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What’s My Place in this Work? Reflection Tool​

 

The What’s My Place in this Work? Reflection Tool supports individuals and organizations interested in engaging in collaborative work implementing community-centered initiatives to identify what role they are best suited to play in that work. This tool is intended to be an onramp or invitation for anyone wanting and willing to participate in community-centered work to facilitate reflection and discussion between partners. The tool was developed in partnership with Elephant Circle and the MI SBJ. Complete the fillable tool below, or access a PDF version of the tool here.

What’s the Purpose of this Tool?
To facilitate discussion and reflection about the starting place of an individual or organization regarding the role they should play in the implementation of a given community-centered initiative.

Who is this Tool for?
Any individual or organization looking to engage in collaborative work implementing community-centered initiatives.

How do I use this Tool?
Either individually or with other folks from your organization, discuss each of the statements below and reflect upon how true each statement feels for your work as it is currently done. The statements are framed as “we” statements – the first step of this tool is defining who is your “we” in this work. Note that you can answer these questions for yourself individually or for a group, whatever makes the most sense for your context.

Based on what you discuss, give yourself a “1”, “2”, or “3” in the far-left column of the table based on the following descriptions:

  • SCORE 1: You/we do not currently do this, or this statement does not feel like it accurately describes your/our work.
  • SCORE 2: You/we somewhat do this, or this statement feels like it somewhat describes your/our work.
  • SCORE 3: You/we always do this, or this statement feels like it accurately describes your/our work.

Once you have gone through and assigned a number for each statement, add up all the numbers in the left column to get the total score for the assessment tool. Then use the table on the last pages of the tool to learn what role you/your organization is best suited to play in this initiative based on the score.

Download a PDF Version of the tool

What’s Our Starting Point? Results Table
Based on your Total Score, the table below describes the role that your organization is best suited to play in implementing community-centered initiatives. Note that this role is based on your work as it is currently being done now and could change in the future.

 

If you score between 19 and 32, you are a Cheerleader. The role you are best fit to play is one of support and amplification. You are not the best positioned organization to lead community-rooted work, but you are well positioned to partner with community-based organizations who might be. Think about your existing and potential community partners who might be well positioned to lead this work and focus on building supportive relationships with those organizations.
If you score between 32 and 45, you are an Activator. The role you are best fit to play is one of execution and action. You have connections to the community you are serving and are ready to hit the ground running to implement this community-rooted initiative. You are ready to be an active partner to the organization leading this work and are committed to ensuring that the initiative is implemented in a way that centers the preferences and needs of the community being served.
If you score between 45 and 57, you are a Leader. You are well suited to lead this community-rooted initiative. Your organization shares values with the community you are serving, is already doing extensive community engagement work, and is committed to building the capacity of your community partners. You are well positioned to lead partners to implement this initiative and have the commitment to do so. Ask partners to fill in gaps in your capacity, help them know how to help you.

Tool in Action – Examples from the 2021 Colorado Birth Bill Package Process:

The Colorado Children’s Campaign became a vital Cheerleader. They had been in conversation with Elephant Circle for years leading up to this effort. Though bigger and more established, they used their policy infrastructure and power to redirect partners to leaders, amplify the talking points of leaders, and coordinate testimony and lobbying.
The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and Colorado Center for Law and Policy were Activators. They had not been deeply engaged before the legislation was introduced, but they quickly understood the alignment with their policy objectives as well as the power dynamics. They did not have to be coached but understood their lane and used their positional power to support and amplify not just the messages but the strategy.
Along with Elephant Circle as a Leader, organizations like Soul 2 Soul Sisters and Clayton Early Learning leveraged their community connections to ensure community voices were involved and informing the process at every step of the way. Sometimes community connections led other organizations to be Activators and Cheerleaders. For example, after sharing her story as a directly-impacted person, a staff member of the Teen Parent Collaborative also leveraged her organization as an Activator.