Tools

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Below are four tools IMLS Catalyst teams have used in their work to catalyze community-led change along with stories of how grantees used them and what they learned. Over the next year, additional asset-based tools will be posted as we collect stories and learnings from the teams’ on-the-ground application of ABCD.

We invite you to share your feedback on how useful you have found these tools in your work, including any improvements you’d like to suggest or innovations you have made in adapting them to your own work and community.​​

JOUR​NEY MAPS​
 Asset-based community-driven work is often full of surprises, discoveries and adaptation. Journey maps are illustrations of a group or individual’s unique path which are particularly useful for documenting, understanding, and building group cohesion arounds. IMLS Catalyst teams have expressed that the journey mapping process provided a valuable opportunity to reflect on their work and gain clarity for moving forward into the next project phase.

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POWER LADDERS​

 The Resident Power Ladder and the Organizational Partnership Ladder can help you grow community power by creating clarity around the current role of residents and partners in your project(s), revealing strategic opportunities for strengthening their role in ways that make sense for your project, organization and community capacities & context, surfacing insights and data around how this role has shifted from the beginning of your project.

 

LOGIC MODELS​
​​ A logic model can be a road map to success. By using a logic model, a community group or organization is able to use backward design to think through ways to make the sought after goals the inevitable outcome of the work being done. ​

ASSET MAPS  
​​Asset mapping is a powerful tool for revealing the many resources, skills and energy waiting to be fully tapped in a community. It is best used as part of an ongoing process to grow the power of residents and their groups to drive the change they wish to see in their community. 
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