Community Empowerment

DSNI’s Resident Development Institute (RDI) is a repository for community history, learning, and innovation. It captures community guidance into standards, and provides the data, information, tools, and processes for good community decision-making.

DSNI continues to build the grassroots values-based community effort that has allowed us to transform this once devastated neighborhood into an urban village in progress. We are learners and innovators, eager to find and invent new tools to serve the community vision.

RDI has trained staff, board, and activists in the design and facilitation of adult and youth learning. We have developed a set of core leadership competency training modules. RDI trainings, based on experiential learning methods, are dynamic, interactive, and immediately relevant. RDI offers a leadership series on these topics:

  • Values, Vision & Power
  • Community Organizing
  • Developing Leaders
  • Meeting Design & Facilitation
  • Resource Development
  • Public Policy Advocacy
  • Strategic Thinking & Planning

RDI offers board development activities and workshops on topics such as Race, Racism, & Power.

As part sharing our journey and learning, DSNI has established a Speakers Bureau / Community Tours Program.

Over the last several years, we have invested in the establishment of RDI as a consulting, training, and technical assistance vehicle that serves the local community as well as the community building field nationally and even internationally. Through RDI, we capture and disseminate methods and lessons. RDI provides practical, tested, useable tools, resources, approaches, and trainings for community builders throughout the country.

For more information, contact May Louie at mlouie@dsni.org or 617-442-9679 ext. 12.

SPEAKERS BUREAU

 

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

The community’s voice was strengthened in 2008 as we registered 400 new voters, turned out a record number of voters in the November 2008 election, defeated Question 1, and worked for public policies and budget priorities consistent with the community’s vision.