Better Know a Network: Learn to Earn Dayton
In 2007, EDvention was formed as a collaborative aimed at improving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) opportunities for youth in Dayton, OH. In 2011, EDvention expanded its focus beyond STEM, becoming what is now Learn to Earn Dayton—the cradle-to-career initiative focused in Montgomery County. In 2015, Learn to Earn Dayton merged with Ready-Set-Soar, a readiness and reading proficiency program, and became part of the national network, StriveTogether, dedicated to
What Makes a Good Network Leader?
Leading a network is much more complicated than advancing a single organization. Many successful organizational leaders are not good network leaders. Organizational leaders are often accustomed to making a decision and then having it implemented by paid staff. Network leaders get organizational leaders to work together without merging into a single organization – meaning they neither make decisions independently nor have the power to mandate their implementation. Conveners and long-term
Better Know a Network: Agewell Pittsburgh
In 2004 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Jewish Association on Aging, Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, and Jewish Family and Community Services were brought together by the Jewish Community Foundation to form Agewell Pittsburgh. The partnership was convened initially around a Nationally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) grant. The funds made it possible to create the first version of their network. They created care teams across the participating organizations. Social workers
Nonprofit Capacity: A Guide for Foundations
Foundations, technical assistance organizations, and government programs often claim to promote nonprofit capacity. But, many times, it’s not clear what they mean. Merriam Webster defines capacity as “the facility or power to produce, perform, or deploy.” Nonprofit capacity is the facility of nonprofits to produce, perform, or deploy their resources. It’s not the same as effectiveness. Instead, it describes the ability of a nonprofit to accomplish its organizational goals and
Does Corporate Social Responsibility Communication Assuage Activists More Than Other People?
Popular culture and management scholars argue that activists serve as the watchdog for corporations. In the absence of government regulation, activists supposedly hold corporations to account. Corporate activists are more informed and, therefore, more skeptical about corporate social responsibility messages than the general public. Activists, the theory goes, can sniff out greenwashing in ways that the average citizen cannot. But, no studies had empirically examined whether activists were more skeptical
Networks and Systems Change: The Washing Machine Model
By Anne-Marie Boyer Conversations around social issues are regularly punctuated with the term “systems change.” Systems change recognizes that problems are unconstrained, dynamic, and continually evolving. Education disparities, climate change, public health, women’s rights, and poverty are entwined; Addressing any one of these issues unravels moving parts in the other. The Rockefeller Foundation states that systems change requires collaboration. Individuals and organizations, from across sectors and areas of expertise, collaborate