How can you create adaptive and learning-focused programs?

It would be good to consider not just a need assessment but an asset/resources assessment. Knowing what's already available would help to complement the needs as necessary.

Learn to listen to the history of a community from community members within their setting, valuing their point of view and experiences can result in new areas of on-going conversations.

I would also consider making sure that programs assess alignment of the SWOT analysis with mission and vision of the organization.

Before designing or revising any program you should complete a needs assessment - what is the history of an existing program, purpose, target audience, goals, success measures. If you are creating a program you need to assess what needs will be met by this new program, are similar programs operating in your space already, what will make this new program competitive. Armed with this, make the decision as to whether to move forward with creating a new program or revising an exiting one. Then move forward with identifying organizational mission/vision alignment for the program, SWOT etc.

User agency is critical when creating and using adaptive and learning-focused programs. Agency is the feeling of control over our actions and outcomes. Scholars distinguish between the feeling of agency (FOA) and the judgment of agency (JOA). FOA is the subjective experience of control, while JOA is the reflective process of making judgments about the causes and consequences of actions. AI-enhanced programs can potentially disrupt both FOA and JOA. For example, AI systems that automate our actions can interfere with our sense of control. To avoid such pitfalls, we must engage in regular reflective practices and consider the potential impact of AI tools on our sense of agency.

As stated previously, assess whether goals are aligned with the institutional mission and vision. By aligning goals with mission and vision, the work of the institution is strengthened.

I think Carol's point about mission and vision alignment cannot be understated. Especially when you're working with partners and stakeholders, it has to start with shared values and goals. And it's okay to admit that not every organization or situation is a good fit. This is also really important because by selecting the *right* mission-aligned partners, you can do the work you want to do while potentially reaching out to new populations and communities. You need to know what your intentions are, work with stakeholders who share your vision, and not allow mission creep to reduce your impact.

The communication plan is crucial in all elements of implementation. Where will the communication come from? Who will lead the communication? There should be a feedback loop implemented here.

Programming planning is often the hardest, but also more creative, part of the process. But just because it's a creative exercise, it doesn't mean it should be grounded in data and aligned with your goals. I can be hard to reflect on past offerings and realize that an element isn't working, but you have to be open to changing course if your community is not responding in the way you expected. As Frank pointed out, this is where communication and feedback are vital. You can design the most amazing activities in the world, but if they aren't what your community needs or they don't fully understand what you are offering, you aren't serving them. This is where having an experienced and diverse project team can make all the difference.

If you've set clear goals for your program and planned what data, feedback, and artifacts you want to collect, monitoring progress and performance becomes much easier. From there, it's really about making sure you've created a clear, organized method for recording information and that you collect data consistently. That sounds easy, and it can be easy to assume you'll stay on top of it, but when you're in the middle of the program, it's easy to forget. Measuring your impact needs to be relatively simple so that you do it—and therefore always have the feedback you need to make necessary adjustments in real-time.

Especially after all the hard work on planning and hosting a program, there can be a desire to put off evaluation. But if you instead look at evaluation from your recently completed program as the first step in planning the next, if can provide that motivation to dig into the information you've collected. Be brutal. If something didn't work, admit it. It's okay if not every element worked in the way you planned. What's important is learning from that experiment and crafting a better offering next time.