Building Continuity: Sustaining Community Coalitions During Leadership Transitions

“We’ve built some really strong relationships. That has only happened because people trust that WAKE Up and Read is going to be there to provide the things that we say we’re going to provide. In order to do that, we prioritized communication throughout all the transitions — transitions with our superintendent, our senior director, and our administrator inside of our core team. That has helped to reassure all of our stakeholders — everyone from our coalition members to the families that we serve, to our school district partners and our community partners.”

– Marissa Smith, WAKE Up and Read

This session began with Theresa Stacker of the NC Early Childhood Foundation describing the work of her organization, including its role in supporting CGLR communities in North Carolina. She highlighted strategies for assisting and strengthening those communities during times of turnover in leadership. Marissa Smith of WAKE Up and Read in North Carolina shared several successful key strategies to focus on during transitions, including staying true to the coalition’s mission, maintaining trust with all stakeholders, evaluating effectiveness of historical initiatives, and developing a robust and intentional approach to key initiatives.

The conversation then moved to Iowa with Josie Manternach of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque describing some of the ways her organization supports smaller communities in her region. Next, CGLR’s Malai Amfahr who serves as the state lead in Iowa outlined four important components of support during change including awareness, listening, opportunities, and reflection. She also described a nationwide initiative she developed for new communities and new community leads in the CGLR Network, called Peer Circles, which supports coalitions as they are getting started or transitioning through new leadership.

Then, the group discussed strategies for retaining institutional knowledge, best practices for communication about leadership transitions, and how to keep partners engaged and motivated through those transitions.

Below are links to the resources and publications highlighted during this webinar.

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