January 2019 – PAT Meeting #7

January, 18, 2019, 1-3pm

Participants

UB backbone staff present: Dionne Grayman, Jason Ludwig, David Harrington, Kassa Belay

Attendees: 23, including 3 FAB members and representatives from 11 organizations and 17 programs.

Guests: Abelardo Fernandez from Children’s Aid Society, representing South Bronx Rising Together

Presentation/Agenda

Notes

Objectives:

• Learn about the Strive Together network and vote on whether to pursue membership

Welcome:

• Happy New Year
• UB website has some exciting new updates and will continue with new improvements in the coming months
• Introducing Danielle Augustine, new UB PM
• Icebreaker: Name one thing you look forward to in 2019

Abe Fernandez: “From Cradle through College to Career: South Bronx Rising Together and the Striving Together Network”

• SBRT has been working the past 5 years to improve educational outcomes  in Congressional District 5 in the South Bronx. They are a member of the Strive Together national network of collective impact organizations
  • SBRT uses measurable indicators to seek population-level improvement in the South Bronx aimed at ensuring that:
    • All are healthy
    • All are ready for kindergarten
    • All succeed in school
    • All contribute positively to the community
    • All graduate high school ready for college and career
    • All attain a post-secondary degree or credential
    • All begin a career
  • Examples of indicators that SBRT uses: enrollment in pre-k, proficiencey in ELA standards, asthma-related emergency room visits
    • More information in SBRT’s “Vision to Action” Report
• SBRT is a member of the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network and is committed to promoting the four key pillars of its Theory of Action: shared community vision, evidence-based decision-making, collaborative action, investment, and sustainability.
  • SBRT goals align with ST’s “Student Roadmap to Success”
  • SBRT is interested in recruiting more NYC organizations to ST network, because this can strengthen requests for certain data sets from city agencies and aid in creating better data infrastructures in the city.
  • ST provides a platform with access to resources that members of their nationwide cradle to career network have utilized in their efforts
    • Also provides access to grants for this type of work
• Membership in ST network would offer UB:
  • Technical assistance
  • Financial resources
  • Branding and recognition
  • Connections and learning
  • Network development
• In exchange, UB would offer ST network
  • Alignment with cradle-to-career goals
  • Engagement with ST network of organizations
  • Service to the network
  • Data and reporting
    • Example of the type of data reporting required is a baseline report on key indicators in Brownsville, similar to the one produced by SBRT in 2014
  • Monetary contribution (from UB backbone)

Q&A Session with PAT members

• What is the political aspect of SBRT?
  • Abe: Identifying policy recommendations and leveraging these with Leadership Council
• How exactly would we align our goals with ST networks?
  • Abe, KB, DH: This would be in the long-term. In short-term we will continue focusing on 0-3 year olds, although ST network may request data about key indicators along the whole cradle-to-career pipeline. Based on SBRT experience, Abe recommended continued focus on 0-3 yr olds before expanding.
• What doe engagement with the rest of ST look like?
  • Abe: Several national meetings that bring together organizations in the network  as well as major thought leaders in collective impact work.
• How would ST membership help in achieving UB priorities (disrupting systemic racism, equity, and connecting with the families we work with).
  • Abe: ST has shown flexibility in responding to member organizations’ priorities. For example, equity became a major pillar of their work after members pointed out that it was missing from conversations at one of their national meetings
• What are UB’s long-term goals in partnering with ST?
  • DH and KB: Hope to achieve population-level change. Our fear is that the gains we make at 0-3 stage will not be reinforced after early childhood. Need a full pipeline focus to achieve change
    • Many of our partners focus on more than 0-3–we can utilize this collective expertise.
    • This is also an opportunity to create a culture of collaboration across organizations working with different age groups within Brownsville.

Vote on Pursuing ST Membership

• 17 meeting attendees voted in favor of pursuing membership in ST. This will be followed up with a vote in the next FAB meeting.

Survey Results

In written comments, PAT attendees indicated that they liked the opportunity to learn more about Strive Together and South Bronx Rising Together as well as thinking about where UB might go in the future. There were some requests for condensing presentations, identifying next steps for working with Strive, and to talk about referrals and ways PAT members can connect better in the future.