Stage One:

Build Your Core Team

The Core Team

Identify Roles of the Core Team

This is the team that plans and coordinates the assessment. This includes bringing together the community stakeholders along with organizational and institutional constituents. The core team will be responsible for implementing all the activities throughout the stages of the ECFA. The core team will be planning for community engagement and may require frequent meetings, teamwork, and group process.

Be clear about the roles and responsibilities of the core team. Identify the different roles for how people may want to be involved and describe the responsibilities and time commitments each role carries.

ECFA Process Coordinator:

This is the person who manages the entire process, keeping things organized and moving forward.

Data Collection Lead(s):

This role is responsible for stewarding the development of the data collection methodology. It helps to have experience with both qualitative and quantitative methods, and familiarity with community-centered approaches.

Consider reviewing the Data Sovereignty, Agreements Tool: https://www.gida-global.org/care

Data Synthesis and Interpretation Lead(s):

The same person may take on the role of providing insights, input, and feedback during the information analysis stage of the ECFA.

Analysis methods are distinct from data collection, but both approaches should inform the other.

ECFA Group Facilitator:

One or more people should lead the planning and implementing the ECFA facilitated activities. This may grow your core team over time, as different facilitators may be brought onboard to work with different stakeholders.

Working Group Facilitators:

If working groups are established throughout the process, each may need their own facilitator. These groups take on a variety of tasks including community outreach & engagement, research, and the development of action recommendations.

Community Engagement Lead:

This role focuses on engaging the people of the community, encouraging and inviting them to participate in stakeholder activities. This requires having existing or building authentic relationships with community members and building community trust to share their insights.

Community Outreach Communications Lead:

This role focuses on developing the tools (e.g., outreach, marketing, invitations to participate in various stages, and dissemination of results) that support community engagement.

Project communications should center the priorities of the stakeholders engaged, especially community members. This role should also be working hand-in-hand with each facet of the project.

Considerations for the Group Process

This core team managing the ECFA process may expand and contract as you go through the stages of the process. As you engage stakeholders and constituent groups, some may join at the core team level while others may be more interested in joining a working group and/or providing feedback to help build understanding of the community’s experience with various food systems issues and inequities.

Re-Assess Readiness

Assess your Core Team’s readiness for an Equitable Community Food Assessment

Now that you have your core team assembled, if you have new members, it is important that you revisit the readiness checklist components.

Readiness Checklist

Core Team Mapping

Create a map of the community food environment as a bridging activity.

This step is meant to help the core team review their own knowledge of the community before conducting the ECFA process. This is the beginning of the ECFA process - you will use these tools and the data you gather again later with community members.

It’s best to use reciprocal tools specifically designed to bridge understanding and align collective action. This step can include several types of mapping, but we recommend beginning with the Community Exploration Worksheet.

Community Exploration Worksheet

Mapping Activity

This worksheet walks you through a series of questions to get to know your community in-depth.

Personal Mapping

Begin with personal mapping. Use the Community Exploration Worksheet to identify, from your own perspective as a community member.

Are you a part of a food council or a food organization? Do you or other members in your community organization focus on community health and wellness?
How ready are you to engage with people and organizations within your community, city or county?

Food Ecosystem Mapping

Scanning your food ecosystem – conducting a robust food landscape. The Community Exploration Worksheet includes a broad set of questions about your community, from demographic information to food access, land use, and beyond.

Bring it together

Discuss and list community food assets including programs, services, and resources, as well as identifying gaps or weaknesses.

Community Exploration Worksheet

Go to the Next Section:

Continue to Stage Two

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