ANA Grantee Connector
Executive Summary
The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) supports Native American communities by providing financial assistance and capacity building, gathering and sharing data, and advocating for improved policies within HHS and across the federal government. ANA awards approximately 180 grants annually to support locally-designed projects serving Native American communities.
The problem is that grantees across the country are often working on solving similar problems. They want to connect with each other to learn about successful project strategies and avoid duplication of effort. However, ANA has no easy-to-use, efficient mechanism to connect them and share information from past projects.
The Innovation: Through its work of interacting with grantees via surveys and in-person visits, the ANA team has long understood grantee needs, a common one being the ability to connect with other grantees to learn their lessons and use their knowledge as a resource. The team tested several iterations of a tool called the ‘Grantee Connector’ which serves as a curated database of grantee contacts, work products, and templates, but further, a facilitator for grantees to find one another, share, and learn from the experiences of others.
A project supported by the: HHS Ignite Accelerator
Team Members
Megan Kauffmann (Project Lead), ACF/ANA
Abigail Kardel, ACF/ANA
Joshuah Marshall, ACF/ANA
Milestones
May 2014: Project selected into the HHS Ignite Accelerator
June 2014: Time in the Accelerator began
September 2014: Time in the Accelerator ended
Project Sponsor
Camille Loya, Acting Director of the Division of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation, Administration for Native Americans (ANA), Administration for Children & Families (ACF)
Amy Sagalkin, Director, Program Evaluation and Planning, Administration for Native Americans, Administration for Children & Families (ACF)
