Many great things are happening in Washington's early learning circles, but sometimes they don't get noticed outside the local community. This blog attempts to connect the many organizational and individual efforts happening.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Find Good Partners

The past two weeks have been filled with activity, big announcements and events which are the culmination of months of work for many people. In each of these situations, the role of picking the right partners and creating strong relationships if we want to create a movement has been driven home.

In mid-November the Governor unveiled the final report for Washington Learns at an event in Seattle where Bill Gates III was the keynote speaker. Mr. Gates' comments raised some serious challenges to our current way of thinking about education and the lessons learned in partnership with the private sector prompt us to mobilize the forces to make the difference in education.

For me, it was great to follow that event with a reception at the Governor's Summit on Early Learning. As the truly amazing and flexible partners with whom, I was fortunate to plan the Summit worked, we were insistent that the Summit needed to include ample opportunities for local and state early learning champions to meet each other on an individual level. The fact that Jone Bosworth and Regina Jones modeled flexibility and playfulness by dancing to the marimba band, set a good and relaxed tone for the crowd. As we moved into the next day's activities, I was struck by how many great, flexible and strategic thinking partners I have across the state. After the Governor's inspirational comments, I was fortunate to be asked to facilitate the 19 5-minute presentations that individual local teams made about the key ingredients they felt necessary to build local capacity and momentum. The main point is, we have many great, flexible and strategic thinkers at the state-level and in local communities.

Over the next week,the wit, wisdom, commitment and capacity of other key partners was evident. At the Foundation for Early Learning's board retreat, our board members from across the state and our staff showed how strategic, flexible and passionate they are about making a difference for children and families in Washington. We had a good discussion about the best and most strategic role the Foundation can currently play. The board decided we should focus on providing many of the supports identified by the local teams at the Summit, such as early learning community networking tools and web-based collaboration tools.

At the Thrive by Five Washington board meeting, Governor Gregoire and Bill Gates Sr. demonstrated their full grasp of what it will really take to move the agenda forward. The talents, intellect and wisdom of Jone Bosworth and Graciela Italiano Thomas as well as the support and experience of other board members and supporters was also evident.

Finally, today during the evaluation teleconference for a Kids Matter funder, the flexibility, strategic thinking and determination of key players was again on display. All of this is to say, that identifying strong partners in the cause, nurturing the relationships we develop and keeping our common vision on a common point in the future is irreplaceable in moving us ahead. Thank YOU for your partnership!

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I totally agree that the early learning field -- especially here in Washington State -- is experiencing a unique transformation which will totally depend upon creative, flexible and purposeful partnerships. All of the great minds and dedicated hearts currently focused on early learning can provide new direction and energy to move this critical issue into the public view in dramatic ways. Our ulimate success will depend upon our ability to keep our eyes on the prize = the children and what works best for them. Our support and educational systems must shed the old approach and expectations around "student readiness" and instead morph to meet the diverse needs of today's children and youth. This will be the first step in moving the entire educational system forward from early learning to K-12 and through higher education to become truly "world class".

4:06 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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