Nature Kids | Jovenes de la Naturaleza (NKJN)

Location: Lafayette, Colorado

Report Year: 2019-2020

Approach: Mixed-methods; youth photo-elicitation + focus groups; promotores interviews; adult community survey; program output data

Link to evaluation report.

Background:

Nature Kids | Jovenes de la Naturaleza (NKJN) was a 2016 recipient of a 5-year grant from Great Outdoors Colorado’s (GOCO) Inspire Initiative (now “Generation Wild”).  With a focus on engaging LatinX youth and families in east Boulder County, Colorado, NKJN established a robust evaluation plan that tracked with the 5-year implementation plan. Included in this plan were desired aims and outcomes for the program and best of fit tools to capture the lived experience of families and youth. It is currently entering it’s fifth and final year of funding (2021-2022) with the goal of perpetuating the program through ongoing provider buy-in and community engagement.

What worked:

NKJN was intentional about creating welcoming spaces for the LatinX community that included bilingual events, programming and staff representatives of the community. Leaning into trusted community leaders, NKJN employed the promotores model to help encourage support for and engagement with the initiative. Additionally, they established a Youth Advisory Board (YAB) that would be integral to the design of both program offerings and participatory evaluation.  They gathered data from all participating audience members including adults, highly-engaged families, and youth. By employing a mixed-methods and age-appropriate approach, every participant in the NKJN program was invited and welcome to reflect on their experience with the program. Additionally, with the substantial funding from GOCO, NKJN was able to conduct a long-term evaluation study of the initiative to better understand how their target outcomes have changed and evolved over time. They worked with a third-party evaluation consultant as well as many university partners and graduate students to conduct both data collection, analysis, and reporting. Prioritizing sufficient time and attention towards cross-referencing data analysis and interpretation with third-party supporters was integral to telling the story of Nature Kids impact  in a balanced and accurate manner.