8 ways to provide Agency Leadership for the Mpowerment Project

DYK. The Mpowerment manual is free!  Module 3 is devoted to the Implementing Agency and shares implementation best practices. 

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The following guidelines can help agencies provide effective leadership for the Mpowerment Project.

RELATED:  What is the Mpowerment Project? Download Module 1: Mpowerment Overview.

1) Make HIV prevention among a diverse population of young bisexual and gay men a priority. Articulate this goal in the agency’s annual plans and long-range planning, and formulate plans for implementing the Mpowerment Project in advance.

The Mu Crew | Mpowerment Dayton OH

2) Commit to finding the right people for the Mpowerment Project Coordinator positions. The Coordinators are critical to the success of the Project.

3) Acknowledge the importance of the Core Group by creating a role for it in the agency’s decision-making processes. There are a number of ways to ensure this occurs. For example, Core Group members could be invited to meet with the agency’s board or directors, or could participate on a board subcommittee. At a minimum, the Project Supervisor could ensure that reports from the Core Group are heard at the highest level of decision-making within the agency. 

4) Shortly after hiring Project Coordinators, agencies should have them conduct an assessment to understand and be up-to-date about the young men’s scene and the diversity within the local young gay/ bisexual male community in order to gain perspectives from diverse young gay/bisexual men about issues relevant to the intervention. Detailed information on conducting a community assessment is provided in Module 2.*

5) Discuss implementation of the Mpowerment Project with other CBO staff. The Mpowerment Project website has some materials that may be helpful to share with staff so they understand the goals and objectives of the new program. Elicit input from the rest of the CBO staff about how the agency’s various programs can work collaboratively with the Mpowerment Project, building on the agency’s strengths and experiences.

RELATED: 16 Steps for starting the #Mpowerment Project in your community.

Mpowerment Coordinators at USCA 2013

6) Ensure that staff who have been hired to run and supervise the Mpowerment Project obtain adequate training in how to implement the program, and thoroughly review materials such as the training manual*. Maintain good communication lines with Project staff so they feel comfortable in requesting assistance when they need it, both from agency staff and from the Mpowerment Project’s technical assistance team.  

We host MP trainings throughout the year in different cities. Interested in attending our next MP training? Contact Ben Zovod at Benjamin.Zovod@ucsf.edu or call 415.476.6428.

RELATED: Join us. Attend the Mpowerment Project training. 

7) Where needed, introduce new evaluation methods for staff to use in analyzing Project performance. This may entail training staff and demonstrating how to apply information gathered during the community assessment. For example, if your community assessment showed that many different groups of young gay/bisexual men exist in your community, yet only one or two groups routinely show up at Project sponsored Social Outreach Events, programmatic changes are likely needed to attract new groups of men to the Project. This requires evaluating every Social Outreach Event for the diversity of men who attend it.

RELATED: 7 issues that will facilitate or impede MP implementation. 

8) Continually investigate funding possibilities and submit grant applications. It is the responsibility of the agency to generate funding for the Project. (The young gay/bisexual men who serve as volunteers in the Project are unlikely to have much expertise in this area.) 

Mpowerment National Advisory Board (NAB) 2009

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DYK. The Mpowerment manual is free!  Module 3 is devoted to the Implementing Agency and shares implementation best practices.