Growing Together
Our Commitments to the Affiliate Network:
5 Things You Can Count on From HMG National in 2024
Earlier this year, the Help Me Grow (HMG) National Center introduced its new organizational structure along with the team members leading five strategic branches of work. The new design of the National Center provides necessary expertise and capacity to respond to the various needs and priorities of the Affiliate Network, so together we can achieve full potential for HMG.
To chart our path forward with this new structure, it was clear we needed to hear from the National Affiliate Network on many different matters. So we asked lots of questions, through various surveys, interviews, focus groups, listening sessions, and roundtable discussions.
Some questions were big and heavy-hitting: What do you feel should be the greatest purpose of the HMG National Center? What do you want to see more of from HMG National? How engaged do you feel as a member of the HMG Network?
We asked some tough questions and made space for honest answers. We also got in the weeds and asked where affiliates are and what they need when it comes to data collection and reporting, policy and advocacy, and building relationships with each other.
Then we set about reviewing all the input affiliates had shared. We spent dedicated time processing data, meeting and discussing, doing facilitated analysis sessions, and sharing takeaways across National Center branches. We sought to identify trends in the feedback that could serve as guideposts for HMG National in 2024, and we were assured to find a set of themes emerge loud and clear.
We heard you. Here is what you can expect from the HMG National Center in 2024 to help you advance your goals:
More opportunities for valuable affiliate-to-affiliate connection
New technical assistance (TA) and helpful resources to benefit a broader array of your HMG team members and partners
Streamlined data collection processes that aim to make reporting quicker and easier
Increased opportunities to make your voice heard and help make decisions
Greater support around using data to make change and pursue new/more funding
As we move through the year, HMG National will be using these commitments as north stars, carefully ensuring that our time and effort is spent on work that directly addresses these priorities shared with us by the Affiliate Network. In the spirit of commitments number 2 and 3, we are happy to announce a series of TA sessions and resources to support affiliates through this upcoming season of HMG Fidelity Assessment. Check out our events calendar* and register for a demo session to practice completing the new submission tool in January as well as drop-in office hours to ask questions as you complete the Assessment in February and March. These sessions are well-suited for individuals responsible for completing and submitting the annual Assessment reporting to HMG National, so please share the calendar and registration links with those folks at your HMG.
Even the events calendar itself is an example of the National Center’s commitments to the Network. We want the calendar to be a dependable resource for you, so we are re-committing to its maintenance this year. The events calendar is intended to serve as a one-stop centralized source for you to check out all scheduled TA that is offered as a benefit of affiliation, share links with those whose work is most related to each session, and prevent you from having to search through emails to find that one registration link you vaguely remember seeing a while back.
We are so grateful for the time and effort you spent this year in helping us continue to chart our path forward. The HMG National Center will be closed from January 1 through 8, 2024 to conduct some mindful reflection and internal planning to help launch our work and the HMG community into a productive, successful year ahead with these commitments at the forefront. See you in 2024!
Get in touch with HMG National!
We want to keep the lines of communication open and the dialogue going. Reach out to us with your ideas, questions, and comments now and anytime in the future!
Implementation & System Building – Melissa Passarelli
Impact & Network Performance – Melissa Miller
Communications & Network Relations – Sarah Zucker
Policy & Community Change – Morgan Reiss
Business Development & Operations – Sara Sibley
Executive Director – Kimberly Martini-Carvell
Visit our Growing Together webpage for more on HMG National’s new design and co-creating our path forward with the National Affiliate Network.
*Note: The HMG National Events calendar is on the Affiliate Resource Hub and requires username and password for log-in. Please log in to the Hub and then click the calendar link.
Sarah Zucker is the Communications & Network Relations Manager at the Help Me Grow National Center.