Close to ten years ago I founded thePublic Allies Teaching Fellowship ProgramatEagle Rock School & Professional Development Center. In ten years our AmeriCorps program has enjoyed wild success including over a 97% retention/completion/graduation rate. Much of the success can be attributed to our Asset Based model that weve used to strengthen our service site.

The key feature of the Fellowship Program, Eagle Rocks emphasis on Asset Based Community Development, is an approach to community development that advocates the use of skills and strengths that are already present within the community, rather than obtaining help from outside institutions. The phrase asset-based refers to a positive, capacity-driven approach that encourages community members to make progress for themselves, as opposed to a traditional needs-driven approach that makes the community dependent on institutional help.

Former Public Allies colleague, Michelle Obama, says of Asset Based Community Development, My time at Public Allies also gave me the opportunity to work with John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann, who developed the Asset-Based Community Development approach to neighborhood development, and that really influenced how we worked with communities. Some of you may be familiar with this approach, but the approach acknowledges that all of us, every single one of us breathing in this community, in this planet, those of us serving and those of us who are being served, that were all both half-full and half-empty. We all have skills and talents that make us good friends, family members, workers, and leaders, and we also have needs and shortcomings that come along with those strengths. We cant do well serving these communities, I learned with Public Allies, if we believe that we, the givers, are the only ones that are half-full, and that everybody were serving is half-empty. That has been the theme of my work in community for my entire life that there are assets and gifts out there in communities, and that our job as good servants and as good leaders is not only just being humble, but its having the ability to recognize those gifts in others, and help them put those gifts into action. Communities are filled with assets that we need to better recognize and mobilize if were really going to make a difference, and Public Allies helped me see that.

Using Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center as a case study,Session 5030, Strengthen Your Service Site with Asset Based Community Development, will take place on Tuesday, June 7th from 8.30 - 10.00 am. In this highly interactive session, participants are encouraged to join with a colleague to fully capture the power of this delivery. All participants will receive a DVD toolkit worth $40. While in NOLA follow our twitter hash tag #NCVS #ABCD to win prizes for the duration of the conference.