Youth Investment Resource Links

Cultural Relevancy Resources

Center for Diversity & the Environment

Description: The Center site provides research about the importance of and strategies for diversifying the environmental movement. It also profiles organizations and leaders working in this area this area.

Conducting Public Forums and Listening Sessions

Source: The Community Tool Box

Description: This site provides detailed tips for conducting and organizing public forums including materials and sample questions.

Cultural Competency Assessment Tool

Source: Ministry for Children and Families, British Columbia

Instructions for use: http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/publications/
cultural_competency/assessment_tool/tool_instructions5.htm

Description: This is a self-assessment tool for organizations to identify their areas of strength and weakness with respect to cultural competency. Assessment criteria are grouped into the following categories: Organizational/Foundation Statements and Documents, Program Policies and Procedures, Program Practices, Personnel Policies and Practices, Skills and Training, Organizational Composition and Climate, Community Consultation and Communication. This tool is not specific to environmental education.

Diversity Developments:
Representative Diversification Activities in the Conservation Field

Source: Environmental Careers Organization

Description: This report represents the findings and recommendations following ECO’s research on nearly 400 conservation organizations’ diversification activities.

Diversity in Outdoor/Environmental
Education Resources

Source: Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education

Description: List of many resources for further information about diversity in Environmental Education including articles, studies, and links to other resource centers.

Environmental Education and Training Partnership

Description: This site lists activities, resources, and conferences for reaching diverse audiences in Environmental Education.

• Environmental Education and Diversity Workshop http://eetap.org/html/workshops.php
• What's Fair Got To Do With It: Diversity Cases From Environmental Educators http://eetap.org/html/ee_products.php#PRODUCT_7

North American Association for Environmental Education – Cultural Diversity

Description: Resources for helping Environmental Education programs more inclusive. Installments focus on specific topics in cultural competency. The site provides assessment tools, articles, vignettes, mini-lessons, success stories, a glossary, and an annotated bibliography.

• Winter 2007: Initiating New Relationships
• Fall 2007: Reasons to be Inclusive
• Fall 2006: Looking at your own Individual Cultural Competency
• Summer 2006: Looking at your own Organization’s Cultural Competency

Steps to Becoming Culturally Competent Communicators

Source: Human Nature, Vol. 6 - No.2, October 2001 through the Barr Foundation website

Description: This is a short introduction to cultural competence as it relates to environmental education. The back page includes list of additional resources about cultural competence.

Understanding Cultural Competency in Experiential Environmental Education Programs

Source: Barr Foundation

Description: This report discusses the cultural competency assessments conducted at three Boston environmental education programs. The report includes strategies for increasing diversity in the field, detailed cultural competency metrics, and recommendations improving cultural competency at the individual, interpersonal, program, and organizational levels.

Environmental Funders

Coming soon!

Youth Funders

Coming soon!

Free and Reduced Lunch Program

General program information:

• Definition of Free/Reduced Meals Program according to Kidsdata.org: "This indicator reflects the percentage of K-12 public school children enrolled in the Free or Reduced Price Meal Program at school. A child's family income must fall below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level (or $37,000 for a family of four in 2006) to qualify for reduced-cost meals, or below 130% of the Federal Poverty Level ($26,000 for a family of four in 2006) to qualify for free meals. Not all eligible children are enrolled in the program, so these numbers do not reflect all low-income school-age children."
• National School Lunch Program Homepage
• Resources for more information, reports, on Free/Reduced Cost School Meals and poverty rates: http://www.kidsdata.org/reading_results.jsp?t=23

The state of California collects data about the number of students eligible for and receiving a free or reduced lunch. Data are available by school and by school district.

• Free and Reduced-Price Data for California Schools. This is the gateway to the last four years of data.
• These data files include public school enrollment, number of CalWORKS children residing in the attendance area, number of students eligible for free or reduced price meal programs, percent CalWORKS children, and percent free and reduced price meal eligibility in the program. http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sh/cw/filesafdc.asp

Census data, for data that includes poverty rates by county and city.