Coaches can help groups support and sustain successful community change initiatives. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service hosted a two-day professional development coaching workshop in historic Berea, Kentucky. Eight Extension agents joined with professionals from Extension administration, program coordinators, professors, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Community and Economic Development Initiatives of Kentucky staff to practice coaching skills that can be used to support any group or council working on community level health initiatives. The workshop fulfilled the final segment in the USDA SNAP-Education funded Policy, Systems, and Environment (PSE) three year grant supported by University of Kentucky’s Human Environmental Sciences School. 

The CEDIK PSE project provided several processes, including coalition coaching, to help local community improvement groups work more effectively, increase community member involvement, and be more effective at bringing about changes in community health. 

Two thirds of the coaching workshop participants said the training exceeded their expectations in a written survey provided at the completion of the workshop. All participants indicated an increase in understanding of the background and theories that support community coaching, a better understanding of the framework of sustainable community change initiatives, improved skills for coaching community change groups and an increased ability to model reflective listening skills used in coaching. 

Participants stated the ability to provide and enable the formation of effective coaching questions would be the most helpful skill that would benefit their future Extension work. They reported the workshop also helped them to develop skills to encourage and teach effective listening and facilitate the stakeholder mapping process. 

In addition, participants completed a Community Coaching Skills and Abilities chart, self-reporting their position before and after the workshop. In measuring the change of 42 different variables, participants reported the highest improvement of the following skills in ranked order: Helping the groups to assess project outcomes; balancing advocacy with inquiry to reduce defensiveness; facilitating group decision-making; assessing people’s understanding of the current reality; exercising patience in conversation; and being flexible in working with others.

"Coaching Councils and Groups toward Community Change Workshop" provided Cooperative Extension participants the tools, skill development opportunities, and resource materials for working with a community coalition pursing community change. Interactive activities provided time for improvement of group assessments, focusing the conversation, exploring options, guiding conversation toward action, and supportive group follow-up. Using these coaching skills, Extension professionals are better equipped to support groups or councils as a way to increase long-term benefits of community level change initiatives.