In 2006, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky had been suffering from many of the same challenges facing metro regions across the country. Despite significant investments in education from the public and private sectors, outcomes were alarming: Kindergarten readiness was below fifty percent, and nearly half of the students in the Cincinnati Public Schools were dropping out before high school graduation. Fortunately, a diverse group of community leaders across sectors was exploring a transformative approach to improving education as a system. This gathering of leaders was the genesis of the StrivePartnership, which served as the inspiration for the theory of collective impact. Together, these partners are building a cradle-to-career civic infrastructure based on the idea that everyone in a community has a stake in the success of every child.

This book chronicles the early stages of this ongoing journey from the perspective of the founding chair and director of this work, drawing upon lessons from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and four other pioneering local partnerships. The experiences captured in these five regions helped lay the foundation for the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network, a national community of practice on the cutting edge of social change.

Jeff Edmondson is Managing Director of KnowledgeWorks subsidiary StriveTogether and was the founding Director of the StrivePartnership. Nancy L. Zimpher is Chancellor of the State University of New York and Chair of the StriveTogether National Advisory Board.

Foreword by Ben Hecht
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I. Origins and Organizational Development

1. A Cincinnati Story

2. Paving the Way for Quality Replication: A Framework for Cradle-to-Career Civic Infrastructure

3. Striving the Quality and Commitment: A Theory of Action

Part II. Cradle-to-Career Case Studies

4. Portland: All Hands Raised

5. Bridging Richmond

6. Seattle/South King County: The Road Map Project

7. Houston: All Kids Alliance

Part III. Creating a Community of Practice

8. Lessons from Winning Big and Failing Forward

9. Striving Together: Critical Next Steps

Appendix A: Funding to Support the Backbone Entity in Collective Impact Efforts
Appendix B: Published Reports That Discuss the StrivePartnership and StriveTogether
Appendix C: Additional Resources
Appendix D: StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network Members

Notes
Index