COALITION BUILDING

Do you have an issue bigger than one organization can solve alone?

What's a coalition?

A coalition is simply when a group of people gather to address an issue that is bigger than what one person or organization can solve on their own. The idea of forming a coalition to address an issue is not new or specific to the early childhood field.

Coalitions are well used in other sectors, such as economic development, workforce development, and education. What is somewhat new is the idea that organizations need to work with other organizations and stakeholders, often some unusual partners, to make progress and realize their outcomes.

Building A Coalition

Collaborate

We work with you to bring the right people to the table to address the community issue and form your coalition. These stakeholders should represent a variety of sectors: government, nonprofit, education, criminal justice, business, etc.

Assess

We work with your team to gather public data to help gain knowledge and understanding of the issue area. We create tools for gathering feedback from a variety of stakeholders through interviews, surveys, and focus groups.

Facilitate

With your group of stakeholders, we work to facilitate consensus. We determine our short and long term goals and break down specific action steps to accomplish them.

Create

Once your group has census, we help you put your plan into action! We’ll determine who and how the plan will be implemented.

Case Study Example

Our team works with various communities across the state to develop early childhood care and education (ECE) coalitions. In Indiana, we have over 40 local coalitions scattered across the state as communities are addressing the implications of the lack of affordable and accessible child care on families, workforce, and more.

In Kosciusko County, we formed an early childhood coalition – LaunchPad – that includes representatives from business, K12, health/mental health, criminal justice, philanthropy, higher education, local government, and early childhood education. We used publicly available data to build our understanding and knowledge of the community and early care and education landscape. We also held focus groups with all types of parents, surveyed businesses and parents, and interviewed key stakeholders to collect their input on the current needs and strengths in the community. Using the feedback and data collected, we established five goals. Once the full coalition was in agreement on the goals, we created a 5 year strategic plan that highlighted specific tasks and a timeline.

Coalitions We Supported

We also provided back-bone support for 4 years for the Early Learning Summit for Economic Development which attracted 400+ attendees and supported coalitions across the state.

Client Impact

Kevin Bain

Former Chairman for Indiana Early Learning Advisory Committee

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

Margaret J. Wheatley

Is your community interested in forming a coalition?

See Our Process

Coalition Building