Sub-Community Leadership Track Announcement - Pulling It All Together

Hi Team -

Its clear that we need to more clearly define the Sub-community leadership track as distinct from the other tracks. In the past it has lived within the community track, but today, the SC track claims its independence. To ensure this track is inclusive to all age groups - teen & adult - we will refer to it as advocate (not mentor or star - a new word to encompass all age groups).

What is the sub-community mentor leadership track:

A track dedicated to building supportive sub-communities for members. This track supports all the leaders and volunteers in a given Subcommunity to ensure continuity of experience and clear communication. This track combines the knowledge of the forums and group support with a deep love for community building.

We talk a lot about self-care on 7 cups. And that will always be the case, especially with our leadership teams. Many of the roles outlined below are a combination of roles (ex. You are both a forum mentor & a group mod). The idea here is that instead of focusing on being a group mod or a forum mod in many areas of the site, youd pick a sub-community and learn both the forum roles and the group support roles SPECIFICALLY FOR THAT SUBCOMMUNITY.

The idea is focus on up to three Sub-communities on 7 cups but be able to build community in these spaces representing both forum and group support.

Jr SubCommunity Mentor -

Privileges: Forum Supporter + Group Mod

This individual is trained as both a group mod and forum supporter and they have all of the corresponding privileges. Once they have gone through both trainings, they will unlock the ability to be listed in their SC with this title.

In this role, a Jr Community Mentor should be:

-----> A friendly face in both the forums and group rooms

-----> Knowledgeable about the SC topic and be passionate to build a supportive environment for the members and fellow leaders/ listeners in this subcommunity

-----> Welcoming to all new members

-----> Coordinating and supporting the daily check-in threads

-----> Willing to learn and work as a team with the other leaders in the subcommunity

-----> Adding new welcoming monthly cohort threads

SubCommunity Mentor -

Privileges: Forum Mentor + Group Mod

This individual is trained as both a group mod and forum mentor and they have all of the corresponding privileges. Once they have gone through both group mod & forum mentor/ teen forum star trainings, they will unlock the ability to be listed in their SC with this title.

In this role, a Community Mentor should be:

-----> A friendly face in both the forums and group rooms

-----> Knowledgeable about the SC topic and be passionate to build a supportive environment for the members and fellow leaders/ listeners in this subcommunity

-----> Coordinating and supporting the daily check-in threads

-----> Willing to learn and work as a team with the other leaders in the subcommunity

-----> Adding new forum conversations / topics

-----> Work closely with the community Advocate leader to execute special events, resolve conflicts and ensure a safe experience for all members

Sub Community Advocate Leader - (read the original post about this role here)

A Subcommunity Advocate Leader shall coordinate and oversee the daily operations of the entire sub-community, ensuring that forums, group support and feed teams within their SC collaborate and work together for the betterment of the sub-community. They will work to ensure their community continues to be a place of support, kindness and activity. This will be a project based role, where your project is to take ownership of your sub-community, coordinate with other leaders, participate in group activities and be a reliable friendly face! This individual is a positive and uplifting force - always supporting new leaders and helping to teach skills to volunteers. You will work closely with the Jr SC Advocate & Community Advocate to ensure a positive atmosphere and ongoing participation.

Role Duties:

-----> Know all of the other leaders on your team! Make sure they are doing well, support them, be someone they can always go to with questions and ideas! You are the team cheerleader !

-----> Proactively reach out to your leaders to check in once per month/ Help the leaders on your team by setting goals

-----> Organize and lead subcommunity team meetings

-----> Make sure the leadership list is up to date

-----> Host special events in your sub-community! Should be at least one special event every 3 months (working with the jr advocate and advocates to host this)

-----> Be a friendly face in your community

-----> Post to the forums regularly - if your community has a check-in section - checking in regularly is a great way to show you are a friendly face

-----> Participate in group support - be a friendly face

-----> Fill in! We all know that volunteers sometimes have personal issues pop up! You will be responsible for pinch hitting & filling in to ensure regularly scheduled programming continues

-----> Able to take role on for 4+ months (if and when you leave the role, you will be responsible for training a new person to take over).

-----> Attends Advocate leader meetings and reports on the health of their SC to the community management team directly

Please see this drawing to see what the structure will look like within each SC -

While writing this post someone asked how conflict will be resolved within a given SC.

Group support - Conflict resolution within a groups support team will remain the same. As the first line of support, please always contact your group support team leader. If you are unable to resolve the group support conflict, you can connect with a community manager.

Forum - Conflict resolution within your subcommunity forum should include the forum mentors within your subcom. Please reach out to the forum mentor in your subcommunity to ask for suggestions, ideas and best practices on how to manage conflict.

I know this will continue to evolve and change. Please review and leave your feedback! :)