Many public health and social work fields utilize community organizing to implement community and institutional policy change. Hiring the best people for these positions is a key element to the project's success or failure, but managers and project leaders do not always have hands-on community organizing experience. How can managers identify applicants who will be successful community organizers? The presenter, who has almost 20 years of community organizing experience, will discuss 1) qualities necessary for successful community organizers, 2) a self evaluation tool for community organizers to assess their suitability for this work, 3) strategies for recruiting qualified applicants for community organizing positions, 4) key interview questions to ask to determine an applicant's qualifications and understanding of community organizing, and 5) experience and lessons learned during the hiring of eight community organizers for the Minnesota D.A.R.E. Plus Project to organize adult and youth action teams in eight communities in urban settings. (The Minnesota D.A.R.E. Plus Project is a research project at the University of Minnesota funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.)
Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives: Participants interested in hiring qualified employees to become community organizers will learn 1) how to identify characteristics, qualities, and professional and volunteer experience that predict candidates who will be successful community organizers, 2) how to use a self-evaluation tool for staff to assess areas of strengths and weaknesses, 3) key questions to ask in the interview process, and 4) how to recruit qualified applicants when hiring community organizers. The experience of hiring eight community organizers for the Minnesota D.A.R.E. Plus Project will be used as one example in this discussion.
Keywords: Community Involvement, Community Outreach
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.