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University of Wyoming

 

Community Development Education: Enhancing Wyoming Communities & Households

EVOLVE

People have the right, the capacity, and very often the desire to participate in community decision making. Community leaders are everywhere—schools, churches, neighborhoods, civic organizations, and government agencies. If communities are to enjoy the quality of life they desire, they must first invest in the development of their people.

What is EVOLVE?

EVOLVE is a community-based leadership program that helps to build a critical mass of informed and capable leaders. By investing in the development of leaders a community can grow and become stronger.

Each EVOLVE leadership institute is guided by a local steering committee composed of representative community residents. This committee designs the curriculum and selects the class participants. While the specific objectives set by the steering committee vary from institute to institute, components core to each leadership institute include

  1. increasing human capacity by developing individual leadership skills,
  2. increasing social capacity using community-based experiences that strengthen the understanding of resources and issues, and
  3. incorporating a group project to practice what is learned.

The underlying motivation behind the core components is to provide experiences through which class participants may understand issues, become aware of the resources available, develop leadership skills within communities, and increase involvement in the community.

EVOLVE leadership development institutes are usually eight months in length and consist of monthly day-long classes on various topics of importance, opening with a retreat to facilitate participant bonding and to develop enthusiasm for the rest of the institute. Often a year of assessing needs and planning by the steering committee is required before an institute occurs.

The program has been used successfully in different parts of Wyoming. The key to the program is its adaptability to any community because it is based on three core components rather than a curriculum.

What is the UW CES educator’s role?

The role of the UW CES educator is primarily as coordinator, working in conjunction with the steering committee. The educator might also teach specific elements of the curriculum the steering committee builds.

What does EVOLVE stand for?

EVOLVE stand for Extension Volunteer Organization for Leadership, Vitality and Enterprise. The words capture the intent of the program by tying the Cooperative Extension Service to a Volunteer Organization that creates a community Leadership development program based on community needs, issues and resources. Vitality is the necessary physical and mental vigor important in community development. Enterprise is the readiness to engage in a planning process to identify, at a grass roots level, what type of leadership program best suits the community.

How can we get started?

To bring an EVOLVE leadership institute to your Wyoming community, contact one of the educators on the Community Development Education team.

EVOLVE Programming

Are you an educator interested in knowing more the EVOLVE program? Read this article from the Journal of Extension.