1. Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
Working Together
Module: Working Together
In this module participants will explain the importance of partnership in working on Evidence2Success priorities and will articulate the value that public system, neighborhood and at-large community partners bring to the work. This module is part of the Community Board Orientation workshop.

2. Why a Public System–Community Approach?
Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
Why a Public System–Community Approach?
Why a public system-community approach? There are strong reasons to bring public systems together with neighborhood representatives and private agencies.
Many problems affecting the well-being and development of youth are so interconnected that a multisector approach is needed.
For example, asbestos was commonly used in buildings before we knew its health risks. Fixing this problem requires education and outreach, lawmakers, building inspectors and healthcare providers as well as building contractors and asbestos removal companies.
These types of problems are known as “systemic problems” because people from many different backgrounds are needed to solve them. The same approach is needed in Evidence2Success; it takes collaboration across several systems and the neighborhoods they serve to reach our ultimate goal: improving outcomes for kids.

3. Benefits of Collaboration
Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
Benefits of Collaboration
Cooperation vs. competition
Relationships that build trust
Diverse perspectives = greater understanding of problems
Shared decision making
ACTIVITY
Turn now to your neighbor to form pairs. With your partner, take a minute or two to brainstorm and jot down some of the benefits you can see for collaboration.
Give participants two or three minutes to brainstorm. Then ask some volunteers to share their responses. After several people have spoken, click to show the slide contents. Emphasize that these are generalities, not necessarily true in all cases.
Cooperation. Our culture emphasizes competition. In a competitive culture, individuals or group works independently to achieve their goals in an attempt to gain individual rewards. Collaboration across sectors is based on cooperation rather than competition. In many cases, everyone achieves more when people come together, pool their resources and assist one another.
Trust. Collaboration requires time and commitment. Individuals and groups have to establish trust in each other and develop a process that allows all partners to understand and look out for each other’s interests.
Greater understanding. Specific attention is given to understanding stakeholders’ perspectives on the causes of social problems. Examining these perspectives can reveal important patterns and lead to a much greater understanding of the problem and potential solutions.
Shared decision making. Many leaders have come to realize that systemic problems won’t be solved unless the people who are most affected are central to solving them. In order for collaboration to succeed, people from diverse sectors must be included in the planning and decision-making process. All people who are affected by the problem should have equal opportunity to voice their opinions, provide leadership and lend their expertise to solving the problem. In fact, empowering communities creates the potential for making democracy work better. The rewards can make the time and investment of resources worthwhile.
NEXT, BEFORE ADVANCING TO THE NEXT SLIDE, divide the room in half. Now let’s focus on what community stakeholders and public agency stakeholders each bring to the table when they work together. Have one half (as one group) list what community members bring to a partnership and the other half (as one group) list what public agencies bring to the partnership. Have them write their thoughts on flipchart paper. Give them five minutes for this. Then have each group report back and post their flipchart pages.

4. The Value of Neighborhood Partners
Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
The Value of Neighborhood Partners
Unique experience and perspective of neighborhood needs and opportunities
Formal and informal links through family and social networks
Ability to interact and react quickly to address issues in culturally appropriate ways
Direct services and advocacy that respond to community context
Operate outside of mainstream system to reach marginalized and sometimes hard-to-reach populations
Compare the first group’s responses (on their flipchart) to the contents of the slide.

5. The Value of Public System Partners
Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
The Value of Public System Partners
A workforce with specialized training
An understanding of rules and regulations that govern programs and services
Relationships with other agencies
Ability to change an agency’s policy and practice
Funding to sustain programs that demonstrate return on investment
Compare the second group’s responses (on their flipchart) to the contents of the slide.

6. Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
SAMPLE SLIDE ONLY! Building on Our Public System- Community Collaborative Efforts
Grade Level Reading
Attendance
Systems and Operations
High School to College
Evidence2 Success
REPLACE WITH A SLIDE SHOWING LOCAL COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS between public systems and community. This slide is just an example from a different community. If possible, have this slide presented by a community board member representing the community or a partner neighborhood. (Alternatively, you may omit this slide from the deck.)

7. Building Blocks for Establishing a Trusting Relationship (I)
Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
Building Blocks for Establishing a Trusting Relationship (I)
Understand neighborhood experience working with systems.
Listen to neighborhood recommendations for key ideas on how to partner with them.
Make sure everyone understands the decision-making process. Be clear about constraints.
Help everyone engage effectively,
Take time for dialogue—listening as well as talking. Ask how and why.
Look for alternatives (compromises) when a neighborhood priority cannot currently be supported.
ACTIVITY: WHAT CAN WE DO TO FACILITATE TRUST BUILDING ON OUR COMMUNITY BOARD?
Put up two flipcharts, one labeled “Building Blocks—Systems” and one labeled “Building Blocks—Community”
Have a quick group brainstorming session with the full group to think of ways that public systems and community members can build trust on the community board. Ask someone to help you record their insights, so that one of you writes insights for public systems on the systems flipchart and the other writes them down for community or neighborhood representatives on the community flipchart.
Leave the slide blank while you are brainstorming. Then click to populate the slide with these suggestions for public systems, which another group came up with. How do they compare?

8. Building Blocks for Establishing a Trusting Relationship (II)
Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
Building Blocks for Establishing a Trusting Relationship (II)
Understand each public system’s mandate and constraints.
Understand that having a community voice at the table may be new to participating public systems.
Realize that public systems need to keep scale and efficiency in mind.
Take time for dialogue—listening as well as talking. Ask how and why.
Look for alternatives (compromises) when a neighborhood priority cannot currently be supported.
This slide is part of the same brainstorming activity. This shows suggestions for community or neighborhood representatives (from a different group). How do they compare with what our group came up with?
Note: Be prepared for difficult questions like “who gets the final say” or other references to the inherent power imbalance that results from public systems’ control over the majority of the funding.
Some of these questions will be addressed in the module “Getting Organized.”
Community boards differ in their decision-making process, but ultimately Evidence2Success aims to make decisions that work for everyone.

9. Evidence2Success Community Board Orientation
Discussion
HANDOUTS:
The Ten Tips one-pagers (for coordinator, neighborhood leaders and public system leaders)
Where do you see potential for working together?
How do you feel about the prospect of working together?
The Ten Tips handouts contain suggestions for the coordinator, neighborhood leaders (or community leaders) and public system leaders on building collaboration and creating a safe space for this work. You might find it interesting to compare these sheets to see where the suggestions overlap.