LINK Unlimited Scholars

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

LINK Unlimited Scholars serves high-potential Black students from low- and moderate-income families throughout the Chicagoland area, with 80% of our current families qualifying as low-income. We have a specific recruitment focus on ten under-resourced South and West Side neighborhoods: Auburn Gresham, Austin, Bronzeville, Englewood, Garfield Park, Greater Grand Crossing, North Lawndale, Roseland, South Shore, and Washington Park. To be eligible for LINK programming, Scholars demonstrate strong records of academic success amongst other qualities including an interest in pursuing post-secondary education.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

On the end of year survey, Scholars indicated that they overall felt valued by their Mentors but did not feel like their Mentors understood them. They also shared that they wanted to know more about their Mentors’ strengths and for their Mentor to know their strengths. So we adjusted Mentor trainings to share, analyze, and discuss the Scholar feedback. We also included more opportunities for Mentors to explore how their identity connects to their experiences, perceptions, and worldview. Additionally, in the workshops, Mentors explore how their perceptions and orientations impact their interactions with Scholars and expectations. We’ve now included Mentor/mentee goal-sheets so they have more conversations around strengths, expectations, relationship challenges, goals, and next steps.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners, Volunteers,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

We have been using and are currently improving the ways we use student feedback to improve our programming to meet Scholar needs. For example, we survey Scholars to know their interests and goals, which influences career panel topics and career workshops. We are in the process of using the feedback to revamp our curriculum, ensuring programming feels more relevant. For example, in a recent meeting seniors shared that they felt overwhelmed with having to read a book and prepare for discussions in Saturday Academy during the first semester because that was also when many of their scholarships and college applications were due. So we adjusted the expectations, engaging in discussions around relevant topics related to the book without Scholars having to read the book before class.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,