One of the reasons I enjoy writing Positive News is that it reminds me there is so much good work happening that rarely makes the headlines.
Recently, the conversations we’re having with organizations and learners have reminded me how much we learn by listening.
This summer, the Reengagement Network and the National Youth Employment Coalition invited us to speak with their members, community organizations helping Opportunity Youth, young people who have become disconnected from school and work and often face significant barriers to getting back on track. Thank you to both networks for these invitations, and to our client partners, the Arizona Center for Youth Resources and Success Centers in San Francisco, for co-presenting with us.
These presentations, and especially the conversations that followed, have taught us a great deal about the priorities of these organizations and the young people they serve.
These conversations also reminded me of the Rolling Stones lyric:
“You can’t always get what you want… you just might find, you get what you need.”
The more conversations we’ve had, the more I’ve realized that while the wants and needs of both organizations and learners are important, the folks we work with have limited time and resources, and so it is especially important to focus on what will have the greatest impact with the capacity available.
Organizations we’ve spoken with have told us they appreciate many of the capabilities our platform offers to provide incentives, from gamifying actions to creating additional ways to stay in touch. Those features matter because they make learner participation more engaging. As we’ve listened more closely, we’ve learned that what many organizations need most is simpler ways to distribute incentives so staff can spend more time working directly with learners, and better reporting tools that make it easier to meet funders’ financial accountability requirements.
We’ve heard a similar story from learners. During a recent activity with participants in Success Centers’ pre-apprenticeship construction program to pick out possible rewards they could earn, they were just as excited about PlayStation gift cards as they were about Target gift cards. But when it came time to redeem their points, they most often chose rewards that helped meet immediate needs, especially food.
| Photo Credit: Success Centers participants “dot voting” to select available reward cards. |
This is a powerful reminder that while rewards can be fun and motivating, they are also important to removing barriers to achieving educational and career goals..
An advantage of being an early-stage organization is that we can quickly incorporate these insights into what we’re building. Even better, we’re learning alongside the organizations we serve. Their ideas, experiences, and feedback are helping us create a platform that better meets the real-world needs of front-line organizations and their learners. To me, the positive news is that there are extraordinary people and organizations across the country, deeply committed to helping young people succeed, and we’re fortunate to work with them.
With Gratitude,
Carrie
