Significant Projects by Area

Engagement

CommunitySync worked with the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources on two recent research projects that engaged stakeholders while collecting key information for our clients to make informed investment decisions.

For United Way Capital Area's Community Agenda Project, we designed and conducted focus groups and an online survey to identify the perspectives of regional stakeholders on pressing issues in their communities, root causes, potential solutions, and priorities for action. United Way Capital Area will be using these findings to guide future community investments.

WorkSource's Critical Skills Project focused on the dynamic relationship between economic development initiatives and the workforce skills needed to support growth in emerging areas. We conducted online and document research and observations, interviewed representatives of employers, training institutions, and business associations to identify hard to fill occupations and their critical skills, factors that contributed to the gaps, and recommendations to address them. WorkSource is using the recommendations strategically for design and implementation of targeted workforce training to meet the needs of employers and jobseekers.

Collaboration

CommunitySync's Suzanne Hershey designed and facilitated a forum on Youth Issues that developed into an active coalition of more than twenty different organizations collaborating to develop a network of services and supports to help youth succeed. CommunitySync's facilitation and coordination role for the Ready by 21 Coalition is sponsored by WorkSource, as part of its mission to lead an innovative, high quality workforce system by preparing youth as the emerging workforce. The Ready by 21 Coalition is currently working on initiatives for youth engagement, development of a web-based information-sharing system, a coordinated campaign to support more young people to go to college, and other projects.

CommunitySync also offers a one-day workshop on Facilitating Collaborative Groups . The workshop is geared to train staff who will be responsible for running partnership meetings in essential facilitation techniques, structuring effective meetings, and customizing those skills for a collaborative environment.

Effectiveness

CommunitySync's field research and analysis and evaluation services provide clients the information they need to strengthen programs. CommunitySync is frequently engaged as a subcontractor for clients that require site researchers with keen perceptions, clear writing, and a deep understanding of how schools and communities function.

As Texas field researchers for studies by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government for the Corporation for National and Community Service, we synthesize information from a variety of sources -– on paper, in cyberspace, and in-person on-the-ground -- to provide a clear picture of what policy looks like in practice and recommendations to achieve desired results.

We conducted interviews, structured observations, and focus groups and prepared site summaries for the Texas Center for Educational Research (TCER) for the evaluation of the Texas Technology Immersion Project (eTxTIP).

As program evaluator, CommunitySync provided recommendations to strengthen Skillpont Alliance's 2005 Summer Educator Institutes , and captured “sound bites” through focus groups and an online survey instrument about how teachers benefited from their participation.

CommunitySync combines strategic and tactical planning with grant development to help organizations address structural barriers, enhance communication, and build internal and external partnerships to establish a ready-for-action plan in the process of writing a proposal. CommunitySync worked with BiGAUSTIN to develop a clear plan for their proposed Business Technology Center before writing three interlocking, successful grant applications to help BiGAUSTIN make the BTC a reality.