SCAFFOLD UP!™ A COLLECTIVE IMPACT Bridging the Gap: Promising at MODEL Strategies the Intersection of Research and Practice
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Who We Are... The Youth Development Institute (YDI), is a capacity building organization that provides services to youth programs both in New York City and throughout the United States. YDI provides technical assistance, disseminates information, informs policy and conducts research to strengthen the quality and increase the availability of positive opportunities for young people. Our Mission and Vision... YDI’s mission is to improve the lives of young people in New York City by supporting the integration of positive youth development principles in programs that serve them and by promoting practices and policies that enable youth to thrive. YDI’s vision is that young people in New York City will receive high quality services. supports and opportunities that foster their assets, build healthy community connections, strengthen their skills and competencies and prepare them to transition successfully into adulthood. Our Approach... YDI works with organizations to apply the most promising research and practices so that young people can grow and develop through powerful, sustained, and meaningful experiences. Research demonstrates that certain experiences help young people to develop fully and successfully; these Include close relationships with caring adults, high expectations, engaging activities, opportunities to contribute and continuity of support. This strength-based youth development approach has shaped YDI’s work for over 20 years. Our Clients... YDI concentrates its activities in areas of high need and opportunity. Over the last two years, YDI provided targeted technical assistance to over 200 programs that combined provide a range of services to middle and high school youth as well as older youth who are low skilled and disconnected, over-aged and under credited or court Involved. Supports offered by YDI are delivered in a variety of ways including through trainings/workshops, on-site coaching and in local and national networks. Our Partners... YDI also invests considerable effort in developing thought partners and building learning communities, both locally and nationally, that aid in creating a collective understanding of what makes a difference in the lives of youth at the point of service. Our partners include city agencies (such as the Department of Education, Department of Youth and Community Development, Center for Economic Opportunity, Administration for Children’s Services and Department of Probation), funders, policymakers, community organizations, schools, and colleges.
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
Acknowledgements Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model was researched and written by Amy Sananman. Founder and Executive Director of Groundswell. Thank you to the incredible Groundswell staff, artists, partners and youth who played a critical role in building Scaffold Up!™ and bringing it to life each and everyday Special thanks to Patrick Dougher. Sharon Polli, Daonne Huff. Jules Joseph, Keyla Rijo, and Benjamin Dulchin for their incredible contributions to our monthly meetings. Thank you to the Youth Development Institute (YDI) team including project lead Sarah ZellerBerkman, PhD and editor Justine Beaton. Copyright & Use Bridging the Gap Promising Strategies at the Intersection of Research and Practice is a publication of the Youth Development Institute. YDI encourages others to copy and use these materials. Please use proper attribution when doing so. Suggested citation: Sananman. A. Bridging the Gap Promising Strategies at Intersection of Research and Practice. Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model. Youth Development Institute, 2015. Additional YDI publications are available on the YDI website at www.ydinstituteorg. Copyright © January 2015, Youth Development Institute, a Partner Program of the Fund for the City of New York. Bridging the Gap: Promising Strategies at the Intersection of Research and Practice The Bridging the Gap Promising Strategies at the Intersection of Research and Practice documents and highlights the innovative work of two youth development organizations in New York City. The GO Project and Groundswell are two former grantees of the William T. Grant Foundation’s Youth Service Improvement Grants program. As grantees, these organizations conducted projects that produced valuable lessons for the youth development field. The documents are a product of the shared commitment by Groundswell, the GO Project, the William T. Grant Foundation and the Youth Development Institute to improving connections between research and practice. More about the William T. Grant Foundation Youth Service Improvement Grants The William T. Grant Foundation’s Youth Service Improvement Grants support community-based organizations in New York City to enhance their services for children and youth, ages 5 to 25. Since 2006, these grants have funded specific, standalone projects that make services more effective and provide young people with better experiences. More about the Youth Development Institute’s Documentation Support... For nearly 25 years, the Youth Development Institute has supported youth development practitioners to document the promising practices of their work and to disseminate to the broader field. YDI does this in an effort to make connections between research and practice and expand the literature written by and for youth development practitioners.
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
More about the Partnership between the William T. Grant Foundation and the Youth Development Institute... In 2010, The William T. Grant Foundation partnered with the Youth Development Institute to provide capacity building support to the Foundation’s Youth Service improvement Grantees. Since that time, YDI has provided onsite technical support for participating grantees and convened learning communities of grantees. The collaboration between the Foundation, YDI and youth-serving organizations across New York City has led to over 50 successful Improvement projects across a dozen cohorts thus far. About Groundswell Groundswell is New York City’s leading community public arts organization that engages artists, underserved, marginalized and economically disadvantaged young people, and community members in creating visible and permanent change in some of New York City’s most challenging neighborhoods. Over its 18-year history, Groundswell has employed thousands of artists, youth, and community members in the creation of upwards of 500 works of public art throughout all five boroughs of New York City. In 2013, the William T. Grant Foundation supported Groundswell to develop a Merit Badge System of achievement for at-risk youth participants of varying skill levels. The purpose of the system was to ensure participants’ continued and progressive learning in Groundswell’s mural apprenticeship programs. The model that emerged from the grant extended far beyond outlining achievement for young people. Groundswell was asked to document and write from a personal perspective about their model in the hopes that other organizations interested in badging, theory of change modeling, and/or capturing impact at multiple levels will be able to learn from our endeavor.
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
SCAFFOLD UP!™
A COLLECTIVE IMPACT MODEL
Amy Sananman, Executive Director, Groundswell
Introduction
one year. Scaffold Up!™ outlines how Groundswell’s work collectively impacts
Groundswell’s work is to bring
youth, partner organizations and the field
together artists, youth, and community
of public art. It also serves as a dashboard
organizations to use art as a tool for
for success: a roadmap that captures
social change for a more just and
impact across these domains.
equitable world. Our projects beautify neighborhoods, engage youth in societal
Although Groundswell was the first to
and personal transformation, and give
combine theory of change modeling and
expression to ideas and perspectives
badging to create a collective impact
that are underrepresented in the public
model, these are not new practices.
dialogue.
Popularized in the 1990’s, theory of change modeling is often used to define
For many years, funders and consultants
the methods necessary to achieve a
pushed Groundswell to choose an
long-term goal. The Boy Scouts and
identity, repeatedly asking the same
Girl Scouts of America have been using
questions: “Are you an arts organization,
badges to mark a young person’s
a youth development organization or
progression through their programs since
a capacity building organization?” On
1910. Groundswell adapted the Scouts’
a cold Saturday in January 2013, at an
badging system using terms and images
organization-wide retreat in Brooklyn,
associated with the scaffold mural-
New York, we decided that we did not
making process to mark young people’s
have to choose. We determined that
progression through the program.
we are an arts organization, a youth
Badging allows youth to objectively chart,
development organization AND a
document, evaluate and measure their
capacity building organization.
progressive learning both within a project and over several projects.
This realization led to the development of our collective impact model: Scaffold
Collective impact is used to describe
Up!™. The model was created with the
the engagement of multiple actors with
help of stakeholders over the course of
a common agenda for solving complex
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
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social problems. Groundswell embodies collective impact by engaging multiple individual and organizational partners in each project—often from different sectors and disciplines and across age ranges. This document outlines the components of Groundswell’s Scaffold Up!™ collective impact model, the steps we followed to build the model and lessons learned along the way. Scaffold Up!™ is presented as both a case study and a model for other community-based organizations interested in developing a visual collective impact model based on research and theory and in demonstrating their commitment to their stakeholders.
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
From this report, Groundswell identified
Scaffold Up!™
four principles, Groundswell’s 4Cs:
Groundswell used the scaffolded mural as a conceptual model to think about how to measure youth, community and artistic partner engagement in achieving the organization’s annual goals. The Scaffold Up!™ collective impact model provides Groundswell stakeholders with a clear picture and understanding of the multiple goals of each project and the interdependency of the success of each stakeholder. The model informed the design of Groundswell’s data collection system and data dashboards, which measure aggregate youth achievement, community partner and artistic engagement and achievement against the organization’s annual goals. Groundswell uses data collected to inform program design and development. Below is an overview of research that informs the model, an overview of how
Creativity, Critical Thinking and Decision Making, Collaboration, and Compassion. The 4Cs became the fundamental values that guide our work with youth, our partnerships with communities and our artistic expression. Groundswell’s work draws from best practices across many fields and is developed in accordance with research based underpinnings, including Positive Youth Development, 21st century leadership skills and the research and findings of the College Access: Research & Action Center at CUNY. The Community Partner Tower is based on Artists Engaging in Social Change: A Continuum of Impact, the national report published by Americans for the Arts.3
Components of the Scaffold Up!™ Model
the model works, and a description of the model’s key components.
The Scaffold Up!™ model has nine key components: Scaffolders, Pins, Towers,
Grounding in Research and Best Practices
Platforms, Masterpiece, Ladders, Braces,
In 2006, The Partnership for 21st Century
Scaffolders (Youth and Community
Learning published survey findings about
Partners) identify Pins (Project or Program
the behaviors and skills needed for
Outcomes) to achieve in a range of Towers
Underpinnings, and Grounding.
success in the 2lst century workforce as
(Mastery Impact Areas). Towers require
reported by Fortune 500 companies.
several Platforms (Initial, Mid- and Long-
2
Term Outcomes) to reach the ultimate
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
Masterpiece (Groundswell’s Vision &
The challenge for a youth or community
Mission). A Ladder (Sequenced Path
partner participating in Groundswell
Through the Program) guides Scaffolders
programming is to earn Pins. In turn,
up the Towers. Braces (Programs) are the
Groundswell provides young people and
programs participants experience as they
community partners with opportunities
progress up the Ladder.
to succeed through rigorous program supports that are sequential and
Scaffold Up!™’s collective impact model
developmentally appropriate.
is organized by Youth, Community, and Art Towers. Best practices from relevant
The following section will focus on
fields provide Underpinnings (Academic/
the Youth Towers and examine five
Best Practices) for each Tower. The
of the model’s components in detail:
entire scaffold is constructed atop a solid
Pins, Braces and Ladders, Towers, and
Grounding (The 4Cs) of Groundswell’s
Platforms.
values.
Table 1: The Scaffold Youth Tower
Community Tower
Art Tower
Platform Initial, Midand Long-Term Outcomes Pins Project or Program Outcomes Grounding The 4Cs
Braces Programs
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
Ladder Sequenced Path Through the Program
Underpinnings Academic/Best Practices
The Pin There are four critical phases required
Ladders & Braces: Planning Your Path & Programmatic Offerings
for achieving a Pin (Project or Program Outcomes): declare, demonstrate,
By mapping their own Ladder, or
reflect, recognize.
sequenced path through the program, youth create their own pathway that is
At the start of each project, youth
sequential and leads to Top of Tower
and community partners meet with
outcomes (e.g. sustained involvement,
Groundswell staff to declare which Pins
college entry, activism, etc.). Progress
they want to achieve in the project/
up the Ladder is rewarded by increased
program. Youth receive training on the
organizational responsibilities and
meaning and application of the model
opportunities. Groundswell’s Youth
and the process of earning Pins.
Development staff meet with each youth participant to map his or her Ladder by
Pins are sequential and represent the
reviewing options and identifying Pins
building blocks/key tools necessary
they want to pursue. Through Braces
to master a Tower. Each Pin outlines
(Programs), youth are offered the
the required learning and activities
opportunity to pursue the Leadership or
necessary to demonstrate achievement.
Art Mastery Tower.
Upon completing the demonstration phase, there is a written exercise. This
Towers
provides an opportunity for youth to reflect on how they have used the skills
Scaffold Up!™’s Towers (Mastery Areas)
they’ve learned in the project/program
are built on a foundation of best practices
thus far and how they might use them
from the relevant fields and culminate in
in their lives outside of Groundswell.
our promises to our stakeholders.
Pin achievement is measured against a standard rubric and must be approved
Each Youth Tower consists of the same
by program staff for final sign off.
four introductory Pins (History of Public
When they earn a Pin, young people
Art, Communication, Visual Literacy
are presented with a physical Pin to
and Accountability) followed by six
recognize their accomplishments.
Tower-specific Pins. The Art Mastery and Leadership Youth Towers help youth gain 21st century skills to prepare them for college and work. Youth have
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
reached the “Top of the Towers” when
Platform II / Tools: Mid-Term Outcomes
they have earned all of the Towers’ eight
build on participants’ initial inspiration.
Pins. The Top of the Towers express the
Platform II Pins require deeper learning
Masterpiece or “vision” Groundswell
and utilization of Tools to achieve
aspires to achieve: Art as a tool for social
identified outcomes. Groundswell artists
change for a more just and equitable
and staff support youth to gain tools such
world. When a young person has reached
as art and leadership skills, which allow
the Top of the Towers, they become
them to conceptualize, research, design
eligible for paid administrative internships
and create public art where process and
and art apprenticeships with Groundswell.
product address personal and community partner goals.
Platforms: Inspiration, Tools & Agency Platforms represent sequential levels of engagement or Tower’s initial, mid- and long-term outcomes. Each Platform is tied to Groundswell’s framework of “Inspiration, Tools and Agency” and mirrors the Groundswell mural-making process: Platform I / Inspiration: Initial outcomes lay the foundation for continued program engagement and success. Groundswell believes that change begins with Inspiration for youth participants and community partners alike: it is the moment when we feel a connection, decide to get involved, see potential, or find a new perspective or solution to a problem. Youth and community partners develop a shared set of personal and community goals and outcomes to provide the vision that inspires each project or series of projects.
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
Platform Ill / Agency: Long-Term Outcomes demonstrate Agency on the part of the youth or community partner. Platform Ill outcomes include long-term changes - such as a community partner using a series of murals to spur safer driving behavior or a young person earning a Persuasion Pin by using his or her mural for a social media campaign against mass incarceration. Platform Ill Pins align with change that will continue beyond the completion of the mural. Community partners or youth must commit to at least three projects to achieve Platform Ill outcomes. Youth and community partners exert their power and heighten their agency through the process. Final outcomes last beyond the project’s completion.
Table 2: Scaffold Up!TM Groundswell’s Collective Impact Model COLLECTIVE IMPACT: ART AS A TOOL FOR MORE JUST AND EQUITABLE WORLD.
Change Youth, Community, Artistic beyond the completion of the mural.
YOUTH TOWERS
PUBLIC ART TOWER
COMMUNITY PARTNER TOWER
Mission: To engage underserved, marginalized and economically disadvantaged youth in public art-making to gain the inspiration, tools and agency to take ownership of their futures.
Mission: Create high quality public art that reflects goals + concerns of partners + participants to stimulate learning, raise awareness + build community across NYC and beyond.
Mission: To catalyze change for a more just and equitable world in collaboration with partner organizations by raising awareness, stimulating learning, and building community.
Results: • Youth inspired to get involved and stay involved • Youth gain 21st century tools to prepare them for college & work • Youth are agents of social change & take active ownership of their futures through educational advancement, work and activism
Results: A collection of public artworks: • Recognized for its high quality • True to its participants, partners + location • That stimulates learning, raises awareness and builds community across NYC and beyond.
Results: • Communities are inspired, engaged, connected and building leadership • Projects raised awareness + stimulated learning + discourse • Support activism around justice & equity issues to support social change
LEADERSHIP
ART MASTERY
MASTERPIECE
RAISE AWARENESS + STIMULATE LEARNING
INSPIRE, ENGAGE + BUILD COMMUNITY
PINS PLATFORM III Long Term Outcomes [Projects #3 +] Agency ability to make change toward goal.
Public Art whose process + final product result in
Youth + Community Partners to conceptualize, research, design + create
PLATFORM II Mid Term Outcomes [Projects #2,3,4] Tools skills acquired that can be applied to other aspects of life PLATFORM I Initial Outcomes [Project #1] Inspiration moment of connection, see potential, new view of problem, decide to get involved
Integrity
Concept
Discovery
Research
Empathy Knowledge Perception
Change Agent Change of Heart
Vision Painting Drawing
Judgment
Studio Foundation
Accountability
Visual Literacy
Communication
Legacy
History of Public Art
Innovation Resonance
Public Awareness Education
Collaborator Ambassador
Fidelity The Canon Content
Visibility
Participation
Identity
Stewardship/ Beauty
Design UNDERPINNINGS
Artists + Staff collaborate with
Positive Youth Development Best Practices, College Access Research Action
NY State Art Standards
Los Tres Maestros (Rivera, Siquieros, Orozco) Best Practices in Socially Engaged Art
Animating Democracy Asset Based Community Development Models
GROUNDING Using 21st Century skills
CRITICAL THINKING/DECISIONMAKING CREATIVITY AS A TOOL • COLLABORATION • COMPASSION
PINS IN ACTION P.I.C.T.U.R.E.S Prison Industrial Complex: Tyranny Undermining Rights, Education and Society Groundswell 2014© 18 x 80 ft. Lead Artist: Esteban del Valle Assistant Artist: Jose Rodriguez + 16 youth participants
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
Observed and written by Sarah Zeller-Berkman
YOUTH: PIN Nine young men and two teachers are seated at desks set up in a circle in room 313. Most have splashes of paint on their legs, shorts and forearms from days of mural-making. They are headed out to the wall they have been working on for two weeks, but because it is Thursday, “Pin” Day, each of them is trying to earn Pins before leaving the building. One young man volunteers to describe the Pin system and the symbols on which he is working. “I am working on the Visual Literacy Pin. Everyone in Groundswell is doing the first four pins. Jose wants to do both Towers!” The rest of the young
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
men laugh and begin to talk about the symbols they are creating as one piece of “evidence” required to earn the Visual Literacy Pin. A young man describes how water symbolizes willpower, as he is currently fasting for Ramadan and can’t have water until sundown. The heart symbolizes non-complacency. The teacher reminds them to write about the symbols and assures them that they will have time to share. The young men sit quietly writing the meaning of their symbols. Some use colored pencils to fill in sketches; others use heavier markers to streak complementary colors across their symbol, further imbuing them with meaning and light.
Each person explains a bit about his
The teacher asks the group to come up
symbol, and the teacher follows up with
to the front of the room one by one and
questions, such as, “What would it mean
share what they wrote. Many hands shoot
to add more color? It may be interesting
up and the lucky person chosen gets
to see what happens when you put all
hearty applause as he approaches the
of these together. What story does that
front. One of the boys, who is working on
create?”
his Platform II Judgment Pin, begins to take pictures of the person talking, as he
One young man wants to talk about
is the official documentarian of the group.
his decision to earn all of the Pins in two separate Towers: “I’m doing all of
One by one the young men describe
them. I just want to keep myself busy. I
symbols that stand for family, dreams,
have nothing better to do than this.” He
desires, beliefs and milestones they have
goes on to describe a life that belies his
passed. As they come to the last person
assertion that he doesn’t have much on
the teacher pulls out an image of a piece
his plate. Besides having been involved
by ESPO, a Brooklyn-based artist. The
in the criminal justice system, like all the
group moves on to the next piece of
young men working on this particular
evidence they will have to submit to earn
mural project, he has a job washing dishes
their Visual Literacy Pin: reading visual
and scraping grease out of vents that he
images.
says makes him feel exhausted most of the time. He tells the other boys that he
They are shown two artworks and asked
does not recommend making a career of
to answer three questions: What is it
it and asserts loudly: “I am not leaving till
about? What is the medium? What are
I finish this thing. I am NOT leaving here
ways to take this message and make it
until I finish all of this.”
stronger visually?
He goes on to explain that he was part of
The teacher speaks with each young
the process of creating the Pins: “Actually,
person and asks questions: Whom do
I was around when they first started these
you think he is talking to? Why do you
Pins. I was like ‘Oh they look great’. I told
think he uses old style text lettering? The
them ‘I like that one and that one’. At first
teacher describes that there is intention
I had all four, then they switched it to six
behind the images and relates them to
and then eight. They kind of built it up. At
the symbols they just created: “Just like
first it was like, Oh if you do these Pins. I
you created your symbols with intentions
don’t have to do this. did it, just because I
behind them . . . these artists did too.
want to.”
Write about it.” Although weary at this
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
point from so much writing, there is still vibrant discussion and animated laughter in the group. When the laughter reaches a fevered pitch, the teacher says: “Alright. I am guessing everyone is done. Can I get Blake to speak on ESPO’s piece?” “It’s about happiness, love . . . it’s a fairy tale. If he wanted to take it further he could put bleeding hearts, flowers.” Other young person: “So, I think in ESPO, I think it’s that you think people have your best interests but they want your money. I would add more.” The teachers nod and more young people share. They engage in one more writing reflection and the teachers sign all the Pin Declarations. A bit spent, the group members gather their bags, adjust their paint stained pants and turn to say: “We want to get to the wall—It’s time . . .”
Building a Collective Impact Model: Ten Steps & Lessons Learned Along the Way The process of building the model raised many critical questions and conversations at Groundswell. Have we captured all the outcomes we can reasonably take credit for? How do we translate Scaffold Up!™ for an external audience? How many Pins can a youth reasonably achieve in one project? Upon reflection, we identified ten critical steps we underwent as an organization to build the Scaffold Up!™ model. We present these ten steps as a guide for organizations that wish to develop a collective impact model. Although the steps are presented in a linear order, the process was iterative, weaving back and forth across these steps. 1. Come Together: Engage the Stakeholders The first step in building a collective impact model as an organization is to bring together the organizations’ stakeholders. Engaging stakeholders with different perspectives and priorities is essential to creating a model that fully captures the work and potential impact of the organization. Groundswell engaged staff, artists, board members, youth, partners and funders throughout the process in a number of ways. A smaller committee of staff, artists and
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective ImpactImpact Model Model Scaffold Up!™ A Collective
a youth participant met regularly for
3. What is Your Metaphor? Name it and
over a year. Groundswell’s broader
Use it to Simplify
community was engaged at existing
A key component of a successful model
gatherings such as artist trainings, staff
is common language. Our model needed
meetings and our annual organizational
to use language that made sense across
retreat to problem solve, solicit
multiple audiences: NYC teens, artists,
feedback, and even design the actual
schools, city agencies, community
Pins. Additionally, in-person interviews
organizations, wall owners and funders.
and online surveys informed the model’s
For Groundswell, the scaffold metaphor
development.
made sense. It is a piece of equipment central to our work. Once one of our staff
2. What Are You Doing? Look What
(and former youth participant) named it
You’ve Done! Let Your Outcomes be
Scaffold Up!™ it became something real
Your Guide
that we could use as a tool to convey our
In creating a collective impact model,
story. Once we had the scaffold metaphor,
it is important to build on your unique
we needed to inventory, sort through
niche and core expertise. These are your
and simplify the concepts fundamental
best building blocks and will ensure that
to the model. Anything that did not
your outcomes will drive your model.
have a clear place in the model was cut.
For approximately 15 years, Groundswell
Minimizing, organizing and committing
offered a Scaffold Up!™ ‘a Ia carte’ menu
to a set of concepts was essential for us
of outcomes for participating youth
to understand, implement and share our
and community partners. To inform the
model. The process also helped us to
development of the model, we compiled
streamline our evaluation systems.
survey results from more than 100 project partners over a three- year period.
4. Make Realistically Ambitious Promises
We also looked at the constellation of
Set realistically ambitious promises for
outcomes youth reported achieving
what you can deliver to your stakeholders.
through our programs over the past
Perhaps one of the hardest aspects of
15 years, including communication,
building the model was figuring out how
accountability, visual literacy, judgment,
we wanted to articulate these promises
drawing, etc. We then arranged and
in our own terms. Before Scaffold
rearranged post-it’s with this information
Up!™ it was easy for us to count how
in our conference room to get a broad
many youth completed our programs,
view of what we had done.
how many murals were created, and how many community partners we worked with. It was always exciting to
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
share the constellation of successes
wear the physical Pins? We spent time
our programs generated: kids getting
connecting theory to practice, and in
into college, murals attracting press
some cases realigned programmatic
coverage for important issues, tourists
activities to ensure that each was
visiting Groundswell artwork to learn
achievable. For example, when planning
more about NYC. To better articulate
our afterschool programs this year, staff
these promises, we pushed ourselves to
analyzed the youth roster by Platform
engage in a process where stakeholders
and Ladder needs. We were then able to
and staff defined specific promises we
reorganize the afterschool program so
could deliver to and for our stakeholders.
that Pins could be implemented.
The process also helped us identify additional resources and missing links
6. Develop a Process for Achieving
or adjustments needed to achieve the
Outcomes and Demonstrating
promises.
Achievement Establish a process with clear steps
5. Link and Sequence Outcomes; Realign
for achieving and demonstrating the
Programmatic Activities
achievement of outcomes. We knew
Link and sequence outcomes in a way
that each Pin would need to represent
that makes sense developmentally,
a specific project achievement that
academically and organizationally for
occurs naturally during the mural-making
your participants. We asked ourselves:
process. We looked at other badge
Does the research and current practice
systems and developed our own process
support the path from Pin to Pin, Platform
for earning a Pin. We engaged our
to Platform? To do this, we cross-walked
stakeholders in focus groups to discuss
our Pins with best practices, bringing in
what it would mean for a community
consultants from the Youth Development
partner to ”declare” that they wanted to
Institute and CUNY’s College Access:
include certain Pins in a project and what
Research & Action group as well as
evidence could realistically be collected
experts in asset-based community
that would demonstrate achievement.
development. 7. Cycles of Reflection and Revision We examined our offerings to ensure
Part of building a sound model is
that our “great idea” could actually be
continually using, testing and revising it.
operationalized. Could we offer Pins
As we continue to refine the model, we
to youth at different Platforms within
look for feedback on what is working
one project? What incentives would
and what is not. Successful components
be meaningful? Would youth actually
can provide clues for strengthening the
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
model as a whole. For example, once
training. Board meetings include updates
we developed one Pin declaration for
on the model.
the Youth Tower, we replicated it across the entire Youth Tower. Once that was
The model must also be translated for
successfully piloted, we applied it to
appropriate audiences. While the scaffold
the Community Partner Tower. Similarly,
provided a common metaphor, we knew
at our end-of-summer artist close-out
we had to make sure our materials
meeting, our staff artists told us they
included translations that made sense for
wished they had a better “script” to
external audiences. For example, we have
use to present each Pin. This feedback
a translation of the Scaffold Up!™ Youth
will inform how we present Pins in the
Tower Pins that uses language familiar to
future.
funders.
8. Transparency: Does Everyone Get It? For the model to work, it must be clear and transparent - with all stakeholders aware of the outcomes and pathways to achieving them. We felt that the best way for our diverse stakeholders to fully understand the range of promises set by each project and the organization as a whole was to visually display the model on one page. This ensures that everyone can see how they fit on the Scaffold. Our commitment to full transparency about the promises that are being made also allows for mutual support and accountability.
We are currently in the process of expanding the number of community partners we work with each year. To do this, we developed marketing materials and a process so that junior staff can meet with and cultivate prospective partners. The language, visuals and script are based on Scaffold Up!™. 10. Take it to the Limit: Use the Data to Inform ALL Programming, Management and Fundraising You’ve done all this work! Let it work for you. Once in place, a good collective impact model that truly reflects all stakeholders should become part of the culture and part of how you do business.
9. Training and Translations
Your model should be the answer to
Ongoing training of staff and stakeholders
most, if not all, organizational questions.
on the use of the model is critical. Training
Here are just some of the ways Scaffold
on Scaffold Up!™ is iterative and threaded
Up!™ frames how we work:
throughout the year’s meetings. All youth are introduced to the model at intake and orientation. Artists undergo mandatory
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
FUNDER DESCRIPTION
Teambuilding: The model building process has continued to enlighten
Example: Platform I Youth Pins:
Groundswell retreats, staff meetings and
Accountability, Visual Literacy,
workshops. Participants have assembled
Communication and History of Public Art
paper scaffolds, designed Pins and used
Translate into:
Platforms to map their year’s highlight and challenges.
• College Prep Skills/Knowledge: Youth will understand college terminology
Budget Projections: In this year’s annual
and have a list of colleges and careers
budgeting process—we were able to base
that match their interests.
our projections on how many youth we anticipated would reach Platforms I, II and
• Job Skills: Youth will be able to collaborate in teams. They will have
III and the resources necessary to support that growth.
organizational skills, be financially literate, engage in conflict resolution,
Staff Expansion Planning: Scaffold Up!™
exhibit professionalism, and have
informed our staff growth plan so that it
communication skills.
reflects and supports the model’s success with separate youth, community partner
• Art Skills/Knowledge: Youth will be able to analyze the characteristics
and art managers responsible for their pertinent Tower’s promises.
of public art in different periods, and use critical thinking skills in the
20th Anniversary Planning: As
identification, interpretation, and
Groundswell gears up for our 20th
evaluation of symbols in everyday life.
Anniversary, we asked ourselves about how best to celebrate and amplify the voices and vision of artists, youth and community partners and their collective impact. The Tops of the Towers will guide events.
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
Conclusion: Using the Model, and Letting it Inspire Us
piece. This masterpiece depicts how a large scale creation—whether making a fresco, building a city, or indeed, using
By building the model, we have had to
art as a tool for social change—requires
move beyond counting participants,
the collective work of many people with
partners and projects and squarely into
a range of skills across many sectors
how we are using art as a tool for social
and disciplines. This piece embodies
change in the lives of communities
what a collective impact model should
and youth. Since that fateful retreat
also aspire to: provide its workers with
in January 2013, a total of 996 pins
inspiration and an image of the just and
have been awarded to 292 youth. One
equitable world we are trying to create.
hundred and seventeen youth have moved from Platform I to Platform II, 12 youth have moved from Platform II to Platform III. This past summer, we piloted our Community Partner Tower Pins and this spring will finalize our Art Towers. This year, all Groundswell’s work plans are framed in the Towers. From youth participants to the Board of Directors, we are using dashboards and Pin projections to guide and evaluate our work. When I think back two years ago to our 2013 retreat when Groundswell began to articulate its impact on young people, community partners and the field, I am reminded of the great Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera’s Making a Fresco Showing the Building of a City. The mural illustrates Rivera himself (sitting on the second scaffold platform, back to viewer) as well as the many other planners, assistants, plasterers, architects, funders, designers and engineers required to create this
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model
1 http.;l’www fsg.org/OurApproach/WhatlsCollectivelmpact.aspx 2 Partnership for 21st Century Learning: http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework 3 Americans for the Arts/Animating Democracy’s Artist Engaging in Social Change Continuum. Korza, Pam and Pam Korza and Barbara Schaffer Bacon (April 2011) http://animatingdemocracy.org/resource/artists-engaging-social-change-continuum-impact
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Scaffold Up!™ A Collective Impact Model