Technical Assistance

When they are successful, local partnerships and initiatives can have “needle moving” impact on some of society’s seemingly intractable problems. But getting to success is especially hard when the focus is on improving child and youth outcomes. Fragmentation of efforts, resources and services is rampant. Dozens of partnerships, coalitions and initiatives focused on specific issues can easily be found in the same community. 

For decades, the Forum for Youth Investment has helped community leaders understand what it means to take a “whole child, whole community” approach to their work. We’ve combined our experience with research-based and field-tested tools and techniques to help diverse partners who have competing priorities step back and look at the big picture in order to target their action more effectively.

Our technical assistance is built around the Big Picture Approach to community change. A Big Picture Approach helps leaders build the infrastructure to manage change in their communities.This approach follows five field-tested steps that align with the five steps of collective impact.

BPA Consulting

Big Picture Approach Consulting (BPA Consulting) consolidates the Forum’s teaching, coaching, technical assistance, facilitation and actionable data services focused on mobilizing the work of community coalitions and partnerships into one technical assistance center. We offer supports to a wide range of coordinating groups, including:

• Partnerships & Coalitions
• Governmental Coordinating Bodies
• Funders Groups
• Public Systems
• Multi-Service Agencies
• Community Catalysts & Backbone Supports 

BPA Consulting helps leadership groups build broader partnerships, set bigger goals, use data better and implement bolder strategies. Our team has decades of on-the-ground experience helping communities:

• Assess local context and capacity in order to build on what exists.
• Align structures, goals, data, resources and action plans in ways that literally get partners and initiatives “on the same page.”
• Advance strong plans and anticipate what it will really take to implement and sustain the efforts over time. 

The hallmark of all of this work is balancing research and evidence with local wisdom, and using practical techniques to engage young people, families, providers and community leaders in authentic ways. We start where you are, offering:

• Presentations & keynotes to explore ideas
• Facilitated meetings to advance discussions
• Trainings to sharpen skills and strategies
• Strategic planning support for major initiatives
• Ongoing coaching to build the skills of your core team
• Data gathering to fill information gaps
• Mapping of coalitions & networks
• Surveys on partnership characteristics & leadership horsepower
• Child well-being reports
• Document reviews & plan analysis
• Key leader interviews
• Policy scans
• Fiscal mapping

To learn more, call Ian Faigley at 202-207-3334 or email ian@forumfyi.org.