The Partnership has found it challenging to maintain the collaboration of 15 organizations. However, all partners have been willing to spend time communicating with one another and working together to ensure the success of the overall project. A leader with a vision is necessary . The executive director of Mile High Child Care, a respected child advocate and child care provider, was able to articulate the need for increased quality child care and her vision for the potential impact of the Partnership. Under her leadership and with the support of the co-chair from Mile High United Way, the Partnership pulled together funders, child care providers, child advocates, schools, and state agencies to rally around and support a shared mission.
Some structure builds credibility.
The hiring of a core staff provided consistent and efficient methods and procedures to ensure proper program implementation and recordkeeping. Over the years, the Partnership found that it needed to allow its structure to grow and move into new areas in response to lessons learned. Its success as a collaboration is due partly to the flexibility that accommodated this growth and development. Keep evaluating . These evaluations were critical to understanding each partner's capacity and needs, and helped the Partnership to track and monitor changes over time.