In a major step to boost the reach of Results Count™, its unique approach to leadership development, the Casey Foundation has selected seven organizations to work with the Foundation for three years as hubs that will expand the use of Results Count throughout the social sector.
The goal: to increase the number of leaders who take a results-oriented approach to accelerate measurable and equitable improvements in well-being for children and families in communities across the country.
“By helping leaders develop the results-based skills, behaviors and relationships they need to lead more effectively within nonprofit organizations and public systems, the Foundation believes that these leaders can achieve lasting improvements in child and family well-being,” says Barbara Squires, director of Leadership Development at the Foundation.
Casey has worked with thousands of leaders over the last 25 years, offering tools and skills to support them in their work to better serve kids and families. The Results Count hub strategy will help to meet a growing demand for this way of working.
The hubs were chosen for their ability to use this approach internally in their organizations, as well as to build the capacity of others to work in a similar way. Each has either a network of sites, members and affiliates or access to a network; a series of engagements or partnerships with other organizations; or a position of leadership and influence among a collaborative of organizations in a specific geographic area. The following organizations are on the path to becoming Results Count hubs:
- Center for the Study of Social Policy
- Independent Sector
- Partners for Education at Berea College
- PolicyLink
- StriveTogether
- The San Francisco Foundation
- Urban Strategies, Inc.
In addition to these organizations, the Casey Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative® will serve as an internal hub, working with its networks to expand use of Results Count.
The Results Count hub strategy has evolved from Casey’s work with StriveTogether, which supports a national network of community-based, cradle-to-career partnerships. Since 2014, Casey has shared its approach to leadership development with StriveTogether’s national staff and its partner communities. With a rigorous, data-driven approach, StriveTogether’s communities have changed systems and improved educational outcomes across the country.
The Foundation will dedicate itself over the next three years to supporting each organization’s path to becoming a Results Count hub. This path will be different for each hub organization depending on its specific needs, interests and capacity.
“We are thrilled to be able to share Results Count with others that are working to improve educational outcomes in rural America,” said Dreama Gentry, executive director of Partners for Education at Berea College. “Results Count will be an essential tool for building sustainable, rural communities of change.”
Results Count is built on five core competencies that Casey believes all leaders — regardless of role or where they sit within organizations — need to master to contribute in a measurable way to better outcomes. As the selected organizations grow in their capacity to be Results Count hubs, their staff are working to apply these competencies in their work. Here are the five core competencies:
- Be results based and data driven.
- Act on disparities to advance equitable outcomes.
- Use oneself as an instrument of change to move results.
- Master the skills of adaptive leadership.
- Collaborate with others to be in high action and high alignment to achieve results.
“Creating a just and fair society is the work of our generation. To accomplish it, we must achieve results at a scale commensurate with our nation’s challenges. At PolicyLink, our result is all people have economic security, live in healthy communities of opportunity and benefit from a just society,” said Michael McAfee, president and CEO of PolicyLink. “Results Count tools and skills provide the foundation for us to bring greater discipline to our pursuit of equity.”
Partners for Education at Berea College uses a place-based, student-focused approach to improve educational outcomes in Appalachian Kentucky. By braiding services and aligning federal, state and private funding streams Partners for Education works to ensure all Appalachian students succeed.