INCUBATION WORKSHOP
In collaboration with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and IDEO.org, our three day gathering included moments to: ground ourselves in achievable impact, learn new tools to further center community while developing each grantee’s program, and create lasting connections across organizations doing synergistic work.
On Day 1, we kicked off the workshop by setting agreements to establish a safe space for learning and exploration. IDEO.org then led us on an introduction to Human-Centered Design, a methodology with similar principles to the practices of community engagement used in public health. To apply Human-Centered Design to the grantee’s projects, each grantee team mapped out a user journey and practiced design research methods in small groups.
Day 2 was jam-packed! We built out both research and prototyping plans to ensure each project was centering communities in how they are designed. Each grantee left for the day with strong plans, and a bit of practice in trying out their plans.
On day 3, we closed out the human-centered design learnings and shared back personal and group reflections on what we each learned. We spent a majority of the day diving into logic models. Each grantee built out their models to measure their project’s progress towards impact. We ended the day by looking into the future and envisioning the impact of these projects on children and families 5 years from now!
Each team left the workshop with:
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A Design Research Plan to better understand user perspectives
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A Prototyping Plan to quickly test assumptions that are built into their projects
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Tools and resources to continue working in human- and community-centered ways
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Tools and resources to measure the impact of their activities
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New connections & excitement to reconvene to share their progress!
Next, we will continue year-long connections with our Lab grantees through check-in calls and Community of Practice gatherings. These touchpoints will allow us to provide guidance and support on program development and evaluation each step of the way. They will also encourage organic moments for relationship building so that grantees can share among peers both their accomplishments and ways to overcome challenges.
