®

Ready by 21 St. Louis

A Collective Impact Initiative On Behalf of

Children, Youth & Young Adults

YOUNG PEOPLE READY FOR COLLEGE, WORK AND LIFE

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

• Agreement of Community On A Set Of Common Goals/Outcomes

• Coordinated/Aligned System of:— Services, opportunities and supports for

children and youth from “cradle to career”

— Aligned Resources and Investments

• Strong Leadership

Ready by 21 …Theory of Change

Broad PartnershipsBig GoalsBest DataBold Actions

CoordinatedAccessibleWell-Attended High Quality

Developmentally On Track ProductiveConnectedHealthy & Safe

COMMON OUTCOMESCOMMON OUTCOMES (One Example)

Ready by 21…Theory of Change

Broad PartnershipsBig GoalsBest DataBold Actions

CoordinatedAccessibleWell-Attended High Quality

Developmentally On Track ProductiveConnectedHealthy & Safe

Ready by 21 focuses on the small gearchallenging leaders to think differently & act differently…

Broad PartnershipsBig GoalsBest DataBold Actions

CoordinatedAccessibleWell-Attended High Quality

Developmentally On Track ProductiveConnectedHealthy & Safe

Moving the small gear makes a BIG difference

Leaders often underestimate the challenge or are ill-equipped to take

it on. Tackling ambitious goals without the right partners,

insufficient capacity, incomplete data or inadequate tools is a recipe for failure that is repeated by caring

and dedicated leaders... 

Ready by 21 Website (2014)

LEADERSHIP

Ready by 21 increases the capacity of leaders to achieve collective

impact for children and youth by providing standards, proven tools

and solutions, and ways to measure and track success.

WHY READY BY 21?

Youth Developing Community

UnfocusedCommunity

Aligned: Youth initiatives aligned around a core set of shared goals

vs

Fragmented Services: Many youth initiatives with few goals in common

Results Oriented: Programs selected or designed with desired results in mind

vs

Confusion of Means and Ends: Programs that focus on activities rather than results

Balanced: Service collaborations that balance healthy development with risk reduction

vs

Costly: Services focused heavily on risk reduction/treatment/intervention

Cooperative: Collaboration among service providers is encouraged & rewarded

vs

Competitive: System rewards single-focused services over cooperative efforts of multiple service providers

Shared Responsibility: Healthy youth development is shared by parents plus leaders of civic, education, business, faith & youth organizations

vs

Blame Game: Education and youth service sectors + parents are viewed as primarily responsible for youth outcomes

Ready Youth: Our Most Important Asset

Ready by 21 St. LouisUPDATE

Group of funders committed to support Collective Impact for youth development

The Forum for Youth Investment (FYI) was engaged to conduct assessment of St. Louis readiness for Collective Impact

Report issued with strengths, resources and challenges pertinent to Collective Impact; recommendation to continue

RB21 Leadership Council established w/initial group of leaders

Competitive process to select backbone organization conducted; United Way was chosen to serve in this role

Next phase of RB21 expand the Leadership Council and build the common youth agenda and master plan

Project Director hired

Ready by 21 St. LouisNEXT STEPS

Continue to expand Leadership Council

Raise additional funding for the effort

Coordinate St. Louis and East St. Louis Collective Impact initiatives

Host “Big Picture” training for broad group of community leaders

Identify and build consensus on set of common community-wide youth outcomes