@article{Banks_Saito_Adameck_2019, place={Ithaca, NY, USA}, title={Building Grantee Capacity as a Core Strategy to Improve Local Food Systems}, volume={9}, url={https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/726}, DOI={10.5304/jafscd.2019.091.020}, abstractNote={<p>Greater Twin Cities United Way (GTCUW), Minnesota’s largest nongovernmental social services funder, connects local people and resources to change systems that limit our potential. Hunger and food insecurity require a spectrum of holistic responses that address emergency and root causes, while advancing long-term solutions for individuals, families, communities, and systems. To that end, GTCUW launched Full Lives, an innovative grantmaking strategy fostering a healthy and equitable community food system where all residents can thrive. This two-year, US$1.5 million effort employs a place-based approach to community and economic development to reduce food insecurity by improving food access, food affordability, and food justice for a low-income Minneapolis neighborhood facing systemic food security issues. Full Lives grantees focus on diverse aspects of the local supply chain that strengthen North Minneapolis’s local food system.</p> <p>Full Lives further augments this effort through grantee learning focused on increased organizational capacity and strengthened connections among grantee organizations, with a cross-cutting theme of commu­nity development. GTCUW partners with local technical assistance providers to implement flexible, innova­tive, responsive, and targeted capacity-building strategies and services. This strategic investment generates cross-agency collaboration, active networking, organizational development, and enhanced food systems tech­nical expertise. A robust evaluation—including qualitative and quantitative elements—reveals successes, chal­lenges, and lessons learned from the design and execution of these capacity-building strategies. Practice and measurement of this grantee capacity-building investment suggests strategies and considerations for partner­ship development, incorporation of grantee and community voice in planning, and delivery of ongoing educational activities for grantees.</p> <p>GTCUW would like to thank the General Mills Foundation for its generous support in making this work possible.</p>}, number={A}, journal={Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development}, author={Banks, Alyssa and Saito, Rebecca and Adameck, Margaret}, year={2019}, month={Aug.}, pages={253–254} }