Striving for impact
by James Townsend
Executive Director
The Reach Foundation
“Great schools are necessary but not sufficient if all children are to enjoy lives of choice and opportunity.”
I must have written or spoken those words thousands of times since joining The Reach Foundation five years ago. It is the core idea that underpins all of our work.
We know what children need to thrive. They need to:
be safe and well supported at home;
be healthy (physically, mentally and emotionally);
achieve well academically; and
have strong relationships and social networks.
We know that schools (or groups of schools) cannot ‘do everything’, but we also know that they have the potential to play a central role in co-creating local systems that make these conditions a reality. Indeed, colleagues across our Cradle-to-Career Partnership are leading the way in co-creating the civic infrastructure that will enable all children in their communities to flourish.
It has been gratifying to see and feel momentum building around the importance of place-based partnerships and the civic role of schools and trusts. The government’s Pride in Place Strategy notes, for instance, that, “Schools and educational settings are the building blocks of community cohesion and resilience…”; with the Children’s Commissioner’s Children’s Plan making the case that:
“The next great wave of education reform must fill [the] gaps by redefining how we think about need in school, because for some children even the best teaching will not be enough unless the systems around them can respond to the daily complexities of their lives.”
Huzzah! All good stuff. But as validating as it is to feel there is energy behind an idea I believe in, I feel nervous.
We have such a lot to learn about the role of schools in collective impact efforts. Whilst I feel little doubt, given how limited resources are currently, that there is a partnership imperative and that schools (as trusted, universal services with long-lasting relationships) are very well placed to ‘anchor’ collective impact efforts, if we’re not very careful, the civic bubble might burst. Or, as Jennifer Blatz, President and CEO of StriveTogether, puts it, there is a risk that we could end up with “a lot of collective but not much impact”.
Learning from StriveTogether
StriveTogether is a network of 70 place-based partnerships across the USA, dedicated to creating a future where youth can thrive in their shared communities. Their network members
“change the way their communities work together by building connections, sharing resources and using data to put more young people on a path to economic mobility.”
They now have twenty years of experience in building place-based partnerships in rural, suburban, and urban settings.
We were delighted, therefore, that Jennifer and her colleague, Bridget Jancarz, joined us in the UK last week to share lessons from across their network. I cannot imagine two better guides to effective collective impact. Whether consciously or not, they provided not only great wisdom but also a powerful model for effective leadership of collective impact work:
they were relational;
confident in their experience and what they know;
humble about what they do not, especially around context;
willing to adapt;
curious about other people’s views; and
great storytellers.
Jennifer and Bridget brought to life the four pillars of effective collective impact approaches that support children to reach seven key life milestones to put them on a path to economic mobility. The learning was incredibly rich. As one of our Cradle-to-Career Partners said, “We could have spent a day at least on every bullet in their slides.”
The four pillars of effective collective impact approaches (StriveTogether, 2025)
“Shared accountability, differentiated responsibility”
As Bridget stressed to us, though, there is one key idea that is fundamental to effective collective impact: shared accountability, differentiated responsibility.
Strive’s work started 20 years ago in Cincinnati, Ohio, when a coroner stood up in a cross-sector meeting to discuss a proposed new college [university] readiness programme and said:
“As long as we remain program rich and systems poor, we will not get more kids into college. And what’s more, I’m going to keep seeing dead kids on my table.”
Unless, and until, we have a shared view of what we are trying to achieve for young people and genuinely share accountability for achieving it, we will struggle to transform our systems. Aligning our actions around improved outcomes for all children is perhaps the single most important leadership challenge we face right now.
A great example of the power of this work came from a StriveTogether network partner in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Starting from the insight that children who attend more than one school in one year were struggling to attain core outcomes, a cross-sector group of leaders were able to create an ‘alert’ to schools when families were given eviction notices. These alerts then triggered support for families (from counselling to legal support) to either reduce the likelihood of evictions actually taking place or mitigate their impact. Crucially, these changes to practice were bolstered by efforts to policy—creating a positive feedback loop.
Leaning forward
Many of our Cradle-to-Career Partners, and others nationally, have started the work of convening leaders to redesign local systems. Using data (both quantitative and qualitative) “as a flashlight, not a hammer”, they are making changes that have increased the potential for children to thrive.
Emerging work has led to increased vaccination rates, increased availability of free holiday activities, and increased availability of early years places. Their work has commenced with curiosity, humility, openness to change and a commitment to all children in their local communities. It will continue with improved data systems; frameworks for collaborative action, and, fingers crossed, a policy environment that encourages cross-sector work within a place. But most of all, it will depend on leaders with a mental model that recognises the need to align our efforts.
For trust leaders, the takeaway is clear: coherence isn’t built through control but through alignment. The most effective partnerships we’ve seen don’t rely on one organisation doing everything—they rely on many acting in concert, each with clarity about their distinct contribution. That’s what “shared accountability, differentiated responsibility” really means. It invites trust leaders to look beyond their own boundaries, to work alongside others who share their moral purpose, and to shape local systems where every organisation, and every adult within them, takes responsibility for every child’s success.
Great schools are necessary but not sufficient if all children are to enjoy lives of choice and opportunity. Start there, and real collective impact feels possible.
If you’re a school, trust or local leader interested in strengthening local collaboration, we’d love to connect. Join us as we explore what shared accountability and differentiated responsibility look like in practice—and how we can build the coherent, connected systems every child deserves.
