Community ACTivators
Incubating Community Projects in Toronto
Created by ACT Toronto
What is a Community ACTivator?
Community ACTivators is a micro-grant program for cis and trans gay, bi and queer guys in Toronto.
Successful applications receive up to $1,000 to develop and facilitate a novel community program aimed to foster the physical, emotional and social well-being of cis and trans gay, bi and queer community members. This program provides opportunities for community leaders to share skills, create social and cultural opportunities and promote health for like-minded guys.
Community ACTivators aim to:
Engage with community members (especially those who have been historically under-represented including BIPOC individuals, trans folks, people who use substances) in a fun and meaningful way;
Improve health outcomes for cis and trans gay, bi and queer guys in Toronto, and to
Increase the knowledge and skills of community members.
Incubating Community-led Projects in Toronto
To date, Community ACTivators has supported the development and implementation of eight novel programs:
ACT recently conducted a full program evaluation of the Community ACTivators program, exploring the impact of these programs and how various operational decisions by ACT's have affected the way micro-grant recipients learn, engage with community, and ultimately work to improve the health and well-being of participants.
Application Process & Project Selection
Community members are invited to submit their proposal through an online application portal - with 2-3 projects typically coming to fruition on an annual basis.
Initially, written applications were reviewed by a panel, then evaluated through a formalized scoring system. In an attempt to rectify scoring that occasionally fell short from inconsistencies, ACT piloted a new video-conferencing format. This new structure asks applicants to make a 15-minute presentation, followed by time allotments for questions and discussion.
Training, Resources & Support
While financial support is consistently capped at $1,000 per project, organizational support from ACT is highly project-specific. Notably, most Community ACTivator projects happen largely on their own, and with training as needed. That said, ACT is able to provide additional support if:
Additional training is required to build project leadership capacities or;
Staff resources are required to directly support project coordination
Feedback & Desired Improvements
As part of its evaluation process, ACT engages applicants and recipients in qualitative feedback opportunities. Organizational leadership is considering its response to three common themes:
Honoraria - grant recipients would like to access funds beyond the $1,000 limit when honoraria for guest facilitators is desirable
Training - ACT is actively considering how to incorporate a “leadership crash course” by pooling internal expertise across departments to build capacity among micro-grant recipients.
Proposal Submission Process - a community member felt that application by video conferencing felt like a job interview (ACT is evaluating ways to make this process more inclusive)
Community ACTivators’ Legacy
While the scope of these projects is typically limited to one-time initiatives, the organization has seen occasional projects develop into ongoing programming. Notably, the success of Stretching Out the Tweaks (initially envisioned as a yoga and dance program for guys who PNP) was expanded to include newly diagnosed and positive youth as part of an 8-week psycho-education program addressing their unique needs.
ACT is continuing its efforts to incubate further ACTivator projects through funding support from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
For further information, please contact:
Mike Smith
Gay Men's Health Systems Coordinator, ACT
msmith@actoronto.org
416-340-8484 ext. 455
543 Yonge Street, 4th Floor
Toronto, ON
M4Y 1Y5