On October 12, 2020, Breckinridge County 4-H leaders hosted a community development program designed to energize their volunteer base and facilitate planning.  Ripple Effect Mapping (REM) is a participatory, story-based evaluation technique that is typically used to assess the direct and indirect impacts of a complex program.   In this case, the goals of the program were: (1) to recognize the hard work of volunteers and consider the ways that programs connect to create collective impact; (2) to learn how the 4-H program makes a difference in the community; (3) to engage youth voices in reflecting on and shaping 4-H programs; (4) to use the data to prepare materials about the importance of 4-H that can be shared with other people in the community. A planning committee of 4-H volunteers learned about the technique and helped recruit 25 participants, including youth, parents, 4-H club leaders, and community partners to attend the virtual event.  Facilitated by Dr. Nicole Breazeale, the two-hour session involved story sharing, group brainstorming, and mind mapping. 

Results from this session included a digitized map, capturing program impacts across six community “capitals” (human capital, social capital, financial capital, cultural capital, political capital, built capital, and natural capital).  Importantly, while 4-H is often thought of as a program that focuses solely on youth education, the REM process revealed that this county’s investment in leadership development and social capital is what makes this organization particularly impactful. As a result of the deep investment in leadership skills, youth demonstrated increased self-confidence and capacity to appreciate difference and support others (for example, they started a mini-master gardener program and virtual art club for their younger peers). The 4-H programming in Breckinridge County also does a particularly good job of enhancing bonds within families and across diverse groups, fostering deeper collaboration and stabilizing key institutions and relationships that provide stability for youth. One participant shared a story of a local youth who came from a difficult background and “looked to 4-H leaders as a father figure.” Others noted how even local businesses began to get involved and form new relationships with youth through the 8^th grade reality education project.  These investments in leadership development and social capital have been mobilized to create a much wider collection of impacts in the community, including increased beautification, fostering a culture of volunteerism and a stronger commitment to place, creating pathways to higher education and local jobs, bringing in grant dollars, and so forth.

The program appeared to have met its objective of energizing volunteers as well.  In a post-event survey, participants were asked to rate the overall quality of the program.  Twenty-one participants completed the survey, with an average rating of 4.22 (5.0 scale).   The biggest takeaway?  “4-H has touched our community in so many amazing ways.   I never thought about the large-scale picture, so it was nice to think about that!” and “We have an amazing community that is really here for each other.”  In the report back, 4-H volunteers were particularly excited about using the stories and the map to recruit new leaders and involve even more youth in programming.  They planned to task one of their clubs with seeing through this vision.  Two 4-H leaders even took the initiative to join their local 4-H Agent in a virtual train-the-trainer session on Ripple Effect Mapping that Dr. Breazeale offered in early January 2021.  They shared their own experience with REM with other groups from around the state and are now positioned to offer REM (with support) as an evaluation service in their community.