The Anatomy of a Connector
Community Connectors
Thanks for posting this April. I have always marveled at finding those folks in the communities I work with that are the natural connectors. Not those that call themselves the connectors but those that actually do the work. I have been disappointed in some of the wonderful oppurtunities we have had here in Indy to put these natural connectors into positions that they truly could make a difference in their neighborhood. We have a wonderful partnership between our public school system and the United Way that funds "Community School Coordinators" in close to 20 of our schools. It has so much promise and they have hired for the most part good people but the emphasis has been connecting students and parents to social services. They have been sold the "wrap around services" model that does nothing but hurt community. Wouldn't it be powerful to have these coordinators as true connectors in the school buildings. Because of this dynamic there are a lot of social workers applying for and getting these positions. This gets to the 1st sentence in April's "Defining / Finding Connectors" you can not teach people to be natural connectors. You can teach them to be MSW's that connect families to services. (Not Saying that all MSW's are bad)I have always found them by, as most everyone else has said, listening to people that talk like connectors. As it was said above listening for "you should meet so in so" or "I know a person that is doing that same thing". I think also talking to people and explaining what you mean when you say c"connector". A lot of times people will say "that sounds like Greg" or "Sally meets that discription". People are aware who those natural connectors are you just need to help them put a name on it.
