StriveTogether
Model & Strategy
StriveTogether works with communities to improve education outcomes by helping them aggregate, analyze and utilize data more effectively and by helping community actors operate in a collaborative way. Education in the U.S. is program rich, but system poor – despite the massive amount of resources spent on disjointed education efforts, communities have yet to achieve desired student outcomes, nor have we witnessed systemic, sustainable change within the education system. StriveTogether’s proven expertise, effective resources and nationally recognized collective impact approach enables communities to create local education ecosystems to support children and youth from cradle to career.
Built on lessons in 53 communities, StriveTogether’s Theory of Action helps local partnerships build and sustain civic infrastructure by engaging the community, eliminating disparities, focusing on continuous improvement and aligning existing resources. StriveTogether helps communities unite stakeholders around shared goals, measures and results in education. StriveTogether supports these communities through network activities, tools and strategic assistance aligned with a nationally-recognized Theory of Action. Network outcomes include kindergarten readiness, early grade reading, middle grade math, high school graduation, postsecondary enrollment and attainment.
Until 2017, Jeff Edmondson led StriveTogether and was the founding executive director of the StrivePartnership. Jeff now serves as Executive Director of Community Mobilization at Ballmer Group. Prior to founding StriveTogether, Edmondson was the founding executive director of the StrivePartnership in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, a partnership of postsecondary, K-12, business, philanthropic, non-profit, and civic organizations aimed at increasing education outcomes for students throughout the region. StrivePartnership is one of the most notable collective impact initiatives and Edmondson has drawn on the work of the Partnership to develop StriveTogether and the national Cradle to Career Network.
Jennifer Blatz serves as president and CEO for StriveTogether, where she oversees the organization’s operations and strategy for accelerating the progress of cradle-to-career partnerships to change systems and improve educational outcomes. Prior to her work with StriveTogether, Jennifer worked closely with StriveTogether Founder Jeff Edmondson to launch StrivePartnership, a cross-sector, cradle-to-career partnership serving Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and one of the most notable collective impact initiatives in the country.
IMPACT
StriveTogether’s “Cradle to Career” Network includes nearly 70 cross-sector partnerships working to create more equitable systems and attain better outcomes for every child. The Network impacts more than 13 million children, including more than 9 million children of color across 30 states.
Each network community is progressing through a continuum of gateways as they build and sustain civic infrastructure, known as StriveTogether’s Theory of Action. Today, 11 Network members are in the “Emerging” gateway, 42 are in the “Sustaining” gateway and 15 are in the “Proof Point” gateway.
StriveTogether is entering into year one of a new strategic plan in which network members are working toward an ambitious five-year goal to accelerate the progress of at least 24 communities to reach a new, elevated Systems Transformation gateway in which they demonstrate evidence of outcomes improving, disparities closing, and a deeper level of engagement with adjacent sectors such as housing, health, transportation, and human services to transform systems.
StriveTogether News
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RT @AWilliamsIsom: “This work is ultimately about shifting power. And power is indistinguishable from freedom” @JIMSEDU speaking at the @WJ…
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RT @WJWInstitute: “While we commit to breaking down silos, you have create systems and put people in place. You have to meet people halfway…
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RT @ImpactTulsa: Thanks to a first-of-its-kind data-sharing partnership between nonprofits, health care and schools, this fellow @StriveTo…
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RT @JenBlatz: Honored to have been on this panel of leaders shaping the field of place-based work. It brings me comfort to know women like…
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"Out of many organizations, one system of support" — that's the vision of a network of place-based work, shares… https://t.co/O9rPcqZNeU
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The power of place-based work: At @WJWInstitute's Power of Place event, @JenBlatz shares how communities across Tex… https://t.co/FiRREjxkI3
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Shifting power, practices, policies and resources leads to systems change. StriveTogether President and CEO… https://t.co/uvGpGtA6F2
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"If we're trying to transform systems, we have to use targeted strategies." — StriveTogether President and CEO… https://t.co/K4HShSVosk
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Hear more from @agb4equity, panel moderator at @WJWInstitute at @hczorg's Power of Place event, in this episode of… https://t.co/9vKTCrkL1D
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Next up at @WJWInstitute's Power of Place, StriveTogether President and CEO @JenBlatz joins @dreamainky of… https://t.co/Ep0e2CqYL9
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"You can't go into these communities if you're going to be afraid to name race as one of the barriers." — Geoffrey… https://t.co/k9MMqqTJE8
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RT @JenBlatz: At @StriveTogether, we know solutions come from within communities, which is why the work of our #CradleToCareer Network is b…
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"Place matters at an incredibly local level." Raj Chetty of Harvard University shares data at @WJWInstitute at… https://t.co/r8bkgnkrku
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"It's time for us to make sure we have liberty and justice for all the families in this country." Thank you to Geof… https://t.co/gcuqEngRIG
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We're so looking forward to this conversation and a full day of hear from incredible communities across the country… https://t.co/acgvl3nLX9
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As we reflect on the work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we take inspiration from the way he brought toget… https://t.co/RW3eDvK3oQ
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"Data helps inform the decisions that drive the best possible actions, which then drive the best possible results,"… https://t.co/KX16Fg7kTs
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We can do far more together than we can apart. Collaboration in Cincinnati, including digital access work by… https://t.co/ZWBG8rfy5p
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Thank you to @WJWInstitute at @hczorg for hosting this opportunity to hear from incredible communities across the c… https://t.co/x1wAGYlFer