Principles of networked learning informed the design of the EAP Fellowship program. The model was intended to promote inquiry-based learning that is both empowering and flexible, as it adjusts and aligns to address each Fellow’s specific aims. The 2011-12 EAP Fellowship cohort was balanced around five affinity areas, or program divisions: Business Development; Information Systems; Media/Communications; Community Outreach and Public Programming
The 2011-12 EAP Fellowship program aimed to introduce an alternative model for professional development that balances traditional structure with increased creativity, collaboration, and experimentation. Leading in today’s arts sector requires new competencies, skills and sensitivities that are adaptive, engaging and relevant. Over the course of nine months, the Fellowship was designed to enrich and expand the skill-sets of emerging and mid-level arts and culture workers in the Bay Area. Approximately 15 Fellows brought together their diverse insights, energy, and expertise to build their ability to realize their career and life aspirations in arts and culture.
EAP Fellowship participants were provided the support, confidence, and skills needed to follow their career and life aspirations in arts and culture. EAP participants were empowered to have a strong individual and collective voice. Participants were connected to the EAP network.
Within the Bay Area arts and culture field, there is a growing respect and recognition of next generation leaders, their issues, and their perspectives. The field is becoming more integrated across generations. The field is gaining more recognition and appreciation for fluid career paths that embrace a multiplicity of roles. Nationally, the Bay Area arts and culture field is looked to for its model of integration and its empowered and impactful next generation leaders.
Fellows with common interests and/or expertise in these divisions collaborated to help define personal and program division learning goals, identify topics of interest for the broader EAP network, and shape projects in support of the mission of EAP. Fellows reflected and explored, with guidance and inspiration from facilitators, peer coaching, guest lecture presentations, and collaborations within their program division cohort. Each Fellow worked on EAP team projects and pursued personal action learning projects. They were provided access to mentors and coaches assisting with project design.
Drawing upon their personal reflections, the EAP Fellowship cohort, and the other resources provided, Fellows developed and executed their own action learning projects. These projects were realized within the context of EAP programs and organizational development, and/or produced separately, with support from EAP.
At the same time, Fellows worked in project teams to fulfill the mission of EAP. Participants had the opportunity to work across program divisions, applying their expertise or learning new skills in hands-on situations. In the fall, these projects were defined by the EAP Leadership Group and shaped by ongoing EAP efforts. In the winter and spring, Fellows took a more active role in defining the direction of EAP, through their participation in ongoing organizational development, articulation of the key issues affecting their peers and colleagues in the arts and culture sector, and initiation of creative, relevant and impactful responses.
Business Development
Our responsibility to the EAP/SFBA this year was to provide the necessary resources to work towards the goals outlined in the strategic plan. EAP/SFBA was relatively new, which gave us the opportunity to create our own balance of resources: develop income strategies and cultivate in-kind partners, community partners, and individual advisers with equal attention. Working with the EAP leadership they also further developed the specialties and roles of the EAP/SFBA in order to meet the interests and priorities of the network.
Fellows will helped lay the groundwork for innovative strategic partnerships and collaborations, both within EAP/SFBA and between EAP/SFBA and other organizations, which charged the EAP/SFBA network and brought fresh ideas to participants and the sector as a whole.
Information Systems
This group strategized systems for handling the organization’s operations and information infrastructure/system needs. Through research on experimental and/or existing models in operation in the arts and culture field (and beyond!), fellows will played a critical role developing conceptual frameworks and helping to lay the foundation for an active membership network. In addition, Fellows assisted with the implementation of an interactive online vehicle, which served to track and support member needs while closely working with the Business Development Team to build and maintain a sustainable financial model for EAP/SFBA. The plan, still in motion is to create an innovative web-based platform with enhanced functionality that includes user generated content, interactive discussion space, live feeds, aggregated information from other cultural portals, blogs, news sites, etc and diverse social networking features.
Media/Communications
Technological advances have propelled us into a highly participatory culture: individuals no longer simply consume culture, they now actively produce and contribute to it. EAP’s media/communications taem supported IT Systems and Outreach by increasing EAP’s presence and engagement through media. This team leveraged the power of emerging engagement and social networking technologies to promote EAP, expanded and built relationships with other arts professionals in and out of the EAP network, created dialogue and help established EAP as a think-thank of ideas. The media team built and maintain collateral and content for EAP – event copy, photos, audio interviews, speaker videos, etc., aggregated information form other cultural portals, blogs, news sites etc., and curated user generated content.
Community Outreach
The Community Outreach cohort guided the strategy for audience/membership engagement, stewardship, as well as experience design through all of EAP/SFBA touchpoints. There were ample opportunities to collaborate with key figures from across the non-profit and for profit sectors, thought leaders and strategists. This group was instrumental in helping to create and maintain relationships with a wide range of partners and was tasked with helping to grow the EAP network and build cross sector accessibility.
Public Programming
Working together, Fellows helped conceive, design and produce each of the EAP/SFBA programs. Programming consisted of professional development workshops, monthly networking mixers and content development for the online vehicle. Fellows in this section played a pivotal role in developing exciting new ways to explore and animate critical issues facing the arts and culture sector. As such, participants had their fingers on the pulse of the Bay Area’s creative field. Fellows had the opportunity to explore cutting edge ideas as we experimented with new program delivery and evaluation models. Significant opportunities were provided for Fellows to collaborate with a wide range of professionals to strengthen their networks and to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how vibrant programs are brought to life. Fellows took the lead in the following areas: research, networking mixers / social events, professional development and work group liaison.
