Blogs and Articles

Better Know a Network: Westbrook Children’s Project

The Westbrook Children’s Project was formed in 2009 in Westbrook, Maine, just outside the city of Portland. The network’s founding goals and vision were mainly around high school graduation rates, specifically to have every student in Westbrook graduate high school prepared for their next steps, whether that be post-secondary education, the workforce, or military service. Some initial champions of the Westbrook Children’s Project included the mayor and other local municipal

Better Know a Network: Achieve Brown County

About 7 to 10 years ago, the Bay Area Community Council (BACC) led an effort among community leaders to formulate ideas on how to create change in the community. Major partners in the effort were the Brown County United Way, the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, and the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. The action planning relied on information from the Brown County LIFE (Leading Indicators for Excellence) Study

Better Know a Network: Voyage

Voyage (formerly the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Prevention of Youth Violence) was formed in 2008 by a collection of elected officials and community leaders. The mayor of Wilmington, the district attorney, the superintendent of schools, local faith-based community leaders, and the head of United Way partnered together in response to a community call to address the rise of community crime and gang activity in 2007-2008. These players felt the need

Networks and Equity

Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd have reminded the country about the inequality that is woven into the fabric of many countries, especially the United States. Problems like intergenerational poverty and economic inequality, chronic and infectious disease, home flooding, and educational outcomes are all marked by the systemic racism that plagues the country. Leaders forge networks to reduce or end these wicked problems.

What’s a Network?

If you google network, the first result that comes up is a 1976 satire directed by Sidney Lumet. If you dig down the page further, you’ll get to computer networks, how shy people can network, and telecommunication network services. We use the word “network” a lot. It’s in our name. But, none of these results describe what we mean. Instead, when we talk about networks, we think about collaborations among

Image of protestors holding a sign reading George Floyd's Life Mattered

Better Know a Network: Recognizing The Chicago Community Bond Fund and Its Allies

The murder of George Floyd brought attention to the long list of black men and women killed in recent years by the police, including Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castle, and Breonna Taylor. We are outraged by the continued police violence and oppression of black people and other people of color. At NNSI, we condemn this violence and stand with the Black Lives Matter movement to