Community Learning Project for Food Justice – a collaboration of Growing Power and WhyHunger
The Community Learning Project for Food Justice is an exciting new program to build relationships, leadership, and resource capacity development, and to support community- based learning in the food justice movement.
The Community Learning Project for Food Justice will connect pairs of organizations for one year around a specific topic or program area. Through a peer-to-peer learning/teaching experience, the participants will share complementary knowledge and skills to each develop a new program or increase capacity in a particular area. Participant pairs will also become part of a national learning community through professional development trainings, regional site visits, and attendance at the annual Growing Food and Justice for All (GFJI) gathering.
Each organization will receive a small stipend to support participation. At the end of the year, each learning pair will submit a proposal for seed funding to implement a collaborative project. Both organizations will be funded to conduct site visits to their partner’s community, attend regional and/or national gatherings, and receive training and technical assistance from WhyHunger and Growing Power.
Goals
Grow organizations’ capacity in specific ways though knowledge and skill exchange with a peer organization;
Increase the number of impactful and robust community food projects; and Initiate and support connections, thereby contributing to the groundswell of organizations and communities invested in community-based food systems around the nation.
Expected Outcomes
Participating organizations will: demonstrate replicability of programmatic elements; gain skills in popular education techniques, new media, and other desired areas of professional development through a series of trainings; increase capacity for teaching and/or training and identify as part of a national teaching community with other community food system advocates and practitioners; gain knowledge in specific topic area; increase cultural competency
Resources
Each organization will receive a small stipend for participation.
Each learning pair will submit a budget for a collaborative project proposal to be considered for full or partial funding by WhyHunger and Growing Power.
Travel costs for each site visit and training will be covered by WhyHunger.
Application and Selection
Organizations will submit an application to be considered for the program. Selections will be based in part on compatibility and appropriate matchup of need and knowledge between the two partners.
To request an application, e-mail Siena Chrisman at siena@whyhunger.org or (212) 629-8850.
Training
Participants will receive a one-day training on shared leadership and participatory training techniques at the GFJI gathering.
Participants will take part in one weekend workshop conducted by Growing Power in Milwaukee or at another approved location.
Participants will attend a national gathering of all Community Learning Project participants and collaborators, including training on
cultural competency, anti-racism, network development, new media documentation skills, and other topics relevant to the growth of the community food movement.
Site Visits
Partners will each conduct a site visit to the other on mutually convenient dates in the first several months of the project. WhyHunger staff will accompany each visit. Goals of the site visits include: developing the relationship between two partners;
demonstrating the specific project or programmatic element that the partnership is focusing on; providing an opportunity for in-person learning, teaching, and planning.
Collaborative Project
At the end of the project year, each learning pair will develop and submit a collaborative project proposal. Topics and themes for the project should arise from the development of the pair’s relationship. Project proposals are meant to demonstrate continued learning opportunities and development of relationships within the partnership and contribute to each organization’s growth and the food movement as a whole.
WhyHunger and Growing Power will review each proposal, determine their funding contribution, and work with the partners to continue to develop planning and funding for the proposal.
Communication
Regular communication will be an essential part of building a strong relationship and developing a successful project — while also being balanced with other time constraints. Project pairs should expect that regular contact with each other and with WhyHunger staff — whether weekly, bimonthly, or somewhere in between — will be part of the project’s time commitment.
Evaluation
May include pre- and post-project surveys of partners and communities, as well as direct observation and/or data collection regarding progress of project implementation. Some evaluation will be ongoing, based on regular communication between partners and WhyHunger.
Sustainable Food Jobs 