Community Lemonade for Life

Pilot approach was a success

Community members representing a wide range of professions gathered this year for the first community-based Lemonade for Life training in order to learn more about the impact that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have on individuals and their community. As part of this pilot, participants were also asked to develop community interventions they could employ to meet the needs they identified.

The pilot was conducted in Hamilton, Monroe, and Jones counties in Iowa. A wide range of community members from different professions, who play divergen roles in the community, were invited to attend the training. This community-centered approach was a shift for Lemonade for Life, which usually focuses on training family support professionals.

“The idea was to get people whom we would not usually target for a training like this, to broaden the scope,” explains Breanne Ward, founder of ForWard Consulting LLC in Des Moines, who led the trainings on behalf of CPPR. “We took a net and threw it out and whoever came in came in, and they came in strong. That was what was so beautiful about it – they were all invested.”

The pilot included 67 people from all three counties, including members of law enforcement, afterschool professionals, members of the faith community, and even a librarian. And they have already gotten to work, applying what they learned, Breanne says. For example, in Jones County, “They are using Lemonade for Life principles to complement what they are already doing. Lots of the participants had partnerships in place focused on protecting children. They asked, ‘How can we integrate these ideas into that?’”

Each county is offered three coaching calls, 30 days apart, to collaborate with the participants to find innovative ways to build hope and resiliency in their communities.

Meet Natasha!

Natasha Welsh is a new assistant researcher

What will you be doing at CPPR? 

I’m doing a lot of different things, including help desk and implementation support for IRIS and community outreach for Kansas Connecting Communities (KCC).

Why did you decide to join our team?

I was initially drawn to the research and evaluation work CPPR does. I love to do research and organize large sets of data, which may sound nuts! But more than that, I want to be in a place that engages with community members and is focused on impacting people’s lives. It’s great to be involved in an institution that wants to change and improve people’s lives.

You like to organize data. Does that mean organization is your super power?

I’m not naturally an organized person – that’s my big secret. I have had to find ways to organize my thoughts and my workspace, and now it’s become a habit.

Then what is your super power?

Curiosity. I have always had a drive to learn more. I read as much as I can. I like to acquire as much new information as I can. You never know when it will be helpful!

What quarantine wisdom have you gained that you can pass on to us? 

When COVID is contained, what do you want to do first?  

Travel! San Francisco is on my list. A lot of where I want to go is influenced by art. They have wonderful art museums there.

You’re an avid reader. What do you recommend?

I read science fiction fantasy when I want something fun and light. I just finished re-reading the Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien and The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury.

Who do you share your life with?

My partner, Kenny, and two cats – a huge ragdoll Maine Coon named Titus and Olive, who we found as an orphan (Olive is short for Oliver Twist).

2020 Goals

Time to evaluate your performance and set new goals

A note from Jackie

It’s that time of year again. The process of setting goals, assessing your own performance, and discussing it with your supervisor is an annual ritual and one I’ve come to look forward to. It is a way for you to set priorities for yourself and hear expectations from your supervisor for the next year. It’s a reset.

Think about what is important to you on your professional journey. What would you like to focus on this next year? What are the opportunities within your own workload or across CPPR for you to gain that experience? How do your priorities align with your workload, schedule, and deliverables? What adjustments will you need to make? What supports will you need? How will you know if you are successful?

As a collective, I want us to focus on two things this year:

1. Clarity of expectations (reduction of ambiguity)
2. Equity (removal of bias)

Use the process to establish expectations for this next year. One consistent theme I’ve read about is open box = open to bias. (Think of the open box in this situation as the box where you put in your goals.) The more specific you can be in your priorities and how you will know if you are moving in the direction you want, the less opportunity there is for slippage in perspective.

Our work lives will continue to be challenged by remote-work only for the foreseeable future. We are an ecosystem that strives to address individual, center, and broader societal needs. Sometimes the needs of each entity will be in tension. The evaluation process and the future-focused discussion is one way to jointly establish guidelines. I also see the process as a way to frame supervision discussions, weekly updates, and professional development needs.

In solidarity,

Jackie
 

Your Next Steps

• You’ll find your 2020 staff performance evaluation in your Performance Inbox in the Performance Management System.
• You will be asked to rate yourself and provide comments for all the goals you set for 2020. If you want, you can also comment on the KU core competencies.
• When reviewing your performance, keep in mind CPPR’s supervisory best practices.

Helpful Resources

• Performance Management System Step-by-Step Instructions manual
• Best Practices in Employee Self-Evaluation video
• Human Resources Management email

Land O' Links

One-click access for your most often used CPPR links