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Code for America Code of Conduct

Code for America is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of staff, presenters, and participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for the Code for America Summit. Anyone in violation of these policies may expelled from Code for America network activities, events, and digital forums, at the discretion of the event organizer or forum administrator.

https://www.codeforamerica.org/code-of-conduct/

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Brigade Congress Presentation Instructions

Thank you for speaking at Brigade Congress! Here are a few suggestions to help make your session run smoothly:

This session will be held over Zoom Webinar.
If this is a panel, please share this template with your fellow panelists.
Check your internet connection, sound, microphone and background before the session. You may want to prepare your Zoom background ahead of time.
Keep text on slides limited - it can be difficult to read slides with a lot of text when streaming

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Howdy, Partner 🤠

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In one word,

how would you

describe your week?

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Mellina (she/her)

San Francisco native
HBCU grad
Denverite
Code for Denver
Things I love:

Rollerskating
TRAILS!
My son

SF ⛹🏼‍♂️> ATL ❤️> Denver ⛰

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What I know:

Partnership takes time
Partnership is a tool
It’s a skill, not a science

What I want to know:

What does it mean to be “partnership-first”
What does it take to be partnership first?
How can I best support the Network and it’s partners

Partnership takes time — like all relationships. So it’s okay if a partnership isn’t on your radar… if you don’t have the capacity
Partnership is a tool — it’s a resource. When we talk about delivering impact through partnership, partnership is the tool. And like most tools, it just makes things so much easier
It’s a skill, not a science — like most skills, it takes practice. So it’s okay if you’re not great at it right now. Again, like all relationships, there are guidelines and practices, but the only way to be really good at it is to try. And to keep trying.
What does it mean to be partnership first — what does it mean for our volunteers, Brigade leaders, partners? How does this shift from technology focus to partnership focus effect our Network as a whole?
What does it take to be partnership first — what resources are needed?
How can I support — this is where I struggle the most. When I’m faced with a problem, I automatically go into problem-solver mode. It’s like, I know what *I* would do… and it’s only after some time that I realize wait… you didn’t ask what *they* would do.

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In your current role, what do you struggle with the most?

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ReVisioning ReWind

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Senior Partnerships Manager

Cultivate and deepen relationships between volunteers and partners across the Network Portfolio.

In this role,

I’m excited to:

Deliver impact through partnership
Develop tools for volunteers to engage in relationship building
Engage with our partners
Create spaces for volunteers and partners to connect, collaborate, and learn from each other

And that’s how this role came to be! In this role I’m excited to:

Deliver impact through partnership – I joined Code for Denver because I wanted to make an impact. It’s a personal mission and I’m excited to partner with this Network – as a whole as well as each individual brigade and community to make an impact. The CfA Network as a community to which I am accountable. I’m looking forward to connecting and helping people.

Develop tools for Brigade volunteers to engage in partnership/relationship building –I understand that developing partnerships takes time and effort and I want to make this experience as light of a lift as possible. So whether you need an email template, one-pager, presentation template… I’m happy to partner with MarComms to create the tools you need so you can focus on brigade tasks.
Create spaces to collaborate and engage with each other and our partners – Like I said, I see this Network as a community and in this role I look forward to creating more spaces for us to come together, to learn together, to learn from each other.
Engage with our partners — I want to to create a safe space for partners. I like being a part of a Network. I like feeling like I’m a part of something bigger and I like to make our partners feel that way also. I want them to feel like they’re a part of our network. Because they are.

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What part of cultivating partnerships is the most difficult for you?

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Deliver impact through partnership

We partner with local and national organizations and community groups to identify needs of underserved communities and provide technology support by using our practices of human-centered design, user research and data-driven decision making.

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Deliver impact through partnership

Partner with local and national organizations and community groups
Identify needs of underserved communities
Provide technology support by using our practices of human-centered design, user research and data-driven decision making.

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Caption

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Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, 1997

“You have to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology”

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Partner with local and national organizations and community groups

Step 1: Partner with Orgs

They’re subject matter experts
Bigger impact together
Amplifying there messaging
Joining activities
Join our activities!
Partner with us by joining a branch

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Identify the needs of underserved communities

Step 2: Identify needs

Partnering with our community
Observing our community
Join town halls
Ask questions
Listening
Qualitative research
Holding ourselves accountable

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Provide technology support by using

our practices of human-centered design,

user research and data-driven decision-making.

Step 3: Provide technology

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In order to prioritize partnership, what resource(s) could you use more of?

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What do we want our partners

to know about us?

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What’s Next?