Present: Ed Barrett, Rob Meinders, Stacie Haines, Matt L’Italien, Nate Rudy
Staff: Maryalice Crofton, Jamie McFaul
Absent: Ryan Almy
Guests: N/A
Minutes:
Group agenda was to review AmeriCorps program risk assessments, and DEI integration in the grant making processes
Risk Assessments
The members reviewed and discussed the Risk Assessments scored by the Grants Officer for all the AmeriCorps Programs in the Commission portfolio. There are currently three High Risk programs with past operational experience: Alfond Youth and Community Center, Maine Youth Alliance, and Maine Energy AmeriCorps program. A brief discussion about the Alfond Youth Center, as their score was right on the line between Medium & High risk, they will be considered high risk due to concerns about the overall program operation. The two new AmeriCorps programs: The Town of Van Buren and the UMaine Center on Aging as High Risk per Commission policy which states that “In the first 3-year grant cycle, these organizations are always classified “High Risk.”
The rest of the AmeriCorps programs are in the Medium Risk category: GPCOG, Main Street Skowhegan, Maine Conservation Corps, KVCAP, Maine Development Foundation, and Trekkers. There were no questions as to the merits of the scoring as it stands.
The discussion led to the need to revisit the scoring rubric to factor in Fixed amount grants, as they are not accounted for in the portion of match requirement as an attribute of scoring. It was then decided that the scoring rubric should be reviewed by the Grants Officer, the Program and Development training Officer, and the Executive Director to assess the optimal scoring rubric. Ed asked that the risk assessment be split into three sections with subtotal scores: program performance, administrative performance, and financial. The group agreed that would be for the best and there will be a follow-up on this matter.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Grant Making Process
The members reviewed the “Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Grant Making: A Guide for Reflection and Learning” which was published on in May of 2021 by Open Society Foundations.
The group discussed how this DEI work would apply to the Commission as it was written for a different audience (private foundations). At the AmeriCorps Program level, it was proposed by EB that the Grants Officer would do an inventory of three attributes: what type of organizations we are funding, who is serving as an AmeriCorps member, and who are the people/communities being served. ML brought up the notion of doing a DEI assessment and it was asked if there was any further guidance from the Federal Agency, which there is not. Further discussion, which will no doubt be continual regarding matters of DEI, leads us to consider targeting groups that are not being served, or rather, are not part of our portfolio already.
MC brought up the Request for Application process, which is being developed currently by the Procurement department of the State of Maine. This could mean we can provide applicants with more guidance, especially communities that tend not to do well in a competitive process.
It is likely that the Commission will integrate an outside consultant to facilitate the formula process, not only to integrate DEI work, but also to objectively consider the capacity in our grantmaking process. This work will continue and there will be more comprehensive updates soon.
Other notes:
Members agreed to have a more extensive discussion of the application and selection process in January, after grant reviews are over. A Writeboard in Basecamp will be created by the Grants Officer in order for the grants task force to keep track of our DEI work together.