Deadline: 28-Feb-22
River Network is seeking applications from interested water utilities and community groups who jointly want to receive technical, financial, capacity building, and leadership development support to help bolster their partnership over eight months.
River Network and the WaterNow Alliance are working together to provide support for community organizations and water utilities seeking to build trusting relationships as part of their work together they are inviting applications for its Trust Building Support Initiative.
Program Supports
The Trust Building Support Initiative provides the following toward developing skills and approaches for building trust:
- Technical, capacity building, and leadership development support via coaching, mentoring, and peer support;
- Access to additional WaterNow Alliance and River Network membership benefits, including conferences, leadership, technical training, and recognition opportunities;
- Showcasing of progress and results via River Network and WaterNow publications and conferences or other events.
Initiative Expectations
Both the community group and the water utility are expected to:
- Participate in an initial assessment that further defines goals, identifies 1-2 trust-building best practices to deploy, and guide technical and leadership development support received;
- Attend monthly calls/virtual learning opportunities with other selected Trust Building Support Initiatives partnerships;
- Participate in and apply technical and/or leadership development support throughout the project (March-October);
- Document progress in building trust and share final assessment of barriers and successes via a short final report and participate in 1-2 activities to share lessons learned and the results of their work with the project team and/or a national audience (e.g. writing a blog post, presenting at a webinar or national conference, etc.).
Funding Information
- Financial support and/or leadership development training valued at approximately $6,000 for each partner.
Selection Criteria
- Commitment from both the local community organization and water utility to participate in this effort.
- The degree to which specific desired outcomes can be achieved through technical, leadership, and capacity-building assistance.
- The degree to which the funding and technical assistance will support the partnership’s overall development, as well as each partner’s organizational missions.
- Issues of equity are identified as important to the partnership and improved quality of life and social and environmental benefits for marginalized communities are desired outcomes of the partnership.
For more information, visit https://www.rivernetwork.org/trust-building-support-initiative-applications-open-now/