Culminating Reflection

In the inaugural year, organizations received a tailored program to help them build their organizational capacity to serve youth effectively. Liberty Hill and Destiny worked together to design a program that was not “off the shelf,” but was led by trainers and coaches who reflected the communities they were serving, integrated a community-informed approach that centered racial equity, and honored the expertise and longevity of organizations, building on their strengths. Capacity building coaches, trainers and consultants balanced structure with flexibility as they worked with grantees ranging in size, staff support, budget, and diversity of both staff and youth served. The Destiny team provided structure around assessment, goal setting, monthly coaching, and goal implementation as a systematic way of supporting organizations and staff, but they also met grantees where they were in terms of capacity of time and focus. Due to the deep work with grantees beginning with the diagnostic assessment, Destiny built relationships of trust, open communication, flexibility, and partnership with each organization. With this foundation of trust, the program was able to adapt and address challenges presented by COVID-19 and the racial uprisings following the murder of George Floyd.