David Leonhardt of the New York Times wrote about the challenge of “vaccine alarmism,” that is, basically weighing down excellent vaccine findings with too many caveats.  Rather than clarifying, the added layers of information and nuance confuse the public.  Or worse, make them question the value of getting vaccinated. He spoke about this with Kate Grabowski, an epidemiologist … Continue reading On The Same Page

We’re about six months into this coronavirus crisis of unimaginable dimension. There is plenty we’ve all learned about things that went horribly wrong and things that were already horribly out of whack.  On the flip side, what have we learned about doing things differently?  What innovations or perspectives have either sprung from the crisis or have come … Continue reading What Lessons Are You Learning?

Shared Cause has been working with foundations of all sizes for nearly 30 years.  In these upending times, non-profits are rightly worried about how to move forward with their work and how to support that work.  Will their foundation partners stay the course?  Will they retrench?  Or will they adopt new ways of working that offer promise for the … Continue reading Pushing Forward

Parents across the country have suddenly found themselves on the front line as teachers for their children. Fifty-five million K- 12 students are furloughed from school – some for the rest of the year.  Districts and teachers are scrambling to devise “distance learning” modes or, at the very least, ways to stay in touch with their … Continue reading “Silver Linings Playbook”?

In the context of moving more Americans into the skill level they need for satisfying, family-sustaining jobs in the 21stcentury, making public college tuition free is a hot topic. Post-secondary learning has a big impact on earning.  Census data from 2016 noted that people with high school degrees earned an average of $35,615 a year. Those … Continue reading Bending the Arc, One Young Man at a Time

So, what happens when county school superintendents, the mayor of the county seat, major institutions and companies big and small throw out the playbook for how secondary and post-secondary education was always run and join up on the same team?  It might just lead to reinventing an entire region and re-envisioning its future. The Yadkin … Continue reading When Reinventing Isn’t Just a Catchphrase

Battling philosophies on the best way to reform K-12 education, especially large, urban systems, in the U.S. seem to have made one thing very clear:  schools, alone, can’t catch all of America’s kids up to where they should be.  Enlightened school system management, strong principals, well-trained and motivated teachers and engaging curricula are essential, of … Continue reading Collaborative Heroes

In collective impact, coming to consensus on vision and goals is like a dance held in the tension between convergence and divergence.  Partners choose to come together to solve a difficult problem but they can come from such different places and purposes it is hard work to identify the common ground and then navigate the … Continue reading Tension between Convergence and Divergence

A generational shift has happened in the U.S.  Now, the qualities of the place where we live and work and play – the qualities of the place we call our hometown – are as important if not more than the job itself.  This is a significant departure from the Baby Boom era, where the career … Continue reading The Meaning of Place in Collective Impact

Making collective impact work starts by underscoring the collective part.  Our alliance believes that when communities truly create change together, it is change that withstands funding cycles, election results, leadership and generational shifts.  It is change that sticks. One of the hardest concepts to embrace when working on social problems is the idea that everyone brings something … Continue reading Making Change Stick