Approach

The process is meant to create a kind of "learning and doing" community among participating community foundations. It will focus on both existing substantive knowledge and the lessons from experience in the field and on the particular work, concerns, and approaches engaged in and contemplated by participating community foundations. It will combine structured activities, facilitated discussion forums, resource materials, guest presentations, and both organized and informal peer exchange to help participating community foundations capture lessons from the broader field and reflect on their work on behalf of children, families, and neighborhoods; examine the impact of that work; and engage in strategic thinking about how to increase their impact over time.

Discussions will be grounded in the goals, experiences, and concerns of the participating community foundations. They will draw heavily on the contributions of participants through facilitated peer-learning process organized around tangible examples of practice and participants’ analysis of key dilemmas, and will integrate lessons from the broader field (e.g., social science knowledge, evaluation findings, and program models). This requires a high level of engagement and commitment on the part of participants to bring their issues, evidence, and experience to the table, share them openly, and respond to those of others. Even more, it will require participants to apply the tools they have learned in analysis and planning after the meetings in order to effect the changes they desire.