Policy & Practice | Summer 2024

of accomplishments and achieve ments fueled by their commitment to change systems for the better. You can access the full report at https://bit.ly/ LENS-2024 . The Lived Experience National Scan is part of APHSA's Advancing Family Economic Mobility (AFEM) project, in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Doris Duke Foundation. For more information, visit www.familyeconomicmobility.com.

that build capacity across your initia tive participants. n Continuously check in with par ticipants about how to maximize accessibility, as barriers can present in various ways and at various times. n Participants should be offered support around Strategic Sharing, to share their lived experiences authen tically, safely, and on their own terms. n Staff should receive training on trauma, strengths-based engage ment, and equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging to minimize the potential for judgmental language and implicit bias. More seasoned participants can mentor new partici pants, and alumni should connect with current participants. n Provide participants with prep time before public speaking engagements, meeting facilitation, training, or testifying. Evaluation Develop feedback loops to continuously listen to your initiative participants and inform them about how their contribu tions have led to concrete changes.

n Continuously assess for participant feedback at every step in the process. n Close the feedback loop with people with lived experience to ensure that they know exactly how their participation and expertise has affected positive change within the agency. Agency Integration, Systems Change, and Impact Continuously message the value and expertise of people with lived experi ence and your agency’s culture will shift to integrate them across all programs and operations. Conclusion LENS offers a wider perspective on what’s possible around sharing power and modernizing systems, and proved to be an apt acronym for the project. The full LENS report articulates the wide range of practices that can engage and elevate the expertise of people with lived experience, while also highlighting a small selection

Paige Clay is a Lived Experience Consultant.

Morgan McKinney is a Process Innovation Associate for Community Collaboration at APHSA.

Julia Mueller is a Community Engagement Specialist at APHSA.

Adrian Geraldo Saldaña is an Organizational Effectiveness Consultant at APHSA.

Zahava “Zee” Zaidoff is a Community Advocate.

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Summer 2024 Policy & Practice