An Implementation Guide

Starting a Community of Practice that is Rooted in Relationships

Excel Academy empowers youth workers through deep, relational practice, building a beloved community that transforms not only their work, but the lives of the youth they serve.

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Why This Guide Matters

This implementation guide provides an overview of how to convene youth-serving professionals in a Community of Practice (CoP) that is ‘rooted in relationships.’ In this kind of CoP, youth-serving professionals learn how organizations can support staff and youth in fostering strong relationships that contribute to young people’s growth, character and wellbeing. This guide provides recommendations for planning, facilitating, and sustaining an ongoing community of practice, and includes resources to support you through this process.

Explore the Implementation Journey

Planning

Build strong foundations for a thriving, relationship-centered community.

Facilitating

From recruitment to mentorship, every detail matters in holding transformative space.

Sustaining

Nurture long-term growth, measure impact, and adapt with care.

Understanding Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are groups of professionals who come together around a shared passion or common interest in their work. These communities are much more than just professional networks or casual gatherings—they are intentional, ongoing collaborations where members regularly engage with one another to learn, share knowledge, and collectively improve their skills and approaches.

The Power of Relationships

A Narrative on the Transformative Impact of a Community of Practice in Out-of-School Space. When a group of dedicated youth workers from nonprofit out-of-school-time (OST) programs stepped into San Antonio-based Excel Academy, many were seeking tools, knowledge, maybe even clarity. But what they found was something deeper—something far more transformative. They found one another.

Excel Academy

Excel Academy is a multi-year CoP. leadership development program for youth serving professionals across San Antonio focused on Racial Equity, Developmental Relationships, and Continuous Improvement through the Results Count Framework.

As one youth development professional put it:

“It’s really developed and bridged a lot of connections of supporting each other’s program and not seeing our organizations as competition, but as a support network and for our communities and the youth that we serve.”

“Before I would define my success as how many students were attending the program…But now, even if I have one student, that’s success—because that’s one student returning to a space where they feel safe and supported. Success is not the quantity, it’s the connections I’m making with the kids.”

“It just made me more passionate about the work that you do. Especially being in a room of people that are very like-minded, and willing to take back what you’re learning in these sessions. It helps guide you and remind you that your work is needed and relevant.”

About This Guide

The implementation guide is based on a three-year, collaborative study of UP Partnership’s Excel Academy Communities of Practice, in partnership with Search Institute and Quantum Possibilities. With support from the John Templeton Foundation, the study aimed to refine and test a catalytic community of practice not only for creating relationship-rich, character-nurturing cultures in youth-serving organizations across San Antonio, but ultimately to serve as a model for communities across the United States.

All Authors Include:

Martha Ramos Duffer, Psy.D.

Sara Hinojosa

Diane Hsieh, Ph.D.

Nicole Merriweather

liz moseley

Jesús Ortega, L.M.S.W., M.U.P.

Shelby Payne-Drayton

Heather Poparad

Nanyamka Redmond, Ph.D.

Eugene C. Roehlkpartain, Ph.D.

Justin Roskopf

Katherin Ross, Ph.D.

Jacob Timmons

Miray Seward, Ph.D.

Joanna William, Ph.D., M.S.Ed.

Start Building Your Own Community

Start with Planning