Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community:
Community Partnerships
Module 4
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| Contents | Preface
| Introduction
| Module 1
| Module 2
| Module 3
| Module 4 | |
Practicing the Collaborative Process
Handout 4: Selecting Collaborative Partners6
Instructions
Appoint a facilitator and a recorder/reporter for your small group. Go over the call for action scenario selected by your group from handout 2 or from the newsprint list. Take time to discuss the selected scenario; add your own experiences and concerns to the scenario to make it real to your group, your Head Start program, and your community.
GUIDELINES
As collaborative organizers who have decided to act, your next task is to identify and recruit all the potential players with a stake in the call for action. Use the guidelines below to decide who you will invite to the table to explore mutual concerns and possibilities for a collaborative effort.
- First, consider stakeholders you already know and share a relationship.
- Consider other organizations or individuals that you do not know as well but you believe will bring clout and commitment to the collaborative effort.
- Consider stakeholders who have the expertise and skills that your collaborative effort needs. For example, consider individuals who are experts or very knowledgeable about the issues surrounding the call for action and the community's history, as well as individuals with skills in organizing meetings, managing tasks, facilitating groups, writing, speaking, developing resources and fund-raising, and resolving conflicts. Do the stakeholders have policy-making authority?
- Consider stakeholder diversity. Do the identified stakeholders represent diverse community populations? Are the ethnic, racial, and cultural groups that make up your community represented by the stakeholders? Are different sectors of the community represented (e.g., private organizations, public agencies, foundations, businesses, religious organizations, grassroots groups, the media, consumers, elected officials)?
- Consider stakeholder power to achieve results. Powers that are helpful include connections, resources, position, persuasion, charisma, visibility, decision-making authority, and integrity. Some stakeholders may not have the time to remain with the collaborative for long, but they may be very good at attracting others who will work hard.
- Sixth, consider individuals or organizations that may be in a position to block the collaborative's efforts. What are the possibilities of including them--and helping them see the advantages of working together?
Consider the number of stakeholders you want to recruit. No more than 15 is ideal for initial efforts.
For the categories below, list the names of individuals or organizations that your group would like to recruit. Your group does not have to identify potential partners for all the categories; instead, focus on potential partners that you believe are needed most for the start-up phase of your effort. When the large group reconvenes, your group will be asked to present its list of potential partners.
Category 1: The Head Start Community (staff, volunteers, policy-makers and governing board members).
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Category 2: Consumers (the people who use services and represent, for example, Head Start Advisory Councils, parent/teacher groups, religious organizations, civic groups, community associations, neighborhood clubs, and tenant groups).
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Category 3: Public-Sector Organizations (schools, libraries, government-supported human service agencies, and other publicly funded agencies, such as public housing, public safety, or city planning).
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Category 4: Private Providers, Non-Profits, and Grassroots Organizations (United Way, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, cultural groups, advocacy groups, health and hospital organizations, early childhood programs, colleges and universities, religious and civic organizations, and local foundations).
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Category 5: Businesses and Business Organizations (those that bring skills in management, marketing, finance; resources; real estate; or opportunities for parent employment and job training).
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Category 6: Elected Officials (school board and city council representatives).
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Category 7: Natural Community Leaders (community activists).
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6 Adapted from Atelia Melaville and Martin Blank with Gelareh Asayesh, Together We Can: A Guide for Crafting a Profamily System of Education and Human Services (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Education and U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services 1993).
Copyright © 1998 Head Start Publications Management Center
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