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CTCNet Update: Board, Staff, Grant Programs by CTCNet Staff
Throughout 2004, CTCNet undertook an intensive strategic planning process, culminating in a planning retreat this past fall. Our board and staff, driven in large part by our members' concerns and ideas, have redeveloped our organizational roadmap for the next few years to better reflect the challenges and opportunities faced by our member centers and the broader community technology field. The following are key updates regarding our most recent developments: New Board Members and Officers CTCNet is pleased to announce our Board Officers for 2004-2005: Angela Stuber, Ohio Community Computing Network (President); Shireen Mitchell, Digital Sisters (Vice President); Maria Teresa Caligaris, John Lewis Coffee Shop, Inc. (Treasurer); Nettrice Gaskins, Commonwealth Broadband Collaborative (Secretary). New board members who began their terms in June 2004 are: Alicia Aaltmueller (Fund for the City of New York), Ric Estrada (Erie Neighborhood House), Njideka Ugwuegbu Harry (Youth for Technology Foundation), Karen Wade (Project TECH). The following board members ended their terms in 2004: Zenobia Johnson-Black (Chicago, IL), Hank Lewis (Hampton, VA), Mercedes Soto (Chicago, IL), and Felicia Sullivan (Lowell, MA). Staff Over the past few months, CTCNet welcomed two exceptional new staff members:
Tara Kumar, Program Associate for Connections for Tomorrow (Cambridge, MA): Prior to joining CTCNet, Tara managed a community development project in Western MA, and a grants project focusing on grassroots leadership development in the South. Tara received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her Master's degree in City Planning from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Amy Lesser, Director of Programs (Washington, DC): Amy joins the CTCNet management team, responsible for overall program planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Amy's previous experience includes directing training programs for social change advocates, and managing civic participation projects that incorporate technology in the U.S. and abroad. Amy holds an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College in Physics and Philosophy; an M.S. in Physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; and was a Luce Scholar with the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at Osaka University in Japan. Grant Programs – Connections for Tomorrow, Youth Visions for Stronger Neighborhoods, Access to Action CTCNet announced the next round of grants for the Connections for Tomorrow (C4T) and Youth Visions for Stronger Neighborhoods programs. Both programs are no longer accepting applicants at this time. The 2004-2005 C4T Massachusetts Grants Program will provide $750,000 in grants and substantial in-kind support to 37 community- and faith-based organizations providing community technology resources throughout Massachusetts that serve at-risk youth or homeless populations.
CompuMentor and Community Partners were recently hired to coordinate workshops and provide technical assistance and support to the California C4T grantees through the third year of the program.
Youth Visions Grants, supported by the Corporation for National Service's Learn and Serve America program, are designed to give youth and community technology programs the opportunity to use multimedia tools and training to engage in community decision-making to strengthen their neighborhoods. The 2004 Youth Visions grantees conducted workshops in the fall to showcase their multimedia products with their local communities, and to teach other local youth groups how to incorporate community-based curriculum into their programming. More than 150 local organizations participated in these hugely successful events in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York City, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC. The 2004 grantees are now finished with their projects, and currently are participating in evaluations that will help to better inform next year's programming. Access to Action, formerly the “CTCs as Catalysts for Community Change” project, continues to explore the role of CTCs in affecting upward mobility for individuals, social integration in neighborhoods, and public spaces that support community building. Two of the original sites under the project, the Alamo Mutual Housing Association and Madison Park Development Corporation, will receive implementation grants for their projects. CTCNet has developed an initial draft of a Resource Guide to help CTCs through the steps needed to extend their capacity and impact in these areas. In 2005, CTCNet will develop and publish a working draft of guide, and convene a Reflection & Planning Retreat to explore lessons learned in order to strengthen this initiative and plan for a potential new round of grant opportunities. Comments
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