MOVING FROM TRANSACTION TO IMPACT: BECOMING AN ISSUE-FOCUSED UNITED WAY
Local United Ways (LUW) are in a unique position to lead social change and impact in their communities. Positioned at the intersection of the private, public and philanthropic sectors, LUWS can leverage collective impact to bring together resources to improve community conditions, but only if they are willing to change their operating model. By moving away from the transaction approach and becoming razor sharp issue-focused, LUWs are well positioned for success well into the future. During this session, you’ll learn how to navigate the transition from transaction to impact and hear how United Way of Erie County successfully made the switch.
To successfully implement the Community School Model, both the backbone organization and the school districts involved need to have the capacity and commitment from its staff to move forward. This session will include perspectives from United Way of Erie County leadership and Erie School District administrators. This session will highlight United Way’s staff responsibilities as the backbone organization of the Community School Model and how United Way keeps clear and open communication and direction between office staff and community school directors embedded in schools. Leadership from United Way and Erie’s Public Schools will discuss the timeline for planning and rollout of the Community School Model within a school district, and how United Way and the district maintain dialogue and a strong working relationship to support students’ educational goals.
The Community School Model emphasizes the importance of a positive environment for learning where all students, families, and faculty feel welcome. In this session, attendees will learn strategies to improve school culture. Community school directors will discuss specific approaches at their schools that increased the comfort, sense of belonging, and school pride of students, their families, teachers, and administrators alike. Examples include how one suburban community school leveraged student leadership groups to foster positive behavior, how an urban elementary school promoted proactive attendance strategies to maintain positive family bonds, and how one middle school created an environment Erie’s newest Americans can call home.
Model 2: Data Drives Success: Methods for Collecting and Utilizing Community School Data
The Community School Model relies on data to identify unique needs and gaps at each school. In this session, attendees will learn about United Way of Erie County’s data collection process, including qualitative methods (surveys, focus groups, observations) and quantitative methods (student-level, district-level and community-level metrics). United Way of Erie County’s Data and Evaluation Team will highlight how they use this data to formulate a community school’s unique Action Plan, which serves as the roadmap for CSDs to use through their first years implementing the Model. Additionally, presenters will also discuss how community school directors and the data team continuously collaborate to make data-driven decisions. Following the presentation, there will be a Q+A with the presenters.
Enrichment before, during, or after the school day has been proven to help address the inequalities that many families face when living in communities of concentrated poverty. When children are given the opportunity to think creatively, problem solve, and engage in hands on learning, they are more likely to thrive. In this session, attendees will learn about three United Way community school extracurricular frameworks designed to provide grades Pre-K through 8 with everything from summer learning, to career education, to weekend and family enrichment at their schools.
A sustainable and stable revenue model for full-service community schools, leveraging multiple funding sources, is essential to the viability of the model for the long-haul. At United Way of Erie County, we say this is a marathon and not a sprint -- for academic growth, proficiency, and funding. Since launching the Community School Model in 2016, United Way has developed a braided funding approach to reduce the risk of depending on one source to support the work. During this presentation, participants will learn how to establish a Corporate Partner program, create a dynamic affinity group, and the importance of establishing a Community School endowment
During the 2024-2025 school year, United Way of Erie County, in partnership with Erie’s Public Schools, brought the Community School Model to our first high school: Erie High. Because all EPS elementary and middle schools were community schools, onboarding Erie High into the Model meant that EPS students were now supported by the Model from the start Pre-K to high school graduation. Presenters and panelists will provide a retrospective look at the first year of Erie High as a community school, including how data was collected to discover priority needs to address, how the Pillars of the Model were adjusted to better fit the needs of older students, challenges faced in the first year of implementation, and future plans for improvement.
Caregivers serve as the first role models for their children, which means barriers to success cannot be reduced without families as partners. As community schools work towards building robust partnerships, they may still face the challenge of getting parents in the building. In this session, presenters will discuss strategies used to move families towards attending academic programming, encourage families to sit at the table and be a voice for change at their community school, and to spend time getting to know fellow students and families at fun engagement events.
When United Way of Erie County launched their model in the 2016-17 school year, Gannon University enthusiastically joined as the Lead Partner for one of the original pilot schools. Since then, the partnership has deepened to offer a multi-layered level of support and resources. Universities are uniquely positioned to leverage students, faculty, athletic teams, and others within the model. From service-learning opportunities, students volunteering in afterschool programs, tutoring, and more, Gannon has brought a wealth of resources positively impacting the academic and social emotional enrichment of students. During this discussion, you’ll hear from Gannon University’s president, Dr. Walter Iwanenko, why he is committed to the Community School Model and why he believes universities benefit from their involvement.
