PROJECTS
Organizational Infrastructure Portfolio
Youth Education Alliance (YEA) – Organizational Development Infrastructure
Washington, DC
www.youtheducationalliance.org
ProspectNeal partners with YEA to develop an organizational infrastructure that will stabilize YEA for the short-term, while establishing systems for long-term and improved organizational outcomes.
In the last few years YEA has grown in three critical areas: foundation investments, organizing power, and recognition as a legitimate voice for students. With a firm commitment to student organizing power YEA is committed to solidifying its institutional systems that are necessary for its sustained success.
ProspectNeal executes five key areas of work:
- Create a comprehensive fund development strategy that is tied to programmatic outcomes and organizational effectiveness with clear benchmarks to measure progress.
- Assist YEA in developing a diversified communications strategy that targets multiple audiences and increase its public profile.
- Work with YEA to establish financial controls that serve as the basis for its emergence as an independently operating organization.
- Provide executive level coaching regarding staff supervision, board management and staffing pattern development.
- Provide technical support regarding capacity building priorities, strategic and board planning, and technology improvements.
For more information contact:
Ricardo O. Neal, rneal@prospectneal.com
Atiya Dangleben, adangleben@prospectneal.com
Youth Education Alliance (YEA) – Strategic Planning
ProspectNeal coordinates a six-month strategic planning process that is focused on key organizational structures to help YEA build a more sustainable institution. A critical component of the planning process is the central role that youth occupy in preparing the strategic direction of YEA.
Public Education and Community Engagement Portfolio
Boston Public Schools (BPS) – Aligning Alternative Education into Education Options
Boston, Massachusetts
www.bostonpublicschools.org
ProspectNeal facilitates a collaborative planning process for community-based organizations (CBOs) to be engaged in the district’s reform efforts. ProspectNeal operates on the premise that nonprofit CBOs are important partners for assisting the school district’s efforts to improve and expand educational options for students who are off-track and have unique needs that impede progress to graduation.
The Boston Public Schools is a leader in education reform, pushing the bar with respect to demanding higher standards and creating an environment of innovation for serving a broad array of students with specific needs. In the last decade alone, the district's decision to radically transform its high schools to meet the needs of an ever changing student population led to a promising approach of having a portfolio of diverse schools to meet diverse needs.
ProspectNeal uses a Collaborative Process Framework to execute Six Steps to Improved Community-based Partnerships:
- Establish a cross-functional/cross-sector working group to create the best scenario for success in creating educational options for off-track youth a as part of well integrated planning process.
- Facilitate a technical assistance program in the form of learning communities. Learning communities create a separate and distinct place for affected stakeholders to process the impact of the change effort.
- Identify examples of strong and effective community-based partnerships locally and nationally.
- Gather and integrate student voice in the development of Educational Options. Devise a strategy to include recent graduates of the district alternative school programs or students who are currently enrolled in programming. Student representation comes from those who participate in (1) internally operated programs, (2) community-based programs, and (3) pubic-care agency programs.
- Engage advocates who can demand and support effective policy decisions and funding alternatives to meet the needs of off-track student populations. Advocates should be external to the district and must be disconnected financially.
- Develop a communication strategy that connects students, their families, the school personnel and other affected stakeholders to goals of system reform.
For more information contact:
Ricardo O. Neal, rneal@prospectneal.com
Johnette Marie Ellis, jellis@prospectneal.com
