Over the years, we’ve received feedback from AmeriCorps program staff that there’s a deep need for engaging, live training opportunities for both members and staff throughout the year. Last year, to fill that gap for our national service-focused clients, we partnered with Do Good, Be Good to provide a series of immediately-helpful workshops for members, program staff, and site supervisors we serve.
That first attempt was incredibly successful. Hundreds of members and staff attended with rave reviews. Even more, one service commission we work with was able to reallocate much of its own T/TA budget to other activities because the workshops we provided met nearly all the training needs of members and staff in its state.
Building on 2022’s success, we’re thrilled to announce the contination and expansion of this partnership for 2023. Like last year, all workshops will be free to organizations using any aspect of the Impact Suite. New for this year, two of the sessions will be free to the entire national service community!
THE LINEUP!
We’ll be facilitating 12 virtual workshops this year, one a month. Six for AmeriCorps members, six for AmeriCorps program staff. Here’s the menu of the first ten scheduled sessions:
January 25th
Time Management, Setting Boundaries, and Developing Healthy Habits (For AmeriCorps Members)
Feeling overwhelmed? Too many commitments and not enough time? Join us for this reflective and essential workshop which will cover both practical and conceptual models for time management. Join with paper and pen and your planner on hand as we will give you a chance to apply what you are learning right away and get yourself set for your best week yet.
February 15th
Member Engagement – Creating a Virtual Community for Members
This session is for programs whose members do not serve in person together but you want them to feel connected to one another and to your program. How do you build a sense of community within your cohort? How can you make the most of virtual meetings to strengthen the relationships among members?
March 29th
Figuring Out Your Next Steps (For AmeriCorps Members)
As you get ready to exit AmeriCorps, you have options. You can use your recent experience to jump into a new career, go back to school, or maybe you want to live out of a van and blog about river ecology. AmeriCorps is a great jumping off point for transition but it is not always easy to know how to choose a next step. In this session, we will lead you through a few reflection exercises as well as small group discussion. You will leave with next steps that you can take action on to get ready for Life After AmeriCorps.
April 13th
Recruitment: Communicating the Value Proposition of AmeriCorps to Applicants
With the unemployment rate low, cost of living up, and the competition for candidates high, one of the key challenges that a recruiter has to overcome is to calculate and communicate the value proposition for AmeriCorps. What are the benefits of serving beyond the living allowance and education award? What matters most to applicants? For whom does it make sense to join AmeriCorps and how can you connect with them? We will dive deep into this aspect of recruitment in this interactive session.
May 24th
How I Used My Education Award (For AmeriCorps Members)
Paying off student loans, pursuing graduate school, taking an online course in underwater basket weaving…there are so many options for how to use your education award. During this workshop, you will get a chance to hear stories from AmeriCorps alumni who navigated MyAmeriCorps.gov successfully and used their award to further their goals. Get ideas, tips on making it through the paperwork and a plan for how to make the most of this benefit.
June 21st
Recruitment: Preparing Host Sites
This session is for programs who place members at host sites and want to involve host sites in the process of promoting open positions and screening applicants. We will cover all the essentials from timelines, expectation setting, designing interview questions, and how to handle pushback from sites on qualified candidates.
July 19th
Making a Great First Impression (For AmeriCorps Members)
Whether it’s a job interview or a conversation with a mentor, you are likely to have an important zoom video call coming up in which it’s important that you make a great first impression. Good news, we are going to help you prepare! During this workshop you will get to practice what to say, how to say it, and how to set up your space for a professional look and sound.
August 9th
Planning Your Member Calendar Around the Member Lifecycle
Every AmeriCorps member has a unique experience, but there are patterns that show up consistently as members move from the Honeymoon phase to Facing Reality to Overcoming then finally to Accomplishment and Exit Fever. By strategically aligning your trainings and member engagement activities around this lifecycle, you can anticipate the challenges members will face and proactively intervene just in time. A well planned calendar can go a long way to member retention and we’ll help you design it in this session.
September 27th
Welcome to AmeriCorps (For AmeriCorps Members)
You have just been inducted into an AmeriCorps program. Welcome aboard! AmeriCorps service is different from anything you have done before. In this webinar you will learn more about the history of AmeriCorps, the expectations of all AmeriCorps members, and a few key tips to ensure that you have a successful term of service.
October 18th
Recruitment: Rebooting a Late Start Cohort
This is the hardest cycle of recruitment in recent memory. This group is for AmeriCorps Program Directors who are actively recruiting for AmeriCorps positions and need support. It would be ideal for someone who has 5-30 open positions and is looking to fill them between October and December 2023.
November 15th
Breaking Up with Burnout (For AmeriCorps Members)
Whether you’ve been casually acquainted in the past or you’re currently flirting with burnout, there’s something for you in this session. We’ll explore the connection between stress and burnout, invite you to confidentially DTR you have with each, and swipe left on stress, essentially kicking the risk of burnout to the curb.
December 6th
The Essentials of Feedback and Coaching
How do you get an AmeriCorps member to do what you want them to do? Feed them! Just kidding. Supervising an AmeriCorps member requires a great understanding of coaching and mentoring. Do you feel confident in your ability to give effective feedback? What is the different between coaching, appreciation, and feedback? In this webinar we will cover the basics of feedback and coaching as well as touching on some of the more challenging aspects of delivering feedback that really helps.
BUYING TIX
If you’re using the Impact Suite, stay tuned for an e-mail from our customer support team with a link to register for free.
If you’re not using the Impact Suite, purchase individual tickets with Do Good, Be Good, or set up a meeting with DGBG to discuss package opportunities.