Peer support can help organizations and groups with planning, organizational issues, financial management, technology, programming, marketing, community participation, evaluation and more.

To see the list of Peer Advisor Biographies, click here.

Working with a Peer Advisor, you can:

• Establish direction at a crucial time (support leadership transitions, conduct an organizational assessment, non-profit start-up, etc.)
• Develop your organization’s functional capacity (Board or staff development, fund raising, program evaluation, etc.)
• Address a particular project or issue (office technologies, preparing a marketing plan, soliciting community input, etc.)
• Ascertain priorities (strategic planning, advocacy, facility planning, etc.)
• and much more!

Cultural organizations or groups can receive from a half-day (4 hours) to up to two days (16 hours) of on- or off-site direct consulting services in the form of individual meetings, group meetings, and/or training.  Peer Advisor fees are set at $300 per day: COA subsidizes two thirds of the Advisor fee ($200/day) and the Client pays the remaining one third ($100/day).  Clients must cover travel.  A full list of advisor services is listed in the Application Form.


The following are eligible for a Peer Advisor assignment:

The following are NOT eligible for a Peer Advisor assignment:

• Individuals
• State agencies
• For profit organizations/businesses
• Other than arts, heritage, tourism  and cultural organizations & emerging groups
  (social service, civic, healthcare, Chambers of Commerce etc.)

Contact the local arts agency that serves your town (see list below).  A phone conversation about your organization’s or group’s current needs will help to clarify and prepare your application.  Read the PAN Program Guidelines for further details regarding contract terms, application, and annual maximums.

The application includes an Organizational Assessment and a convenient Assessment Auto Summary grid.  Forms are also available online from each PAN regional office (see contact information below).  A PAN program manager will call or email you upon initial review of your application to notify you of approval for a Peer Advisor match.  Every effort will be made to assign a Peer Advisor within the needed time frame.

Application Review Criteria:  Eligible applications are reviewed year-round – there are no application deadlines.  Review criteria include the appropriateness of the request, the prospects for a positive outcome, and the applicant’s readiness to act in response.  If recommended for approval, the PAN Regional Office will discuss your request with an appropriate Peer Advisor, notify the client of a potential match, and forward relevant materials to the selected Advisor.  The Peer Advisor will contact the client directly to discuss pertinent needs and logistics and will initiate a Memorandum of Understanding.

The Memorandum of Understanding:  The terms of each advising assignment, made in writing, are signed by the client and the Peer Advisor. The Memorandum of Understanding is available from the program

Evaluation:  To assess quality of service and overall effectiveness, a Final Report form must be submitted by both the Client and the Peer Advisor within four weeks following the culmination of the advising assignment.  Additional PAN assignments will not be awarded unless prior evaluations have been submitted.

Confidentiality:  Peer Advisors commit to keep confidential all information shared during a PAN consultancy.  Likewise, PAN office staff and COA keep confidential all information related to a Peer Advisor consultancy.

The PAN program is administered by five PAN field offices. Interested organizations or groups should contact the appropriate PAN field office for assistance and to submit an application and complete a self-assessment.  See the town listing below for your PAN regional office.

PAN Regional Offices:  Look for your town below, listed alphabetically under each PAN Regional Office.

Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County	Greater Hartford Arts Council	Northwest Connecticut Arts Council	Shoreline Arts Alliance	Windham Area Arts Collaborative
Ansonia Bethany Beacon Falls Bethel Bridgeport Bridgewater Brookfield Danbury Darien Derby Easton Fairfield Greenwich Middlebury Monroe Naugatuck New Canaan New Fairfield Newtown Norwalk Oxford Prospect Redding Ridgefield Seymour Shelton Southbury Stamford Stratford Trumbull Waterbury Weston Westport Wilton Wolcott	Andover Avon Berlin Bloomfield Bolton Bristol Burlington Canton East Granby East Hartford East Windsor Ellington Enfield Farmington Glastonbury Granby Hartford Hebron Manchester Marlborough New Britain New Hartford Newington Plainville Rocky Hill Simsbury Somers Southington South Windsor Suffield Vernon West Hartford Wethersfield Windsor Windsor Locks	Barkhamsted Bethlehem Canaan Colebrook Cornwall Goshen Hartland Harwinton Kent Litchfield Morris New Hartford New Milford Norfolk North Canaan Plymouth Roxbury Salisbury Sharon Sherman Thomaston Torrington Warren Washington Watertown Winchester Woodbury	Branford Cheshire Chester Clinton Cromwell Deep River Durham East Haddam East Hampton East Haven East Lyme Essex Groton Guilford Haddam Hamden Killingworth Lyme Madison Meriden Middlefield Middletown Milford New Haven New London NorthBranford North Haven Old Lyme Old Saybrook Orange Portland Stonington Wallingford Waterford Westbrook West Haven Woodbridge	Ashford Bozrah Brooklyn Canterbury Chaplin Colchester Columbia Coventry Eastford Franklin Griswold Hampton Killingly Lebanon Ledyard Lisbon Mansfield Montville North Stonington Norwich Plainfield Pomfret Preston Putnam Salem Scotland Sprague Stafford Sterling Thompson Tolland Union Voluntown Willington Windham/Willimantic Woodstock

For more information, contact
John Cusano at 860-256-2723 or john.cusano@ct.gov