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Resident Leadership Academies
Resident Leadership Academies (RLAs) are multi-week training programs for San Diego County residents who want to learn how to improve their local communities. Training sessions focus on topics such as community leadership, crime prevention and safety, land use and active transportation, and healthy food systems.
Residents learn skills and best practices to address the issues that most affect their communities, and they work alongside their neighbors to help improve quality of life where they live. Upon graduation, attendees have new knowledge and access to a support network to help them lead community improvement projects.
RLA Updates and Opportunities
Many individuals and organizations are involved in Resident Leadership Academies across the County. The latest updates can be found on social media.
RLA Curriculum
Those who would like to facilitate an RLA can find the Facilitator/Train the Trainer and Participant materials below. The RLA Curriculum consists of a Participant Manual, modifiable PowerPoints, and various templates and handouts. The curriculum covers subjects such as Community Building Principles, Social Determinants of Health, Land Use and Community Planning, and more.
The County of San Diego currently has two approved RLA curriculums available. For groups funded for a particular RLA session or project, the version of the curriculum to be used will be determined by your funder (see links below). For all other groups, either version, or elements from both, may be used for the trainings.
- 1st Edition Curriculum
1st edition curriculum covers resident-driven community improvement efforts, including community building principles, neighborhood assessment activities and strategies for stakeholder engagement. - 2nd Edition Curriculum
2nd edition curriculum expands on the 1st edition to include embedded activities, reflection questions and content on smoke-free environments and climate change.
Additional RLA Curriculum
- Heat Risk Education Curriculum
The Heat Risk Education Curriculum is a set of PowerPoints and facilitator guides meant to support community leaders and residents involved in community engagement work. The curriculum covers strategies for communicating about global warming and heat risk to the community to motivate behavior change, and covers topics such as global warming, heat illnesses, at-risk groups, prevention, and taking action.
RLA Resources & Opportunities
View the Community Health Improvement Partner's Resident Leadership Academy page for the latest on meetings and trainings.
Bi-Monthly RLA Council Meetings
Meetings to provide additional training, discuss RLA updates, and to engage with other RLA practitioners. Anyone in the RLA network (graduates/residents, facilitators, CBOs and agencies supporting RLA) is welcome and encouraged to attend.
Technical Assistance (TA) for RLA Practitioners
TA is provided by the County to any RLA Practitioner involved with RLAs. TA may consist of assistance with planning of future RLAs, and development, refining, and implementation of Community Improvement Projects (CIPs), for example. For groups funded for a particular RLA session or project, the TA provider will be determined by your funder.
RLA Network Supplemental Training Workshops for Current RLA Practitioners
Supplemental trainings are available to anyone in the RLA network (graduates/residents, facilitators). These trainings focus on expanding leadership skills and offering opportunities for current RLA practitioners to engage with one another. The supplemental trainings may cover, but are not limited to, such topics as: Presentation Skills, Meeting Facilitation, and/or Applying for Resources.
New Facilitator Training/Train the Trainer Seminars
Seminar participants attend 3-4 full days of training, which consist of a detailed review of the curriculum, facilitation practice and tips for RLA planning and coordination. One or more new facilitator trainings per year will be offered through 2019.
Contact us for additional information on any of the resources listed above, or to learn about RLAs happening in your community.
RLA Success Stories
Escondido Creek Volunteers Bring Ideas Energy and Imagination to Elfin Forest Reserve
Jeff Anderson, Park Supervisor, Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve
The Escondido Creek Conservancy and Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve began their volunteer program back in 2009. Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve’s first class of volunteers included Tanya Ingorvate, a retired teacher; Jeff Swenerton, a retired principal; and Donn Wilber, a retired tooling manager. Tanya, Jeff, and Donn were among the first volunteers at the Elfin Forest Interpretive Center, and they are still some of the most active volunteers today. Everything you see and experience in the Elfin Forest Interpretive Center was created or influenced by these very enthusiastic and talented volunteers.
“I love interacting with the people, enjoy the comradery amongst volunteers, and sharing my passion for the outdoors,” said Donn Wilber, volunteer for the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve and Interpretive Center for the past 12 years.
Volunteers are very special people who I have the pleasure to work with as a park ranger. Volunteers greet visitors, act as tour guides, assist with our school programs, give a friendly pat to visiting dogs, provide nature interpretation, help with trail maintenance and, in general, provide another pair of eyes on the Reserve for the rangers.
In addition to their regular volunteering duties, Tanya, Jeff, and Donn all volunteer on advisory committees for the Reserve.
Working as a park ranger is a great job, but what makes it even more fulfilling is the privilege of collaborating with volunteers on projects, ideas, goals, and dreams. Having such great talent, imagination, and energy available, allows the education programs and displays in the Interpretive Center to constantly evolve and improve.
Working with volunteers like Tanya, Jeff, and Donn is like driving an electric car that never needs to be plugged in! It is refreshing (and keeps me on my toes) to be surrounded by a constant flow of ideas, energy, imagination, and motivation.
I’d like to give a very special thank you to our original volunteers Tanya, Jeff, and Donn, and I’d like to thank all our volunteers who make a difference each and every day they interact with Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve visitors to educate them on the value of our precious open spaces in the Escondido Creek watershed. I am grateful to work as a park ranger and am even more grateful to work with an amazing group of volunteers who help make Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve the special place it has become.
The volunteer program has become an important and influential part of the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve, and the education programs at the Interpretive Center. Learn how you can get involved and volunteer at Escondido Creek Conservancy or Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve.