When faced with a problem, it’s natural to look to your peers for ideas on how to tackle it. But what do you do when there aren’t models readily available in the association community?

The ASAE Research Foundation’s Innovation Grants Program (IGP) seeks to foster innovation and risk-taking at associations, enabling staff to address challenges in ways that may create new models for the association community to follow. The newly minted 2020 grant recipients proposed new approaches to common challenges: engaging the next generation of members, maximizing collaborations to achieve goals, and combating entrenched beliefs to develop a culture of racial equity.

Engage Members in a Shared Purpose

The American Academy of PAs (AAPA) and the PA Foundation received a grant for their proposal, “Good by Association: Adopting Social Responsibility to Grow Membership, Increase Engagement, and Amplify Messaging.” Their focus is on connecting with the next generation of members. AAPA’s membership is young and growing—millennials make up 53 percent of their membership, and the physician’s assistant profession is projected to grow 31 percent by 2028, according to the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics.

To retain and attract this group, AAPA and the PA Foundation are tapping into young people’s interest in contributing to a larger purpose. The AAPA and the PA Foundation will research the feasibility of an association social responsibility platform similar to models of corporate social responsibility but specifically adapted for their field.

The Innovation Grants Program seeks to enable organizations to address challenges in ways that may create new models for the association community to follow.

Leverage Partnerships for Broad Impact

The Focus NJ Center for Economic Research and Workforce Solutions will use their grant to develop “Partnerships for Effective Experiential Learning.” Focus NJ’s idea developed after a collaborative research effort conducted with the New Jersey Business and Industry Association shed light on why New Jersey students were leaving the state for work.

The research report suggested that local students need exposure to opportunities within New Jersey. To that end, Focus NJ will create an online platform to connect students to career pathway information and experiential learning opportunities. Focus NJ will support this work by forming new partnerships with government agencies, employers, industry leaders, nonprofits, and educators.

Take Risks to Advance Equity

The Greater Cleveland Partnership’s project, “Towards a Racially Equitable Association,” supports their commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). GCP’s work will build on a strategic assessment of the maturity of their racial equity policies, practices, and programs. Leaders will use the grant to transfer this knowledge to practice, taking the recommendations from the assessment to implement programs that advance an internal environment of racial equity and inclusion.

The project will include staff support and training, as well as a continued focus on advancing equity within GCP’s member community. GCP leaders aim to share their experiences and lessons across the association community to assist others in building a culture that promotes racial equity.

Finding new ways to address common problems can start with a willingness to look at an issue from a new perspective, to seek out solutions from other sources, and to acknowledge that what has worked in the past may not work in the future. In exploring different ways to solve problems, this year’s IGP recipients are creating models for the future.