Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

1. 1 Imagine the best Pueblo you can possibly envision. What would it look like? What would kids say about living here? What employers would seek to move here? How would people interact? What if every person in Pueblo felt that someone “had their back” ? What would we change? What would we strengthen? These are some of the questions that sparked the idea of One Community– Pueblo. How can we make Pueblo better together? Can we do it smarter? Can we figure out what is working and what is not working? What is it? Who is it? Why is it important? Let’s take the Why question first. Why would a group of folks come together in Pueblo to grapple with developing a common vision for community change? Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

2. 2 High rates of teen pregnancy in Pueblo have been a concern for years. As a community, we have worked to get kids the help they need to make safe and healthy choices. We’ve made some strides – but we have much more work to do to. Teen pregnancy is an indicator of many things – youth that don’t feel connected or safe Youth that don’t have confidence they can have dreams or that don’t feel the support to make the dreams come true We have to make sure they have “other opportunities for the future – real incentives for them to wait” to become parents. Raley, Gabrielle. Avenue to Adulthood: Teenage Pregnancy and the Meaning of Motherhood in Poor Communities. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

3. 3 Poverty rates in Pueblo are very high – too high. Generational poverty is significant – and some of our neighborhoods struggle more with this issue than others. Poverty itself raises the likelihood of too-early pregnancies, low educational attainment, and a host of other issues – gang violence, truancy. There are bridges out of poverty – and some excellent resources in the community to help all of us understand the languages of poverty, middle class, and wealthy. Did you know there were differences in the way we speak, see the world, and interact? Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

4. 4 When you think of poverty, you can also think of high rates of kids that do not complete high school. Did you know that research shows that if a child fails a class in 8th or 9th grade, they are more likely to drop out? What if we made sure no child fails in this grade? Could we make a shift? Third grade achievement is another indicator of success for kids. What if the question was less about standardized testing and more about mentoring and assisting kids to succeed? Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

5. 5 So, here we are in Pueblo – a remarkable place with remarkable people. We think we can “make it better together” We envision a Pueblo where ………. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

6. 6 • Where children, youth, and adults are supported in making healthy choices for their lives – • Where learning to be great parents is supported • Where healthy food and exercise is prized • Where kids have what they need from the moment they come into the world through their launch into a career and when they become parents – we start the process over again. • We say it is a 25 year plan – from Cradle to Career. • Some of us say the change we after will take 50 years to realize. • Imagine the impact of a whole generation with that kind of support! Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

7. 7 Economic Self-Sufficiency – Jobs that pay living wages and provide career paths Kids that can chose to stay in Pueblo and enrich the community Employers that want to come here because of the educational attainment and the community reputation This is part of our vision -- Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

8. 8 We envision the long-term commitment of people to be involved and to care about every aspect of Living, working, and raising a family in Pueblo We think of it as civic muscle – that each of us shares responsibility to “have the back” of everyone else. We make choices that change the shape of the future of our community. Not all of the choices will be easy – but we think we can be smarter about our interventions, smarter about how we share information and evaluate what works. We think we have enough to do amazing work, if we think of our resources differently than we have in the past. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

9. 9 Cradle to Career. That is the target. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

10. 10 A community where every person feels safe and connected. Like the visionaries that planned for a park at the heart of Pueblo that would change our landscape – when it was empty fields and railroad ties-- One Community – Pueblo is a commitment to the heart of Pueblo in the same visionary way. It is is not an external destination -- but one that will change the trajectories of each and every child, and impact each family -- If we commit to build it. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

11. Part of what we want to build is a way or working together. The way we work together becomes part of our Community DNA, who we are. 11 We build common visions. We share outcomes and data. We create a set of measures that help us learn along the way We listen to children and Youth, and facilitate dreams. We value our diversity. We work together to make economic development a reality – from the ground up – by supporting families in every way we can We own the vision as a collective whole – and the leadership to make it happen comes from each of us – from all sectors – nonprofit, government, private. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

12. 12 • That we can do better together. • That collective impact is the best way for us to make the changes we want and need for kids and families . Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi Diversity and inclusion is our vision Positive youth development is the key “pebble in the pond”

13. 13 To learn that we are not the only communities creating collective impact strategies – Cradle to Career approaches are happening around the country. We started with a way to understand the issues and to arrive at an approach (the pebble in the pond) that would make a critical differenceover the LONG-TERM. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

14. 14 We are working to agree on shared outcomes – and are developing a dashboard we can share with each other and the community. If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know if you get there? We want to understand what works, and what doesn’t – so we can make course corrections and use our resources wisely. This has never been more important. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

15. 15 Part of the Civic Muscle we need is to create alignment of our activities – so that they become mutually reinforcing. Collective Impact Strategies studied by Kania and Kramer suggest that when a community finds a way to integrate its work (from all the agencies, all the sectors) into the common vision and outcomes – the impact is greater. It makes sense. We use our muscles together to tug the line – and we all win! (new tug of war image on the prezi – does it work?) Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

16. 16 There are other elements of Collective Impact that build the chance for success of these long-term change strategies: Continuous Communication – Tools include wikis and dashboards, meetings and groundrules Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

17. 17 The backbone is the infrastructure and coordination piece of this work. Different communities are doing different things. In Denver, the office of strategic partnerships helps to keep its youth agenda on target. In other places – Massachusetts – a new nonprofit is working to coordinate. We are still working on figuring this element out – and we could use your good thinking about how we make this work last over time. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

18. 18 So why does this all matter? It is a different model of doing business – and measuring our success. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

19. 19 If we start with one person Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

20. 20 Make good use of government partners and programs……. Build effective alignment among and between nonprofit partners And business partners – And individuals that may reach more than one person……… Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

21. 21 If we start now…….. Where can we be in 25 years? Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

22. 23 It is happening all over the country, this kind of collective impact strategy. It is a long-term commitment to shared vision, common outcomes and data, mutually reinforcing activities, and backbone of support. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi

23. 22 Are you part of One Community Pueblo? What can you do? Here are some ideas…….. Talking Points or Script for One Community –Pueblo Prezi