How is APACC preparing for 2019 priorities?

This is the fourth in a series of monthly blog posts highlighting the activities and other work of APACC members, APACC working groups, and the collaborative as a whole.

On Friday, October 12, the APACC Assembly adopted initial parameters for the APACC Fund to prepare for implementation of the network’s 2019 priorities. The primary purpose of the APACC Fund is to support specific project teams and implementation activities either listed in the network work plan or proposed activities that build the collective capacity of organizations to accomplish elements of the network work plan. APACC members can propose projects for both 1) collaborative activities that involve network members working together to accomplish one or more Project Goals or 2019 objectives and 2) capacity building activities for organizational assistance to strengthen organizations and allow them to fulfill their roles in the network work plan. Funding requests can include expenses to contract qualified APACC Collaborators (consultants), purchase certain goods and services, and cover portions of personnel costs of nonprofit partners tied directly to capacity building actions.

Making things happen via the 2018/19 APACC Fund

bulletin board with sign saying “make things happen”, sticky notes, and pieces of paper.

APACC members have already started testing and utilizing the APACC Fund to develop their project ideas—providing feedback to the grant administrator and making refinements to the draft APACC Fund Guidelines and APACC Fund Application Form. On Friday, October 26, the APACC Steering Committee reviewed and approved five 2018 APACC Fund project proposals:

DC Resilience Strategy Workshop | Budget: $190
Project Manager: Erin Garnaas-Holmes, Anacostia Waterfront Trust
Sponsor/Co-Sponsor: Anacostia Waterfront Trust and Clean Water Fund
Description: Resilient DC is creating a draft “Resilience Strategy” for the District of Columbia and has requested to attend a workshop with APACC members to inform the project ideas in its draft documents. This 1.5-2 hour workshop will be an opportunity for APACC members to emphasize our shared priorities in this policy document and identify potential projects on which we may work together in the future to address specific resilience issues. The topic areas currently covered in the “Honor the Anacostia” element of the Resilience Strategy (see DC’s Resilience Challenge) include combating displacement caused by gentrification, protecting against flood protection, creating a new overarching vision for the Anacostia corridor, and more.
Kenilworth Park North Engagement Toolkit | Budget: $1,720
Project Manager: Erin Garnaas-Holmes | Anacostia Waterfront Trust
Project Sponsor/Co-Sponsor: Anacostia Waterfront Trust and Clean Water Fund
Description: Kenilworth Park North is slated to be turned over to DC government. There is not yet a plan for the future use of the site, except for its current congressionally legislated restriction to “recreation” and “open space.” This project will create a tool to help APACC members and government agencies identify how the community envisions Kenilworth Park North. This engagement “toolkit” is specifically designed to 1) standardize language used by various engagement organizations and 2) test a new model for engagement that can be replicated to other areas of the Anacostia River corridor if successful.
Policy and Planning Research | Budget: $3,000
Project Manager: Susie Cambria, APACC Collaborator
Project Sponsor/Co-Sponsor: DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
Description: The project entails collecting DC government-prepared plans related to the Anacostia River Corridor and preparing summaries and identifying where overlaps exist and elements accomplished. APACC will public these reports, summaries, and analyses on the website. The project also involves collecting APACC member reports related to the Anacostia River Corridor and publishing (or linking to) those which speak to policy and action.
Social Media Coordination | Budget: $750
Project Manager: Susie Cambria, APACC Collaborator
Project Sponsor/Co-Sponsor: Anacostia Waterfront Trust and Clean Water Fund
Description: The project entails conducting a survey of APACC members regarding their staff/volunteers who handle communications and social media in particular, documenting staff/volunteer contact information, and discussing how APACC is using social media, how members are, and how best to meet the needs of APACC and APACC members. In addition, the project will add social media value to members and allies by creating lists to make their Twitter experience less complicated. DC media, for example, will include all local journalists. APACC members and the general public can follow APACC's list so they don’t have to identify all journalists on their own time.
Video Production Team | Budget: $5,300
Project Manager: Art Slater, Anacostia Coordinating Council
Project Sponsor/Co-Sponsor: Anacostia Coordinating Council and Clean Water Fund
Description: The project involves establishing a video production team for collecting, editing, and publishing digital video content. Initial activities will focus on developing an implementation framework and identifying best practices for conducting education, outreach and engagement activities utilizing video equipment and software. The intermediate-term goal of the project is to increase APACC’s digital media capacity to elevate the voice of residents; and connect their stories with the Anacostia River, Anacostia Park, and Kenilworth Park North as part of a comprehensive approach to the particular cultural, mental, intellectual, and physical development of the Anacostia River corridor.

Looking Ahead: APACC Assembly Meeting – Friday, November 9

At the next monthly meeting, APACC will identify a set of 2019 APACC Fund projects and activities for development and submission for Winter/Spring. APACC working group chairs/co-chairs will lead breakout sessions and work with APACC members to brainstorm ideas for outreach and engagement, capacity building and policy development, and help identify initial project teams to develop APACC Fund proposals.

In December, APACC will have an open brainstorm on Network Principles and identify potential challenges we will face both in the development of a set of principles in the short-term and implementation of a shared policy action agenda in the long-term. In addition, the APACC policy working group will provide an overview on the current development process of the Policy Action Agenda, including updates from the Policy and Planning Research Team (2018 APACC Fund Project) and the outreach and engagement plan to elicit community feedback on policy priorities of the network (hopefully someone will put together a 2019 APACC Fund project proposal for this one at the November meeting).