Empower CoP — Help Us Understand Your Work | RIDER

Help Us Make Sure
We Got It Right

After our March 31 session, we want to confirm that we understood what matters to you — and learn more. This short survey helps the RIDER team build something that actually fits your work. It should take about 10 minutes.

⏱ About 10 minutes  ·  No right or wrong answers  ·  Your responses go directly to the RIDER team

Why we're asking

On March 31, you shared real challenges, real root causes, and real ideas. We listened carefully. Now we want to show you what we heard — and give you the chance to tell us if we got it right, if we missed something, or if we got something wrong.

This survey does three things:

  • Confirms (or corrects) our understanding of the challenges you named
  • Helps us learn which tools and solutions are most important to you
  • Gives you a chance to check in on your learning homework and tell us what you tried

There are no trick questions. We are learning from you — not evaluating you.

Section 1 of 4
Challenges We Heard
Below are the main challenges that came up across all four small groups on March 31. For each one, tell us how much it matches your experience. There's also space to add anything we missed.

How to read this: We're not saying these are your personal failures — we're describing patterns in the systems you work within. If something resonates, tell us. If we got it wrong or overstated it, tell us that too.

Fear of losing funding shapes decisions more than mission does Organizations (including yours) sometimes optimize for what funders want to see rather than what actually solves the problem — because the consequences of not complying are too high.
Organizations protect information rather than sharing it Siloing and gatekeeping happen because sharing can feel risky — for funding, for credit, or for organizational identity.
You don't know what's working in other communities Successful approaches exist elsewhere — Chattanooga, Bridgeport, United Ministries were named — but accessing that knowledge in a useful way is hard.
Agencies responsible for the same problem don't coordinate Multiple departments, programs, and organizations are addressing overlapping challenges with little to no coordination between them.
Rules and regulations make it hard to try new approaches Regulatory requirements (like the childcare facility rules that came up in the session) were created for historical reasons and now create barriers to innovation.
What the program accomplishes is hard to measure or communicate The real value of Empower's work — healthier families, reduced poverty, stronger communities — is difficult to express in terms that funders and policymakers recognize.
What we learn in meetings disappears afterward Insights, ideas, and connections made in conversations don't get captured anywhere accessible — the next meeting starts from scratch.
Section 2 of 4
Tools You Use Right Now
Check everything you currently use — even informally — to keep track of your work or share information with your team.
Section 3 of 4
What Would Help Most
Below are solutions you or your colleagues named during the session — or that we think might be useful based on what we heard. Rank each one by how much it would help your day-to-day work. Be honest — a low score is useful data too.
One place where all meeting notes, resources, and session materials are organized and searchable A shared "home base" where everything we learn together lives and is easy to find.
A way to see what other communities have tried for problems similar to yours "Has anyone else dealt with this?" — a searchable collection of real experiences from other practitioners.
A clear picture of Empower's impact that you can share with funders and partners A way to show the value of what the program accomplishes — in terms the people you're reporting to will understand and respect.
A simple way to keep track of what you committed to doing between sessions A lightweight reminder or tracker for the small action each person takes forward from each meeting.
A way to use AI to research topics related to your work Using tools like ChatGPT or Claude to quickly get research summaries, find case studies, or draft documents — without needing to be a tech expert.
A shared visual space for brainstorming during group sessions A digital whiteboard (like the sticky-note exercises from March 31) so the ideas don't disappear when the session ends.
A simple way to share stories of impact from the families and communities you serve Capturing the human stories behind the data — in a way that can be shared with funders, partners, or the broader community.
A newsletter or regular research digest on topics relevant to your work A regular summary of what's happening in the field — delivered to your inbox so you don't have to go looking for it.
Section 4 of 4
Learning Between Sessions
At the end of our March 31 session, Doannie suggested three ways to explore and learn before we meet again on April 15. This section helps us understand where you are — and how to support you best. There are no wrong answers here.

Option 1: AI Deep Research

Using an AI tool like ChatGPT or Claude to research a topic related to your work — asking it to compile research, find examples, or explain a concept.

Option 2: NotebookLM for Documents

Uploading a document (like a report or research paper) to Google's NotebookLM and asking it questions, generating a summary, or creating an audio overview.

Option 3: Health Outcome Connections

Exploring connections between your program's work and health outcomes — what does research say about how childcare, housing, or workforce development affect health?
Something you wanted to say during the session but didn't get to, a question you've been sitting with, or anything about how the group is going.

Thank you for taking the time

Your responses go directly to the RIDER team. We'll use them to shape what we focus on for Session 2 on April 15 — and to confirm that we're building something that actually fits your work.

✓ Your responses have been submitted

Thank you. The RIDER team will review your input before the April 15 session. We'll see you there.