October 2020

Excel Academy At a time when child and youth-serving organizations across Bexar County are continuously adapting, changing program models and strategizing to meet youth and family needs, Excel Academy is creating space for organizations to center the value and power of relationships in the pivot. The Excel Academy cohort, made up of people from 16 organizations across the Excel Beyond the Bell network, is designing relationship-centered capstone projects on the pivots required during the COVID-19 pandemic. Informed by youth and team voice, the projects are meant to build a culture of relationships within organizations that will not only support the ongoing navigation of the pandemic, but will continue to provide the network of relationships that youth, family, and our community need to thrive. Stay tuned to learn more from Excel Academy participants' final capstone projects coming in November.

Updates Network Google Site: Excel Beyond the Bell SA has launched a Google Site as a way to share resources, improve communication, and continue to move the work forward. Explore the site now Service Map Update: Ensure you are included in the updated Service Map. Connect with Shelby Drayton to complete the service map collection tool by October 23. Help us map out services that support young people! Fall 2020 Developmental Relationship Survey: We will be relaunching the Search Institute survey process for you to learn more about your students' web of relationships and SEL competencies. Confirm your organization's participation in the Search Institute Developmental Relationships & Social Emotional Learning Survey process for Fall 2020. We'll be onboarding organizations to the process in October with the survey window open from Nov. 1-Dec. 31.

Excel Beyond the Bell CEO Retreat On September 17, Excel CEOs came together for the first time since March. While this was not a traditional retreat style gathering, connection and relationships were at the forefront of the day. We heard from Jenna Courtney (TXPOST), Becky Bridges Dinnin (Social Venture Partners, San Antonio), and KLE Communications to learn how to promote the work we're doing to expand access to youth development programming.

Show your pride in the network, download Excel digital tools

Download wallpapers now

We’re excited to share that UP Partnership is providing you with a digital toolkit you can use to show your unwavering commitment to Excel Beyond the Bell.  In this toolkit, you'll also find a Q&A to address any questions you might have on using the tools. Use them on your personal devices as a reminder of the work you do, or during your meetings as a conversation starter to the work we do as a network. You're our #1 ambassadors, and we hope you're as excited as we are to share more about who we are as a network.

Included in this pack, you’ll find:  Three options for Zoom backgrounds / desktop wallpaper  Three options for phone wallpaper Three options for a social media avatar

Supporting racial equity and recovery through RESET We concluded our RESET Data Course on September 23. Partners from across 21 organizations studied the latest data practices to strengthen their agency's institutional capacity to work towards racial equity in a post-pandemic world. Thirty-six participants worked to apply their learnings to optimize their organization's program models. Congratulations to all participants. We're committed to working together to create lasting equitable systems change.

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