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Home » What is Ready by 21? » Getting Leaders Ready
Getting Leaders Ready

Getting Leaders Ready

Partnerships, goals, data, planning, action steps – this is the language of leadership. Rarely does a day go by when leaders aren’t challenged by their boards, funders and constituents to improve outcomes.
 

Ready by 21’s core principle is that, to improve outcomes for young people, leaders need to organize themselves into Broad Partnerships that take responsibility for Big Goals and use Better Data to identify and align the Bold Actions that are necessary to change conditions and improve lives.

To increase the effectiveness of leaders from the clubhouse to the statehouse, Ready by 21 offers:

  •  Clear standards against which to gauge current leadership efforts
  •  A range of services for increasing leaders’ capacity to manage change
  •  Expert facilitation and technical services
  •  Ongoing coaching and networking supports.

Standards and Solutions


Within the four Building Blocks for Effective Change, the Forum has identified 14 critical standards to carry out that change (listed below). More about each of these standards and the four building blocks can be found in the Toolkits section.

We offer a range of tools and services – solutions – designed to not only assess the current capacity of communities and networks to carry out change, but to guide their efforts in making improvements in all these areas. These tools range from free, do-it-yourself learning opportunities to comprehensive services packages of long-term and intensive technical assistance.

Broader Partnerships

  • Build an overarching leadership council
  • Align and strengthen coalitions, commissions and intermediaries
  • Engage key stakeholders in setting priorities and solving problems

Bigger Goals

  • Establish a balanced set of goals and indicators for all children, youth and young adults
  • Define supports that the full community must provide
  • Create a big picture, goal-oriented action plan
  • Define common terms and communicate core messages

Better Data

  • Collect complete data about youth outcomes, community supports and leadership actions
  • Align and connect data for decision-making
  • Use the best information about what works

Bolder Actions

  • Improve systems and settings
  • Align policies and resources
  • Increase demand
  • Engage youth, families and community members in solutions