policy committee meetings, sit in on conference calls, read about policy through CDAD resources and other resources LaToya sends my way.

Follow different accounts via social media in order to stay in the loop.

 Resources:

First and foremost, my greatest resources will be my supervisor, LaToya Morgan, and the rest of my co-workers at CDAD.  Beyond that, CDAD has an expansive network of members across the city of Detroit whom are working both in their own communities and for Detroit as a whole.  Through attending meetings, I will continue to network with these members and be able to create relationships with them to have them as a resource.  Along with these resources, I’d consider my computer and my time to be important resources that I will put to use through the semester in order to stay on track with my goals.

Anticipated Challenges:

• Balancing both classes and the internship schedule
• Making sure I have enough information and understanding about the policies in order to write about them. 
• Strategically sending out updates to keep members and contacts informed without overwhelming them
  
  

Evaluation and Assessment:

In regards to evaluation, Laura will be working on a spreadsheet of the data to tell us who we are reaching, how many people we’re reaching, etc.  I will also use Mail Chimp to keep track of how we are doing.  LaToya and I will use that as a guide to see how we as a pair are doing.  Aside from that, I will frequently ask LaToya about my progress and check in to make sure I am doing all that I need to be doing.  I hope to establish an open and honest space where I can be critiqued.

Schedule:

Tuesday 10am – 5pm, Thursday 1–5pm, Friday 10am – 5pm