The Need
We often hear from NAA members looking for expert help across a range of areas—from strategic planning and professional development to fundraising and workshop facilitation. They currently rely on informal recommendations from their personal and professional networks. However, this process often takes too long, requires a lot of effort, and rarely sources the best or most cost-effective expert options. At the same time, we also know there are many professionals who bring deep expertise and experiences in areas relevant to the out-of-school time (OST) community, and are looking for ways to access project opportunities more widely.
Our Solution
The NAA Expert Hub is designed to meet these needs. Briefly:
- It will offer afterschool, out-of-school time (OST), and expanded learning programs and communities a quick, reliable and affordable way to connect with experts to enable organizational learning and development and address critical short-term needs.
- It will also provide expert professionals with an easy way to learn about rewarding short-term opportunities with our member organizations and demonstrate their knowledge and skills.
- More generally, we see the NAA Expert Hub playing a critical role in improving program quality and connecting and growing the field of afterschool and expanded learning programs and providers.
The NAA Expert Hub is being developed in partnership with Catalyst:Ed, a pioneer in creating and managing expert networks in education. It will leverage Catalyst:Ed's expert network, technology platform and expertise in setting up short-term engagements for success to create a seamless and easy user experience and inform decision-making.
How It Works
You can access the NAA Expert Hub here and through the resources section of the NAA website.
- To learn more about the process through which organizations can list projects and connect with experts, click here. You can also view a video of an introductory webinar here.
- If you would like to apply to be listed as an expert, please do so here.
