MSIC Impact Monterey County

2019 Scholar Action Research Project

Middlebury Social Impact Corps

The Middlebury Social Impact Corps (MSIC) program, housed under Middlebury College’s Experiential Learning Centers as part of its Programs on Creativity and Innovation, connects students to social change with unique internship opportunities.

Impact Monterey County

Impact Monterey County (IMC) is a collaborative effort of nonprofits, businesses, public agencies and the community working together to identify the most effective ways to improve life in Monterey County.

2019 Community Needs & Aspirations Assessment

In 2014, United Way Monterey County brought together nonprofits, businesses, public agencies, and the community to conduct a county-wide assessment of community needs and aspirations throughout Monterey County. The assessment results presented a clear articulation of what Monterey County residents want for themselves, their families, and their communities. Impact Monterey County was born out of that collaborative effort and decided collectively to conduct a similar assessment in 2019.

2019 Middlebury Social Impact Corps: Impact Monterey County

This site was submitted as a deliverable for the Middlebury Social Impact Corps (Impact Monterey County) Scholars Action Research Project on 09/16/2019

In addition to supporting Impact Monterey’s 2019 Community Needs and Aspirations Assessment, Scholars conducted an action research project focused on the overarching research question of: “How is social impact conceptualized by the host organization?”

Derived from this overarching research question, we asked: “To what extent is the Middlebury Social Impact Corps model effective in supporting the work of Impact Monterey County’s 2019 Community Needs and Aspirations Assessment?“

To answer this question, it is important to first understand:

The objectives of Middlebury Social Impact Corps
The history and goals of Impact Monterey County
The Monterey context
The 2019 Community Needs and Aspirations Assessment

IMC Scholars

Emily Day Hoang is pursuing a degree in the Masters of Public Administration and Masters of International Education Management programs at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Read More

Adam Schreiber is pursuing a degree in the Masters of Public Administration at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Read More

Takeaways

Summer 2019 was the first time MSIC had partnered with United Way Monterey County (UWMC). As an inaugural program, we did not have the benefit of previous cohorts’ experiences to rely on. While this gave us the freedom to create our own orientation and on-boarding process for our cohort, it also left us with the significant responsibility of ensuring that we properly introduced the cohort to Impact Monterey County, the county itself, and the expectations for our work...

The Cohort

In 2019, MSIC began a new partnership with United Way Monterey County to support the Impact Monterey County Network (IMC) and its 2019 Community Needs and Aspirations Assessment. The cohort of four Middlebury College undergraduate students (Interns) and two Middlebury Institute of International Studies students (Scholars) explored Collective Impact within the Monterey County context through supporting IMC’s 2019 Community Needs and Aspirations Assessment.

2019 MSIC IMC Cohort
Front: Mollie Smith, Jayla Johnson
Middle: Adam Schreiber, Nina Cruz, Dr. Netta Avineri (MSIC Support Staff)
Back: Dana Anderson (MSIC Support Staff), Emily Hoang, Ben Yamron

Thank You!

We would like to thank Clare Margason for going above and beyond in making our cohort feel welcomed and ready to support the IMC Assessment.
Thank you to Dana Anderson and Dr. Netta Avineri for their support throughout the program.
Thank you to the staff of United Way Monterey County for welcoming us, to Yoselinne Gonzalez and Ken Townend for being a part of our team.
Thank you to all the community members who allowed us to be a part of the long and on-going conversation of working towards a better Monterey County.

Finally, to our Interns, Mollie Smith, Nina Cruz, Jayla Johnson, and Ben Yamron: thank you for trusting us despite all the ambiguity and for being an awesome team.

For more information about Middlebury Social Impact Corps, please contact Dana Anderson at (danaa@middlebury.edu)
For more information about the 2019 MSIC Impact Monterey County Action Research Project, you may contact the scholars Emily Day Hoang at (ehoang@miis.edu) and Adam Schreiber at (aschreiber@miis.edu) or Dr. Netta Avineri at (navineri@miis.edu)