We believe that the problems of distressed communities are complex; and that the solutions must match this complexity.

In communities all across the nation, groups of stakeholders have committed themselves to realizing the Promise Neighborhoods vision and approach — a seamlessly linked cradle-to-career pipeline of programs, services, and supports to ensure the achievement of the 10 results for children.

While the neighborhoods and local contexts in which this work is unfolding are diverse — including tribal, rural, and urban communities with varying levels of resources that are home to people of a range of cultures, races, and ethnicities — the desired results and indicators of success are clear. And it is through the Promise Neighborhoods cradle-to-career approach that all children will be able to reach their full potential.

See Collective Impact in Action: Improving Results for Children from Cradle to career, How the Promise Neighborhoods Movement Achieves Collective Impact.

Also, the three videos below on results based accountability as a necessary framework for realizing the Promise Neighborhoods vision and approach.

VIDEO: Geoffrey Canada, Joint Accountability

Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, discusses the concept of accountability and how systems outside of your individual organization have to establish a level of joint accountability in order to succeed. Canada presses that accountability is a necessary standard for achieving results. Without joint accountability programs internally, as well as externally in working with partners will not be able to guarantee success if the same standards of program implementation and data collection and analysis are not met by all organizations working together across the board.

VIDEO: Angela Glover Blackwell, An Amazing Moment in Time

Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO of PolicyLink, discusses her views on the importance of data measurement amidst the demographic shifts of the United States. She talks about why this moment in time is ripe for change, for a focus on data to get results for children and families, for Promise Neighborhoods. Blackwell emphasizes the importance of setting goals for achieving progress through the use of the Results Scorecard tool to measure data and achieve benchmarks for the future success of organizations that exist to improve the lives of children and families across the county.

VIDEO: Michael McAfee, Results-Based Accountability Framework 

Dr. Michael McAfee, Director of the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink, talks about the ability to implement projects at more than just a local level by utilizing the Results-Based Accountability™ Framework. McAfee discusses the use of the RBA Framework to craft larger strategies that are capable of solving larger problems and positively impacting the lives of children and families across the country. The use of this framework allows programs to pinpoint and utilize ideas and proven strategies of organizations across the country that can be implemented to serve all of those within the target population rather than just a fraction of those in need.