About the Partnership

Organizing Partners

The six organizing partners for the Birth to Eight Roadmap are the Children’s Museum of Denver at the Marsico Campus, the City of Denver’s Office of Children’s Affairs, Denver Human Services, Denver Public Library, Denver Public Schools and Mile High United Way. Each organization provides dedicated staff for the governance structure. They are responsible for drafting policy, monitoring metrics and supporting continuous improvement efforts.

Organizing partner staff will update the Executive Committee on a monthly basis regarding work and progress in each of these domains, and will hold bi-monthly Advisory Council meetings to invite thought partnership on solutions to particular barriers. Each of these organizing partners will also take a lead on at least one of the Roadmap Collaboratives.

Specific responsibilities are outlined below:

 

Organizing Partner Role (Governance Structure)

  • Direct line to our policy leaders and directly accountable for outcomes to Executive Committee, Mayor and DPS Superintendent.
  • Primary responsibility for overall organizing structures, including evaluating the Roadmap’s success, communications materials and supports, and ongoing monitoring of implementations at a high level.
  • Monitoring the continuous improvement of Roadmap Partners.
  • Reporting success and challenges of Roadmap within Denver and nationally.

 

Organizing Partner Role (Collaboratives)

  • Facilitate thought partnership and best-practice sharing between providers that contribute to the work of the collaborative.
  • Strategic lead for collaborative including the prioritization and sequencing of initiatives, alignment of initiatives across partners, and a determination of leading indicators and outcome metrics to measure success over time.

 

Advisory Committees: Advisory Council and Community Forums

A key aspect in the formation of the Roadmap has been the engagement with the widest possible set of
stakeholders. Ensuring we heard a diverse set of viewpoints on how to approach the problems the
Roadmap is attempting to solve has allowed us to ensure that our partners have remained engaged
during a long planning process. As planning process turns to implementation and continuous
improvement, it is critical that we continue to provide a feedback mechanism to these groups doing the
work.

This will take on two forms: a bi-monthly Advisory Council and an annual Community Forum held in each targeted neighborhood.

Advisory Council

The new Advisory Council is a voluntary group that is open to partner organizations. This will
include members of the previous Planning Committee and Steering Committee workgroups, as
well as new participants who are interested in staying abreast of Roadmap developments and
want to be part of the feedback process.

Advisory Council meetings occur every other month, scheduled for 90 minutes. Roadmap staff
will bring updates on the current work being done, as well as one to two topics for feedback in
each meeting. Agendas will be available prior to the meeting so members can self-select their
attendance based on the topics to be discussed. Because the membership of this council is both
large and fluid, scheduling will depend on the availability of Organizing Partners. Meeting notes
are sent out to all interested parties following the meeting.

Community Forums

Annually, organizing and collaborative partners will hold a community forum in each of the targeted
neighborhoods to report out on Roadmap progress, as well as solicit feedback from any
community members. These “listening sessions” are seen as a way to have a conversation with
the communities being served, ensuring their voices continue to guide and refine the work of
the Roadmap. Following the community forums, organizing partner staff will prepare a report
to deliver to the Executive Committee, with recommendations on necessary actions to be taken
to address community concerns.