It takes so many different players to advance a cause – local residents, the wide array of organizations that serve them, public and private sector leaders, professional associations, researchers, funders… Shared Cause has the ability to take the perspectives from people with very different experiences and synthesize them into a shared direction. I particularly value the team’s ability to bring together stakeholders who haven’t been at the table and need to be. Shared Cause understands the importance of that and are good at ensuring that all are truly engaged and respected. I also value their knowledge of how to work across local, county, state and federal levels to solve problems at scale.

I’ve been heading CADCA for over two decades. When I was a new leader, I significantly benefitted from Shared Cause providing a strategic focus, road map and action plan that might have taken years to develop on our own. It saved us from trial and error, and gave us a head start in serving the field, building our board and carrying out our strategic plan.

They were there for us in the beginning and we’ll never forget what they did. My advice to fellow leaders is that Shared Cause expertise will quickly give them the right things to consider in order to be successful. When you’re trying to create significant progress in a complex environment, that has great value.

This year, the Boston Summer Learning Project will celebrate its 10th anniversary, serving more than 14,000 kids. The first two years were critical in building something that would endure for the next 10. Early on, it was easy to feel uncertain about what we were doing in creating an entirely new educational approach – nothing was given. But Shared Cause was able to ask the right questions, keep the right people at the table and get the most out of our efforts. They provided a comforting, guiding hand on the process for change. They made sure that we always were thinking big, but didn’t let us get head of ourselves, always probing at the right things to help us determine our next steps. Along the way, we went beyond programmatic thinking and developed a sustainable system that serves kids on a large scale.

Shared Cause helped plan the Miami-Dade Family Learning Partnership, a collaborative effort to improve child and family well-being across our highly diverse community. Lisa Blair and others of us launched the Partnership back in 2002, and it’s stronger than ever. Shared Cause harnessed the resources of so many organizations to provide families and children with guidance, literacy support, and strong life skills.

I’ve worked with Shared Cause three times – creating a national strategic plan and a major gift fundraising plan for the Arthritis Foundation and developing a strategic plan for Monroe Harding.  Their vast experience, planning expertise and understanding of motivations and fundraising is extremely valuable.

But what’s most important is the way Shared Cause works.  As a CEO, I’ve had utmost confidence in the way they engage an entire organization and community, from the board and C Suite levels to program staff and local leaders and stakeholders.  They gather a tremendous amount of input and produce a clear path to greater impact.  Their process builds consensus – the full organization and the community become focused and excited.  And when people collectively create a vision, they will naturally execute and fund it to the best of their ability.

Shared Cause is truly a partner to the Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB).  They’ve worked with us extensively to develop our next generation of work, engage funders, and establish an advocacy group composed of leaders in business, philanthropy, the media and education.  In the process, SAAB has evolved from a successful program to a cause with both national and local impact.  Shared Cause has a deep commitment to racial equity, and we are always on the same page in terms of how we act on our values and pursue SAAB’s objectives.

Shared Cause has the ability to stitch together the interests and capacities of many organizations in support of a shared vision.  They’re effective because they draw on a well-tested methodology.  It works in health, education and numerous other issues, across multiple sectors.