Aug 13, 2024
The Situation
El Pájaro Community Development Corporation (EPCDC) is a Community Development Financial Institution and a trusted resource in the Central California community. Their mission is to promote equal access to economic opportunity and transform people’s lives through entrepreneurship.
GLP was invited in to help support the internal team as they renovated and strengthened Empresari@, a widely respected and praised entrepreneurial readiness program, while honoring its spirit and legacy. The team also wanted to work towards building capacity and confidence in designing and facilitating effective learning programs for their constituents.
The Journey
One challenge for this work was the sheer amount of information included in the current course. We had to re-imagine how an online, 13-week, content-dense program could better integrate adult learning principles and leave space for rich dialogue among the budding entrepreneurs. GLP shared examples of certification training programs from past clients including facilitator guides, participant workbooks and learning journeys to kick off the visioning process.
We collaborated for over a year with in-depth mini-workshops and many collaborative design sessions with the entire team. This included a 3-day in-person design workshop where we taught the learning-centered practices and then immediately applied these principles and techniques to renovating the training program.
This led us to shift the program in 3 major ways:
- We designed the sessions and slides with plenty of space for questions and thinking among the participants and moved the valuable content information into a few select one-page documents.
- We split up the 13-week program into two phases. Phase 1 focuses on vetting the business idea and assessing the readiness of the entrepreneur. Phase 2 focuses on building a solid business plan and putting important pieces in place.
- We offered more individual touchpoints with the facilitators. Participants left these coaching meetings with confidence in their choices based on the trust that was established in the virtual sessions and the tailored support.
The Impact
To date, EPCDC has piloted Phase 1 and is getting Phase 2 ready to pilot. The greatest impact is seen, heard, and felt in the participant experience of the renovated learning program. One pilot participant shared that she is “making decisions about her life based on what she learned in the program.” Several more are excited to move forward, feeling their idea is stronger after being tested in Phase 1. Others have decided not to pursue their original business idea, which is counted as a success! They can now spend their time, energy, and money working towards something they truly want to pursue and where they feel more confident in succeeding.
After working together for over a year, the “dream team” of dedicated committed staff members decided to advance their skills in designing for adult learners through GLP’s Foundations of Dialogue Education training. They were then awarded Certified Dialogue Education Practitioners status and are part of the GLP Certified Network, where the learning continues.
