Jeff Edmondson Addresses Council of Champions on September 23, 2011

Jeff Edmondson is the Managing Director of Strive National. He presented on the four pillars of the Cradle to Career framework to our Council of Champions as well as members from our Priority Teams. Priority Teams are similar to advisory groups. They are made up of community leaders and experts from business, government, nonprofit, education, justice and academia who provide advice and guidance in our focus areas.

Jeff’s message was loud and clear. Calgary is very far ahead, much farther ahead than most network sites, but our focus needs to be on developing high level community indicators for our priority areas. Collectively we need to define what success looks like in relation to our goals, and agree on how we will measure and report on it.

UpStart Staff Attends National Strive Convening in Portland, Orgeon
September 15 &16, 2011

Members of the UpStart team joined over 300 people representing 83 communities that are adopting the Strive Framework of Collective Impact. There are four pillars of the Cradle to Career Framework. These include:

• A Shared Community Vision
• Evidence-Based Decision Making
• Collaborative Action
• Investment and Sustainability

The purpose of the convening was to provide participants with tested tools that they can employ in order to implement the above four components. It was also an opportunity to network with communities, at varying levels of implementation, doing the same type of work.

UpStart Becomes First Canadian Member of Strive

On May 2, 2011, UpStart became an official member, and first Canadian member, of the Strive Network, a Collective Impact organization, in May 2011. This has meant slight enhancements, such as resource supports to our structure. The decision to become a member did not happen lightly or quickly. It was the result of many discussions with Strive, United Way, Council of Champions, and other community partners. Being a member means we are connected to a much larger network that is striving to achieve the same things we are. Strive has also provided us and will continue to provide us coaching and guidance.

Strive’s vision: Every Child, Every Step of the Way, Cradle to Career. For more information please visit their website at www.strivetogether.org.