Are you ready? Assessing your organization
If your organization is like most others, there is more work to be done than hours in the day. It can be a daunting task to hold a mirror up to the organization to assess what’s working and what can be strengthened, but in order to meet the goal of supporting all children and youth, we need to stop and examine what we are doing well and what we can build on. Moving from a focus on problems to a strength-based approach requires the following two steps: Step 1—Recognize and build on the strengths of young people; Step 2—Examine how we respond to situations and crisis. Are we responding from a strength-based approach rather than simply reacting to problems?
Intentionally proactive: The strength-based approach requires being proactive, rather than simply responding to situations or waiting for youth to ask for help. The assets framework asks you to make the first move, anticipate needs and interests and be intentional in action. For example, incorporate into staff training a segment on building youth and adult partnerships or on adultism.
Relationship focus: Having a relationship focus is one of the most important shifts. Rather than compartmentalizing work, look at how relationships are built in your organization. How do programs foster relationships among youth, between youth and adults and among staff members? For example, the YMCA is exploring how young people taking swim lessons might have the same instructor for years, rather than switching coaches when a child graduates to the next level of difficulty. This creates the opportunity for a young person and coach to build an on-going relationship, rather than a three month relationship.
Shared vision and integrated strategies: Rather than working in isolation or in silos, the assets approach challenges programs/projects to work together to build assets. How do they build on each other? Are there opportunities for youth to practice asset building with their peers? Do staff members share a vision for asset building practices in all areas of your organization? For example, imagine looking at violence prevention or pregnancy prevention programs, how can these activities be seen through the asset lens and put in a context that looks at a young person holistically. Can these programs partner to build assets.
Leveraging resources: It is vital to form strategic partnerships outside of your organization to share resources for building assets. Parents, program participants, other organizations or youth groups are often overlooked resources that have many talents to lend! How are you partnering with others so that young people involved with your organization have access to a variety of opportunities and so that you are contributing to a community-wide support system for all children and youth?
Long term commitment: Building assets is not about a short-term, one-time activity. The number of assets children and youth have fluctuates over time, and therefore we need to build assets with young people of all ages throughout their growing up experience. How have you set up your programs to engage youth for the long term? or to transition them to other age-appropriate opportunities?
The following tools are from our “Evaluation Tool Kit”. They can be used to assess your organizations strengths and challenges.
 NOTE: Documents are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge.
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