The Networked Intermediary Organization

The New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community is a networked intermediary organization. While the language and terminology may be new, the implementation is not. The Forum’s work of catalyzing, building and supporting a shift to positive youth development and assets-based approaches is accomplished with and through a number of community collaborations, partnerships, and networks. The Forum’s formation as a network intermediary organization was informed by a number of national efforts including:

• Peggy Holman’s “The Networked Organization”
• Peter Senge’s “Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization”
• Wendy Wheeler’s “Emerging Organizational Theory and the Youth Development Organization”

Additionally, portions of the Forum’s work was informed by a number of national organizations that support youth and community development efforts including the Innovation Center and the Community Network for Youth Development.

The New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community strongly believes that large scale paradigm shifts require systems change approaches, and effecting these shifts require a cadre of networks to support and build capacity for transformative change. Consequently, the movement to positive youth development and asset-based approaches in New Mexico is accomplished through the development and mobilization of three types of networks, all of which have been established by the Forum:

1. Infrastructure: The Forum has established a network of community partners (Regional Partner Organizations) that serve as the critical infrastructure to maximize the Forum’s work across the geographic expanse that is New Mexico. The Regional Partner Organizations provide critical transfer of information between local communities and statewide systems, as well as serve as local sites for training and capacity-building to support the positive youth development movement.
2. Capacity-Building: The Forum maintains several initiatives and networks that help build capacity for the adoption of positive youth development in New Mexico. These networks provided critical support or add capacity in a variety of ways, but structured opportunities for volunteerism is a critical component. The Forum’s capacity-building networks include three critical efforts.
   • The New Mexico Youth Alliance (NMYA) is a statewide council of youth, one for each legislative district (total of 112); the initiative is administered through state statute, connected to advise the Governor, Lt. Governor, and New Mexico Children’s Cabinet, and legislators coordinated by the Forum. The NMYA meets quarterly to provide youth with leadership and advocacy skills and creates an annual “youth platform” to advocate for youth issues. The platform is presented annually to policymakers.
   • The VISTA Cadre Project is a network of community-based organizations with AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers that focus on positive youth development activities. VISTA volunteers help build capacity by designing and implementing positive youth development efforts, focusing on systems change approaches. Nearly 125 VISTA volunteers (including summer associate positions) placed at community-based organizations are coordinated by the Forum. The VISTA Cadre Project is collaborative effort in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service and the New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism.
   • Public Allies New Mexico is an initiative that enrolls older youth and adults in a leadership development initiative. The goal of Public Allies New Mexico is to help train and promote future leaders for the non-profit sector in New Mexico. The effort was established in 2007 and is currently limited to 15 participants yearly. Members engage in comprehensive training (weekly) and are placed with community-based organizations to receive mentoring supports from existing leaders in the sector. Public Allies New Mexico is coordinated in partnership with the Public Allies National Office and the Corporation for National and Community Service.
3. Advocacy: The Forum supports a number of statewide networks that advocate for specific youth issues and needs. These include New Mexico Out-of-School Time Network, the Community Service Learning Centers, and the Youth Violence Prevention Network. Advocacy networks consist of service providers, agency staff, and youth advocates and can include any number of local or statewide elected officials and other stakeholders. The Forum’s advocacy networks typically establish their own leadership structure and formation; network directors are usually Forum staff that connect and coordinate critical Forum supports to the specific needs and issues of each network.