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A PRESSING NEED
Leaders connected to literacy campaigns and initiatives are faced with the big picture and the everyday work that’s needed, day-to-day and year-over-year, to deliver on visionary goals.
Leading meaningful change is challenging for even the most skilled leaders and teams, as the work is complex and multi-faceted: From rallying key stakeholders around the goals and work and developing strategic and staffing plans to identifying new, innovative approaches; and from developing timelines and determining metrics for monitoring progress while leading distinct phases of work to then getting a tight match between the available resources and the goals.
And even with these pieces in play, there are ongoing demands. For example:
- the work of coordination for greater intensity needs regular attention
- effective, feasible measurement is a dynamic process
- the network needs re-alignment when plans and/or partners shift
- the science of improvement and the science of literacy surface new findings
- distinct phases of work need to be (re)articulated and/or adjusted
- available resources and funding priorities shift, affecting the plans and work
A PATH FORWARD
Making good on the potential and promise of today’s momentum and investments demands a new approach—one that doesn’t always look and feel familiar but is what’s needed for transformative change.
Our institutes equip teams to develop new different ways of thinking and working together—and to cultivate even stronger impact-driven mindsets. The institute enhances the design and impact of any campaign or initiative, at any stage of work. Across sessions and with a toolkit, teams learn, experience, and apply a distinct approach to analyzing what’s in play, and to adjusting their plans and efforts. We cultivate the knowledge and tools to avoid intention-impact gaps, accomplish target goals and outcomes, and celebrate measurable change.
The institute for literacy campaigns and initiatives serves teams from non-profit organizations; school districts; state agencies; community and philanthropic organizations. The institute for a literacy organization serves leaders and the entire staff or a subset of staff who are engaged in the priority work.
Because effective collective action means having key players at the table, we take a unique, team-based approach to our institutes.
Teams hail from: community campaigns and initiatives; school districts; state agencies; non-profit organizations; and philanthropic organizations.
Institutes are offered in person (2-3 days) or remote (5-6 half-day sessions).
TODAY’S CHALLENGES + OPPORTUNITIES
- Across the nation, we hear from leaders and teams about the challenges of finding the time for focused, strategic work. * Research estimates 9 out of 10 organizations fail to execute on their strategic plans.
- Three key challenges that leaders say slows the pace of their change work: getting started, sustaining momentum, and demonstrating results.
- The design for the work of many literacy campaigns, initiatives, and organizations often fails to make key distinctions: 1) collaboration vs. collective action; 2) visionary goals vs. measurable goals; 3) data use vs. evaluation work; 4) standing groups vs. working groups.
- Bringing together the science of improvement with the science of literacy is a crucial and powerful next step for many literacy campaigns, initiatives and organizations. A commitment to one without the other is a (widespread) missed opportunity.
- Collective impact research surfaces the role of outside facilitators as instrumental to effective stakeholder conversations and action planning.
- 9 out of 10 partners report the Lectio institute provides a deep, intellectually challenging experience that drives positive change.
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