A Results-Oriented Training Hub for Community Partnerships

Striv­e­To­geth­er is widen­ing the avail­abil­i­ty of its Train­ing Hub Pow­ered by Striv­e­To­geth­er to sup­port change mak­ers lead­ing col­lab­o­ra­tive work in their com­mu­ni­ties. Avail­able for free, its vir­tu­al work­shops and cours­es intro­duce the skills and tools lead­ers need to improve their com­mu­ni­ties more effec­tive­ly. Many of the cours­es draw from Results Count^®, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s dis­tinc­tive approach to lead­er­ship development.

These train­ings are part of a con­cert­ed effort to meet the grow­ing demand for Results Count to bet­ter serve kids and fam­i­lies by increas­ing the num­ber of human ser­vices lead­ers exposed to its skills and tools.

“The train­ing hub offers lead­ers an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn and prac­tice lead­er­ship skills that are inte­gral to cre­at­ing more equi­table out­comes of well-being for kids and fam­i­lies,” says Jen­nifer Gross, a senior asso­ciate at the Casey Foundation.

What Does StriveTogether’s Train­ing Hub Offer?

The Train­ing Hub grew from StriveTogether’s desire to build the capac­i­ty of oth­ers to work in a sim­i­lar way — at scale. Its con­tent empha­sizes key Results Count com­pe­ten­cies — such as col­lab­o­ra­tion, cham­pi­oning equi­ty and using data. Engag­ing videos and instruc­tion break down the infor­ma­tion into man­age­able pieces. The cours­es offer oppor­tu­ni­ties for par­tic­i­pants to apply what they are learn­ing in their day-to-day work and receive feed­back through live inter­ac­tion with experts and peers from oth­er communities.

“The tools on the Train­ing Hub are designed to help you work smarter, col­lab­o­rate more effec­tive­ly and stay focused,” says Mary Pedraza, who sup­ports the Stanis­laus Cra­dle to Career Part­ner­ship in Stanis­laus Coun­ty, Cal­i­for­nia. ​“They are also eas­i­ly acces­si­ble and user-friendly.”

Between Sep­tem­ber 2022 and the end of 2023, some 2,000 indi­vid­u­als par­tic­i­pat­ed in Train­ing Hub cours­es. Nine­ty-six per­cent of those who took cours­es in 2023 strong­ly agreed with the state­ment that they had gained invalu­able knowl­edge and skills.

The Striv­e­To­geth­er-Casey Connection

Since 2014, Casey has shared Results Count lead­er­ship pro­grams with StriveTogether’s nation­al staff and part­ner com­mu­ni­ties. Striv­e­To­geth­er’s own­ use of Results Count, as well as its avid shar­ing of the approach with its net­work and spheres of influ­ence, has made it a ​“dis­tri­b­u­tion cen­ter” for this lead­er­ship devel­op­ment method.

Hei­di Black, StriveTogether’s vice pres­i­dent of train­ing, is an alum­na of Results Count’s lead­er­ship pro­grams. They have allowed her to deep­en and sus­tain her appli­ca­tion and prac­tice of the approach.

Black prais­es Results Count for its ​“pow­er­ful ways and tools to move the work for­ward,” which have become an essen­tial part of StriveTogether’s sup­port for its net­work. She cites work with 23 com­mu­ni­ty part­ners in Nor­walk, Con­necti­cut, which increased kinder­garten readi­ness by 7% over two school years.

“It was game-chang­ing in ele­vat­ing the types of tech­ni­cal assis­tance and sup­port I was able to deliv­er to com­mu­ni­ties,” Black notes. 

Read more about Striv­e­To­geth­er and Results Count