Coalitions

Coalitions develop when different sectors of the community, state, or nation join to create opportunities that will benefit the entire organization. Coalitions promote com­munity change by serving as effective and efficient forums for the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and strategies.

Step 1: You have been asked to discuss possible strategies for assisting one coalition out of three (as listed below) in ob­taining goals.

1. Task Force: Your job is to reorganize the middle school sex education program and curriculum. The group has been together for six months with little progress. They have 12 members, including three parents. They live in a very conservative community that has low rates of teen pregnancy and teen STIs. They are getting pressure from the local media to have results.
2. Advisory Board: Mandatory HIV education in local schools. Committee members do not understand their roles and responsibility. The meetings have gone hopelessly off track.
3. Steering Committee: Oversees a worksite wellness program. The group has a lot of energy and wants to accomplish quite a bit. Several subcommittees have been formed, and there are lots of small pieces involved in implementing the project. Early in this meeting, it appears that the original agenda is incorrect.

Step 2: Discuss your findings on the strategies that were identified to bring the groups back on task and obtain goals.