Purpose

The Community Coaching program provides inclusive and effective products, processes, and strategies that empower participants to make decisions together and get innovative things done.

Who This is For

Community Coaching often takes place in rural communities and within economic development organizations, but we go where the energy is! If an individual leader, board of directors, and/or a community are eager to build their local capacity, upgrade their current methods of leading, and engage the community in new ways, then Dakota Resources starts the conversation. Our goal is to empower rural shapers to make decisions together and get innovative things done.

What We Do

Led by our team of Community Coaches, Dakota Resources works to level up the capacity of rural leaders, economic development organizations, and rural communities through inclusive and effective products, processes, and strategies. We begin by asking questions that help us understand the unique needs of each leader, organization, or community. As we learn more, we expand the circle of influence and engage more community members to co-design what is needed to help the community move toward thriving.

Customized Coaching Services

While our work is highly personalized to each entity we serve, some examples of our Community Coaching services include:

  • 1:1 coaching
  • Leadership development
  • Self-assessments for boards, organizations, and communities
  • Strategic Doing Project Team Coaching
  • Community Visioning Sessions
  • Community conversations
  • Core leadership team development
  • Board training workshops
  • Board Strategy Retreats
  • Empower Community Coaching (commitment: 24 months)

CO.STARTERS

Dakota Resources partners with regional economic development organizations in five rural South Dakota communities – Watertown, Yankton/Vermillion, Aberdeen, Mitchell, and Brookings – to host CO.STARTERS cohorts and weekend bootcamp events through May 2024. CO.STARTERS is a business accelerator program that is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the insights, relationships, and tools to turn ideas into action and to build sustainable businesses.

Thanks to a $1M grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Dakota Resources acts as a rural spoke in the Community Navigator Pilot Program to bring CO.STARTERS to rural areas in order to create an ecosystem of rural entrepreneurship. Learn more about the CO.STARTERS program here. To register for a CO.STARTERS program, click the button below.

B.O.L.D. Framework

We’ve created B.O.L.D.: A Framework to Build Organizations for Local Development. This program engages board members in capacity-building activities that level-up your organization’s ability to create a thriving rural community. Over a six month time frame, you will commit to eight facilitated training sessions, connect with an online network of other economic development leaders, and create next steps to strategically carry out your mission. Dakota Resources will work with 20 South Dakota economic development organizations in 2023 and 2024 through this program. Through our partnership with South Dakota Community Foundation, the only expenses the economic development organization will be responsible for is travel costs for our facilitators.

Timeline of B.O.L.D.

  • Introduction: Ready to Launch, Month 1
  • Phase 1: Gathering the Facts, Months 2 & 3
  • Phase 2: Exploring Gaps & Opportunities, Month 4
  • Phase 3: Organizational Mission Moves, Months 5 & 6
  • Phase 4: Activating Next Steps (optional)

Learn more about the B.O.L.D. Framework by watching our Information Session recording.

How to Get Involved

The role of a Community Coach is to guide the process and then step aside to empower leaders, organizations, or communities to discover the answers together.

To connect with a Community Coach, reach out to Dakota Resources today!

Want more from Dakota Resources? Sign up for our online mailing list below!

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One of our challenges prior to working with Dakota Resources was how to decide which direction the Association should go and how to prioritize those concerns. Working with Dakota Resources has given me renewed energy and better clarification on the steps needed next. I hope the same team is available the next time we need to do Strategic Planning.

Val Rausch, Board President of Glacial Lakes and Prairies Tourism

Leading Partners