Statements
Mission
Alignment Nashville mobilizes strategic partners to challenge and address systemic barriers in order to equitably impact the growth, development and academic achievement of each Metro Nashville Public Schools student.
Background
In the past, over 175 nonprofit organizations worked in the schools and community individually; while each organization provided much-needed services, the problems facing public schools education and our children are far too complex for any single organization to address in isolation. Alignment Nashville has developed a unique model of collaboration that aligns the resources of these organizations to the Metro Nashville Public Schools strategic plan and to community strategic plans, thereby aligning all of the city's resources toward common goals. AN was developed to ensure all the services children need are provided to them in an effective and efficient way that complements their education, health and well-being, and the goals of the public schools. Through community-wide collaboration among schools, non-profits, businesses, and the public sector, AN creates the synergy necessary for sustained improvement in public education and children's health. This collaboration provides the following advantages: * Greater returns on investment-by working together toward common goals, resources are leveraged, duplication is avoided, and efficiency is greatly increased. * Higher-quality services-utilizing expertise from multiple organizations guarantees a broader perspective and a wiser approach. * Enhanced capacity-very few organizations have the capacity to have community-wide impact. A collective effort enhances the impact of each of organization, while generating a much greater overall impact. * Leverage of local funding-AN programs have demonstrated they can attract large national funding, increasing the impact of the local funding that played a role in building the pilot programs.
Impact
Alignment Nashville is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was created to align community organizations and resources so that their coordinated support of Nashville's youth has a positive impact on public school success, children's health, and the success of our community as a whole. What sets Alignment Nashville apart is our integrated principles, structure, process, and technology.Principles: Alignment Nashville is guided by Operating Principles, which were defined by the organization's founders in 2004.Structure: Alignment Nashville is governed by a Board of Directors, which appoints an Operating Board to oversee Alignment Teams (A-Teams), or "Design & Implementation Teams." This structure provides varying levels of involvement, leadership and sustainability, engaging a wide range of stakeholders in different ways. This structure also insulates the organization from changes in leadership in any one stakeholder group.Process: Alignment Nashville's process ensures that A-Teams are making progress toward systemic change. Alignment Nashville staff guides the A-Teams through each phase of the process. Each A-Team first creates a Tactical Plan (1) to align to common goals to address a community issue, then uses the Invitation to Participate? (2) process to align resources and engage the broader community in the effort. The A-Team oversees implementation of the initiative (3), and gathers data to determine the impact and need for scale-up (4). If the effort has achieved the desired impact and systemic change, it is institutionalized (5) in the community and/or the school district.Technology: Since its inception, Alignment Nashville has used technology to support its collaborative work. However, as new technology has emerged, Alignment Nashville recognized the opportunity to combine knowledge management, content management, and project management into a powerful collaborative tool - ComCoefficient - that powers the principles, structure and process of Alignment Nashville.
Needs
Develop Broad Community Involvement: Continue engaging the community in the alignment process by creating opportunities for organizations to connect networks, communicate with each other, and collaborate and coordinate in delivering programs and services to Nashville's youth.
CEO Statement
More than ten years ago, a city came together to create Alignment Nashville.Commitment, dedication, a spirit of innovation, good will, a shared sense of vision, open communication and hard work by the mayor's office, the chamber, not-for-profit organizations, and the Alignment board and staff led to a strategic approach that today supports the challenge faced by Metro Schools daily: EDUCATING OUR YOUTH.We believe that we are better together - and Alignment Nashville provides a way for the community to work together to improve the education and health of our community's youth.Alignment Nashville has been the starting point for many collaborative initiatives that were implemented by a variety of community partners resulting in some incredible success stories in our first decade including:* The Academies of Nashville was conceived by the school district administration. The Alignment Nashville High School Team of community and school partners worked together to define ways the community would support the effort. Today, operating on their own, the Academies of Nashville are a model to the country.* The Behavioral Health Team set the stage for a focus on "the whole child" as it focused on the social and emotional development of children as an important component to academic achievement. MNPS is a recognized leader in supporting the social emotional learning of children and now, through the annual Social Emotional Learning Conference, provides training and support at both the local and national levels. * Parent University was the idea of school and community leaders that resulted in an annual event that impacts hundreds of families. It gathers experts from across the city to provide important education resources for parents. MNPS now houses a complete Parent Engagement initiative and this initiative is a crucial part of the district's family engagement strategy.
Board Chair Statement
I'm passionate about the work of Alignment Nashville because it brings community partners and schools together to improve the education and health of our community's youth. Through my work with Alignment Nashville, I've had a front-row seat for transformative initiatives like the Academies of Nashville, the integration of social-emotional learning, and more. As we look to the future, it is crucial to continue our work together. The problems facing our children and our community are far too complex for any single organization to solve alone. While we have made great strides in recent years, much work remains to ensure all of our children have what they need to succeed. We have the resources in our community to make this happen; we just need to remain committed to working together, rising above our differences, and focusing on the success of our children.-Katherine McElroy, Alignment Nashville Board Chair
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Community Improvement, Capacity Building - Management & Technical Assistance |
| Secondary Category: | Youth Development - Management & Technical Assistance |
| Tertiary Category: | Education - Educational Services |
Areas Served
Alignment Nashville serves Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County.
| TN - Davidson |
