Broader Partnerships

This white paper helps nonprofits see the range of ways they can partner with business leaders. The Business Stakeholder Wheel is an easy to use visual that shows the array of roles that businesses can play in community change efforts.

The Mapping Moving Trains Packet consists of an activity guide, a worksheet and a sample dashboard excel spreadsheet. The activity guide can be used to guide a group exercise along with the worksheet. The excel spreadsheet is a template for making a visual to illustrate the results of the exercise. Use this tool to gather information about important collaboratives and networks and to share the data with your stakeholders.

This brief provides an overview of four guiding principles to stakeholder engagement: be intentional about who to involve; be specific about what you ask the group to get involved in; think about how and how much you want people involved; and think about when you need the group to be engaged.

This Facilitator's Packet starts out with the Activity Guide, which will help in leading this exercise in a collaborative meeting. The Activity Guide is followed by the stakeholder wheel, which can be used by participants during the exercise. FInally, the packet contains a few examples of how the wheel has been used in communities. This resource is aimed at helping assess who a community is currently working with and where it can conduct outreach to improve the partnership.

Karen encourages Ready by 21 leaders to create a "catalytic partnership to ensure that all of the community's resources, not just the schools, have assumed shared responsibility for student success." She reminds leaders that they can change the way they do business and that partnerships are key.

Six components have been shown to influence the success of a children's cabinet or council: scope, authority, home, scale, resources and local connections. Although no combination is deemed 'correct,' it is important to consider the best choice for each component when developing or restructuring a cabinet or council.

Children's cabinets and councils have the potential to systematically coordinate the fragmented funding and services that often occur at the state level. Children's cabinets are typically made up of heads of government agencies with child and youth serving programs, who meet on a regular basis with the collective goal of coordinating services, developing a common set of outcomes and collaboratively deciding upon and implementing plans to foster the well-being of young people.