ENACT is a grant funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to bring together emerging New American leaders from Columbus and Dayton to learn, connect and ultimately, improve their communities. Once gaining a better understanding of the topics and the institutions responsible for them in their respective community, participants create community advocacy projects around their learning, interest and passions.

The goal  is to connect aspiring New American leaders with established community resources and fundamental civic education in order to build a base of knowledge that empowers them to become advocates for the New American community and in doing so, increase their sense of belonging in the larger community. By leveraging the power of collective impact and existing community assets, ENACT will achieve five objectives:

• Connect participants to existing community resources
• Increase participants understanding and engagement in civic processes
• Foster meaningful cultural exchange and awareness of challenges that Ohio New Americans may confront between participants and community partners
• Increase participant’s sense of belonging in the respective greater communities
• Disseminate the results of model to advance field best practices and offer a useable approach in Outreach and Community engagement with New American communities.

Long-term, the impact of ENACT’s community advocates will increase the sense of belonging for all of Miami Valley and Central Ohio’s New Americans. ENACT empowers aspiring Ohio New American leaders to cultivate their own voice when interacting with existing community assets. That voice empowers self-advocacy and positions these critical community members and their insights in decision-making rooms across Ohio.