community engagement

When the Forum for Youth Investment needed a firm with a stellar background in facilitating a meeting of high-level staff members, they called upon Collaborative to provide guidance and direction.

Collaborative prepared a comprehensive agenda through phone interviews and a planning session. The team facilitated a two-day retreat with the Forum’s Directors, followed by a summary document concerning the work done at the retreat.

DC VOICE enlisted Collaborative’s knowledge and expertise to address its organizational plan and how it reflected current issues, including development of major strategies to address these issues. In addition, Collaborative’s work also included identifying communication and market opportunities to support the plan.

Collaborative harnessed its background in organizational and strategic planning to produce, along with DC VOICE staff, a clear and comprehensive set of strategic priorities and initiatives for DC VOICE. The Collaborative team’s efforts also included planning and facilitating a convening of DC VOICE board members, as well as consultation services to the Executive Director on operating plans. Collaborative was also a key consultant on the design of a community wide series of engagement sessions designed to bring D.C. residents into conversations about the findings from DC VOICE’s action research.

As the Newark Community Foundation sought ways to make a difference in their city, they enlisted Collaborative’s services to help facilitate a community engagement process that they hoped would result in an organizational design for a local education fund.

Collaborative facilitated and led discussions with a team of local leaders who acted as decision makers on this project. Additionally, Collaborative interviewed key stakeholders in education in Newark and national thought leaders on LEFs; mapped the organizations working in education in Newark; benchmarked national best practices of high-impact LEFs; and developed an organizational design and strategy for an LEF to operate in Newark.

The Kettering Foundation called upon Collaborative to serve as trusted advisor on research, analysis, and publications matters, including the production of a series of publications that address engagement efforts to benefit the community.

Collaborative helped the Kettering Foundation produce three publications in 2006 and one publication in 2007 from research on organizations working in other areas but taking on education issues to further community goals. The publications detail the success of organizations that build community by connecting with schools.

When the Education Foundation of Collier County needed advice on community engagement and mobilization, they sought out Collaborative’s knowledge and expertise. The Foundation called for an comprehensive effort and set of recommendations to improve teaching and learning for the county’s teachers and children.

Collaborative partnered with the Education Foundation of Collier County (EFCC) to develop a community engagement effort to enhance learning for Collier County children and their teachers, including forming a steering committee and supporting the Foundation in crafting a document that articulates the community’s priority around education.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sought out Collaborative to serve as lead strategic and organizational planner for a local education fund whose goal was to ensure excellence in Washington, DC public schools. Collaborative worked with the DC Education Compact (DCEC) to determine how best to ensure that students in the city's public schools achieve excellence with the support of their community. Collaborative’s efforts included shaping the mission, vision, priorities and strategies for the organization's work.

Collaborative has been called upon to provide trusted advice and consultation to United Way Worldwide on a wide variety of issues, including high-level executive consultation, strategic consulting, meeting facilitation, research and analysis, and production services.

The MetroHartford Alliance needed a knowledgeable firm to serve as strategic planner on issues of civic infrastructure, including the development of a new local education fund (LEF). They called upon Collaborative to take the lead in research, development, and implementation of the LEF. Collaborative led the research and discovery process, benchmarking of comparable local education funds (LEFs), design and facilitation of the Hartford Education Collaborative’s meetings. Collaborative also developed an initial business plan for the potential LEF, now in place, called Achieve Hartford.

Collaborative serves as project manager and coach on community engagement issues with The Harwood Institute for Public Education. Collaborative partnered with the Institute to develop and implement innovative ways for public broadcasters to strengthen local significance and improve the civic health of communities. Collaborative coordinated the project team, developed metrics, developed convenings, and documented progress.