1. Introduction
LAUNCH Flagstaff aims to achieve lofty goals of evolving Flagstaff’s existing lifelong
educational support networks. In order to actualize its mission of improving Flagstaff’s
educational ecosystem, LAUNCH Flagstaff will need to succeed where similar organizations
have failed in the past. In researching an organizational structure proposal that would set
LAUNCH Flagstaff up to succeed, several key success factors emerged. Primarily, LAUNCH
Flagstaff will need to simultaneously provide a structured network of accountability, while also
being able to facilitate open-ended innovation and communication throughout the Flagstaff
community. Performing both of these primary functions well will require that LAUNCH Flagstaff
create and implement an organizational structure that will allow for organic future growth, as
well as provide direction for partners to best commit their resources towards advancing the
LAUNCH Flagstaff mission. In this sense, LAUNCH Flagstaff will need an organizational
structure to position itself as a conduit for community collaboration and center of educational
resources for local organizations.
Background
Arizona has Early Learning Standards which include Approaches to Learning Standard, a
Language and Literacy Standard, and a Social-Emotional Standard for young children aged
three to five years old. Despite statewide initiatives, Arizona currently ranks as number 48 with
regard to quality of education. Although Arizona is currently ranking near last, Flagstaff1
currently has a wide array of schooling options including public, private, Montessori, and
Waldorf. Public charter schools, such as Pine Forest and Northland Preparatory, are free of2
charge and offer a more rigorous educational experience than Flagstaff Unified School District
schools such as Mount Elden Middle School. Among Flagstaff’s educational support
organizations is the Arizona Community Foundation of Flagstaff, which is “a family of charitable
funds created for the community, by the community.” These funds are utilized for scholarships3
and grants, both to nonprofit organizations in Flagstaff, as well as Flagstaff students.The
underlying issues with regard to availability to resources and direction in the schooling system in
Flagstaff demonstrate the need for programs like LAUNCH Flagstaff.
Synthesis of Role Model Organizations
LAUNCH Flagstaff initially identified Albany, Boise, Redwing, and Santa Barbara’s initiatives as
model organizations. All four of these organizations have a similar goal; they all seek to improve
the state of education in their respective communities. A major takeaway from the four
organizations was that the organizational goals need to be clearly laid out and well-defined.
Boise and Redwing outlined their goals best, with Boise’s being, “Children are prepared for
school, are supported in and out of school, succeed academically, enroll in and complete some
1
Bernardo, R. (n.d.). 2016's States with the Best & Worst School Systems. Retrieved November 29, 2016,
from https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-schools/5335/
2
Education - Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from
http://www.flagstaffchamber.com/flagstaff/relocating-to-flagstaff/education/
3
Grants & Initiatives. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from
https://www.azfoundation.org/GiveWhereYouLive/Flagstaff/GrantsInitiatives.aspx
2. form of education beyond high school, and enter their career of choice and are supported
through meaningful career progression.” Redwing’s stated goal also gave direction to members
and supporters of the initiative, “Focus on academic, social, and emotional well-being of the
students.” While this statement is not actionable, Redwing gives the following sub-goals:
Kindergarten ready, social & emotional support, academic success, post-high school learning,
and career readiness.
A clear organizational structure was also determined to be a common thread. Albany had action
teams to work on specific issues, multiple co-chairs that run the organization and ensure
accountability amongst the action teams, and the organization used community partners to meet
the goals that were set. Albany also had a data analytics sub-group. Redwing had the most
well-established organizational structure. It had a partner table that consisted of pledged talent,
including Presidents and Chairs of the local YMCAs and Public Schools, a finance committee, a
governance committee, a communications committee, and a data committee. Each committee
comprised of eight, six, five, and eight people, respectively. The organizational structures
allowed for successful communication with their respective communities. Getting buy-in from
community members and leveraging their capabilities to create a more concerted effort is crucial
to not only all four organizations, but LAUNCH Flagstaff as well. A strong, well-defined
organizational structure is one of the most efficient ways to create synergy between the initiative
and the community.
A weakness that was shared across all examined organizations was their lack of a strong online
presence. A weak online presence is an unnecessary and easily remedied problem that
organizations encounter by failing to allocate resources to that aspect of their initiative. While
not always the case, a poor online presence creates the perception that the initiative is
antiquated, poorly-funded, or poorly run. Many organizations that have a weak online presence
do not coalesce with the perception created by their inaction. Simply maintaining their
respective webpages, creating a high quality page, and optimizing it for mobile use is crucial to
maintaining a well-run initiative in the digital age.
Current Structure’s Pros and Cons
LAUNCH Flagstaff has recently proposed a concentric organizational structure. There are clear
advantages and disadvantages to having a concentric structure rather than a hierarchical
structure. Concentric structures are perceived to be more inclusive than hierarchical structures
that tend to be viewed as top-down. With this inclusivity, the concentric structure restricts the
ability for groups to either act above or below each other. While this can serve as a positive in
giving the members of the organization higher self-efficacy, in an organization where
accountability is necessary, there needs to be some sort of hierarchy.
There are several advantages to having a hierarchical structure. While the structure can be
seen as bureaucratic, it allows members to clearly see the reporting structure with regard to
accountability in the organization. The workflow and resource streams are easily
comprehendible, which is crucial for an organization that is in the beginning stages of growth.
3. While a hierarchy can appear to be somewhat rigid, the accountability structure that it provides
gives the strength necessary for the organization to succeed in an area where multiple initiatives
have failed before. While solely a perception, a hierarchical structure lends legitimacy for the
initiative to outside parties. In a sector that is likely to see some reluctance to join an
all-encompassing initiative, a hierarchical structure should assuage fears and minimize cynicism
with regard to the sustainability and legitimacy of an initiative.
Key Issue and Criteria
Key issue
LAUNCH Flagstaff needs to be the initiative that finally pushes Flagstaff’s education to its
potential.
Criteria
Any acceptable solution will:
● Facilitate accountability within the organization
● Align goals with the organization and the educational community of Flagstaff
● Share and organize information and resources quickly and accurately among all levels of
the organization
● Allow LAUNCH Flagstaff to grow and sustain itself financially
● Be easy to understand by all partners and members
● Avoid redundancy and information silos
Proposed Structure
As displayed in Appendix 1, an organic hierarchical structure is proposed. A hierarchical
structure will encourage LAUNCH Flagstaff to meet its objectives. The benefits to the
accountability and advising aspects of the organization, as well as a clear flow of information
and resources throughout the structure allows proper goal alignment and a clear path forward
throughout the organization.
Leadership
In this organizational structure, the leadership gives the organization a strong base. This base
includes many different relationships that help define the strategy in the leadership group.
Educators and administrators, the CEO table group, United Way, and investors are all directly
involved in defining strategy and helping the director and support staff clearly articulate that
strategy to the advisory and accountability level of the hierarchy. While leadership is not directly
involved with implementing the strategy, their ability to succinctly give direction to the rest of the
organization cannot be understated. The leadership group is also in charge of continuous
improvement throughout the organization, as well as helping the accountability and advisory
groups align the initiatives of the action networks with the overall organizational goals.
Director
4. The director is responsible for facilitating the development of the leadership group. In addition,
the director acts as the agent responsible for communicating strategy and goals to the separate
Community Action Networks (CAN). The director reports to the CAN facilitator who is in charge
of advising and developing the accountability structure for that CAN. In this way, the director can
be viewed as the core “arrows” of the structure and has responsibility to the leadership team
and each of the CAN facilitators. The director may focus their time determining direction and
strategy, however they also play a crucial role in transmitting information throughout the core
members of LAUNCH Flagstaff. This role will ensure that each CAN is continuing toward
meeting its respective strategic goals and targets.
The director is also responsible for holding large quarterly meetings with members of the
Leadership team and the Accountability and Advisory teams from each CAN. Current members
of LAUNCH Flagstaff voiced the opinion that these large meetings were beneficial for sharing
important information between all groups. The director will be responsible for organizing and
facilitating these meetings.
Support Staff
To ensure LAUNCH Flagstaff’s long-term ability to sustain itself, the organization will need to
phase in several support staff positions to assist the efforts of the Program Director and
Community Action Networks. The positions we believe will serve the organization best are: a
Marketing/Event Coordinator (can be separated if workload requires and funding allows), Grant
Writer, Data Analyst, and Administrative Assistant.
Because these are paid staff positions, the most significant obstacle in implementing these
positions is the availability of funding. Therefore, we recommend gradually phasing in these
positions in order of importance. This is difficult, however, because one could make a solid case
for each position being the most important. For example, hiring a grant writer first can help
secure funding for the other positions, while hiring a data analyst first can help break the
results-funding cycle, (you need tangible results of your efforts to obtain funding, but you need
funding to obtain results), by providing results of LAUNCH Flagstaff’s initial efforts that can be
used to compete for additional funding. Additionally, hiring an administrative assistant,
marketing coordinator, or event coordinator can help free up the Program Director’s time so he
can focus more heavily on fundraising and community relationship-building. Ultimately, it is up to
the Program Director and his leadership team to determine the order in which to create the
positions.
To begin this process, we recommend looking into an Americorps VISTA grant from the federal
government. VISTA is one of the three Americorps branches, and it is most closely related to
LAUNCH Flagstaff’s efforts. Essentially, people who serve with Americorps VISTA are
employed in community organizations whose primary objective is to curb poverty in their
communities. While LAUNCH Flagstaff’s primary objective is to improve education, curbing
poverty is certainly a desired result of the organization’s efforts, and LAUNCH could easily make
the case that its efforts have a direct impact on poverty in the community. Most VISTA workers
5. do not do the front-line, “on the ground” work; instead, they tend to focus on administrative
functions to help the organization perform at its best. Therefore, a VISTA grant would be an
ideal solution to fund the first few support staff positions to help get LAUNCH on its feet. The
primary advantage of a VISTA grant, if awarded, is that Americorps simply funds a certain
number of “slots” for the organization, and then the organization takes over the hiring process
from there. This could allow LAUNCH Flagstaff to tailor its recruiting and hiring to attract people
with the right qualifications for the positions. An organization in Central Oregon that is part of the
Strive Network, Better Together, uses Americorps VISTA to fill most of its staff, so that
organization would be good to reach out to for further information.
Community Action Networks
The Community Action Networks (CANs) are the front-line ground troops of the LAUNCH
Flagstaff organization. These CANs include the Accountability and Advisory and Action Network
groups. As such, the primary focus for continuous improvement and development within
LAUNCH should be on fostering better communication and innovation within the CANs. Initially,
there is a focus on only two distinct CANs: the early childhood development segment, as well as
the post-secondary CAN segment. Most of the focus should be invested into the early childhood
CAN segment initially, as the early childhood development stage is the most critical to ensuring
future academic and professional success. As LAUNCH Flagstaff grows in size and funding,
more investments can be made into the third grade reading, eighth grade mathematics, and
high school graduation CANs, as well as process improvements, such as those specifically
focusing on community communications and data utilization.
Each CAN will be responsible for organizing and holding their own meetings separate from the
Leadership team. Participants in these meetings will include the CAN facilitator, members of the
Accountability and Advisory team, and key members of the Action Network. It is during these
regularly scheduled meetings that the CANs will agree on their specific direction, strategy, and
initiatives. The specific goals and expected outcomes will be established for each Action
Network and the Action Networks will also be responsible for communicating their current
successes, struggles, and need for additional resources.
Accountability and Advisory
In each CAN, the goal is to make this Accountability and Advisory group cross-functional and
diverse in order to set plans that are inclusive and designed for success. This group aims to
design operational plans based on the direction and vision set by the Leadership team. This
group is also responsible for defining the scope of plans, setting goals, and tracking the
progress of those goals. Facilitators and members in this group would likely have skills or
experience pertaining to project planning and management, leadership experience, community
influence, and organizational communication and operations. Table groups could also be a part
of the Accountability and Advisory group for each respective CAN, ensuring that the proposed
goals are attainable and will address the organizational goals.
Action Networks
6. The Action Networks are focused on the “hands on the ground” implementation of initiatives
formed through the CANs. This group consists mainly of members who are active in their
communities and can make a direct impact on accomplishing the specific goals and objectives.
Each individual Action Network will be overseen by the Accountability and Advisory group to
ensure that these goals are being met. The Action Networks will also be the main area where
necessary changes in goals and initiatives are recognized. The members of the Action
Networks are able to see how the initiatives are being implemented and integrated into the
educational systems, and can communicate with the Accountability and Advisory group about
how the initiatives can be updated to be more effective.
Future Growth Opportunities
The proposed structure allows for expected growth in the future. While hierarchies are not often
thought to be conducive to structural entry, the proposed structure allows for there to be the
addition of CANs in the future. LAUNCH Flagstaff has five main educationally-focused goals:
kindergarten readiness, third grade reading, eighth grade math, high school graduation, and
placement in higher education or career. As Appendix 1 demonstrates, the kindergarten
readiness and higher education placement are the two goals that are currently being
emphasized. As LAUNCH Flagstaff grows and acquires more resources, more CANs can be
added to meet the other three goals.
As an organic hierarchy, potential members can enter at whichever level is appropriate. If a
company wants to become an investor, it can enter at the Leadership level, if it wants to send its
human capital to assist the effort, it can enter into the Action Network level of the hierarchy. As
LAUNCH Flagstaff grows, the malleability of the organic hierarchy will allow further expansion
and greater community involvement.
Conclusion
In formulating an optimal organizational structure for LAUNCH Flagstaff, research was
conducted into the current educational environment in Flagstaff. As Appendix 2 shows, research
was also done in the form of surveying other similar community initiatives throughout the
country. The culmination of this research is a set of criteria which will be critical in addressing in
order for LAUNCH Flagstaff to be the initiative which finally brings a comprehensive and
cohesive educational ecosystem to Flagstaff. In order to address these criteria, or key success
factors, a hierarchical organizational structure, which allows for future organic growth, was
derived as the best foundation on which to build the LAUNCH Flagstaff initiative. Shown
graphically in Appendix 1 as an inverse hierarchy, with the leadership at the base and Action
Networks branching out, this organizational structure will provide the optimal balance of
structured accountability and organic growth over time. This botanically-inspired organizational
structure is an innovative approach to the traditional hierarchical structure, in that it provides a
greater level of organic growth and adaptive change over time. Given that LAUNCH Flagstaff is
operating in a new and largely unknown role within the community, this room for future adaptive
growth is important. It’s also equally important however, that LAUNCH Flagstaff maintain a
7. strong network of accountability and positive direction for the community, which might otherwise
be lacking in a concentric organizational structure.
9. Appendix 2: Responses to Survey from Other Strive Together Organizations
City, State,
Name of
Program
Pima County, Arizona
Board and
Organizational
Structure
Our Cradle to Career Partnership has a Leadership Council but this is separate
from the United Way Board of Directors. The Leadership Council is comprised of
39 members representing sectors of Early Education, K-12, Higher Ed, Non
profit, Philanthropy, Faith-based Community, Government and Business. C2C
staff include 5 full-time and 1half-time staff - Senior Director, 2 Network
Facilitators, 1 Data Manager and a half time Youth Leadership Coordinator. I
suggest reviewing our Accountability Structure that details all the roles and
responsibilities of the different entities within the partnership. If you email me, I
will send this document to you.
Affiliation with
Municipality
The City of Tucson Mayor has a seat on the Leadership Council. We operate
under a non profit, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona.
Most
Successful
Relationships
We have two school districts that have been highly engaged. One has been
leading efforts to get consensus on indicators among the 6 school districts that
are in the partnership and the other has been the first to partner with us around
developing continuous improvement processes with them.
Budget The total budget for the partnership is $539,221 and this includes both in-kind
resources and pre-existing grants that United Way held that contribute to the
effort. New resources raised to get the partnership in full operation total
$244,332. Yes, the budget affects the organizational structure. With more
resources we would hire approximately 3-4 more staff to have the entire mission
of the partnership in operation.
Primary
Funding
Channels
Our funding primarily comes from private philanthropy (i.e. family foundations,
individual donors) and some corporate philanthropy. To secure sustainable
long-term funding when we make an "ask" we always ask for a multi-year
commitment even if that means a lesser annual amount.
Additional
Suggestions
Don't eat the whole elephant at once. Don't wait for it to be perfect before you
start. Get a full-time director in place as soon as possible. The work will move at
a snail's pace until you have this position in place. The 2nd full-time staff to hire is
the data manager. With these two positions you can really move the partnership.
10. City, State,
Name of
Program
90% by 2020, Anchorage, AK
Board and
Organizationa
l Structure
● United Way of Anchorage is the organization’s backbone
● Leadership Team (LT) of over 40 businesses, nonprofits, community
leaders, and educational institutions
● Three committees work with the LT
○ Community Will Building, Investment, Data
● Focuses on actionable, measurable goals, objectives, strategies, and
tactics based on data and “community conversations”
● Three “action networks”
○ Ready for Kindergarten, 8th Grade Math, High School Graduation
● Each network consists of small teams that form 12-month or multi-year
projects to address their action
Affiliation with
Municipality
Operates under United Way of Anchorage. Their leadership team is not
necessarily a board of directors in the traditional sense, but rather a team of
community leaders that support this initiative. 80% of paid staff is housed in
United Way, 20% housed in other organizations.
Most
Successful
Relationships
They've survived 3 mayors and 4 superintendents. They have really good
relationships with the top corporate leaders in the community (BP, Alaska
Pipeline, etc). Leader of Anchorage Chamber of Commerce was instrumental
in getting the initiative off the ground. Their private sector support is
responsible for most of their success thus far.
Budget Backbone functions are pretty stable (United Way), ground implementation is
more at risk (dependent on funding sources). Their approach is not to have a
siloed 501c3 organization, but a collective impact framework that is flexible
enough to adapt to varying levels of funding and the needs of the data.
Primary
Funding
Channels
Investment Committee works to align funding with objectives. Members of the
Leadership Team also try to shift funding from their own budgets to support the
initiative. Other funding sources include United Way of Anchorage (most of the
backbone), ConocoPhillips (backbone and service delivery), BP, AT&T grant to
support HS graduation action network, Alaska Community Foundation
(Kindergarten), Theory Foundation.
Additional
Suggestions
Whoever they key movers are in the community (particularly long-term ones),
secure their support. Don't have it just be education people and nonprofits.
Their work didn't really get very far off the ground until they diversified their
"portfolio" of community partners to include the private sector.
11. City, State,
Name of
Program
Better Together, Redmond, OR
Board and
Organizationa
l Structure
16-member board of directors from across sectors. School board, community
college, OSU, chair of economic development. They meet quarterly, highest
level, sets strategy. Separate operations committee that meets more frequently.
Affiliation with
Municipality
The High Desert Education Service District (ESD) is the backbone for the
organization. An ESD provides services to other school districts.
Most
Successful
Relationships
School districts are the best partners and they provide the funding and
infrastructure. Community college also helps with backbone & salaries.
Nonprofits and community organizations are huge as well.
Budget $350,000/year for the staff. AmeriCorps are free because they're federally
funded. Basically, the government will grant you a number of "slots" (like
salaries), and the organization can fill those slots as they wish, so you can
recruit people of certain skill sets. This may be helpful in securing grant writers,
data analysts, community organizers, etc.
Primary
Funding
Channels
Executive director and board chair write most grants. Oregon Department of
Education also pays into it. Started with a foundation that fully funded it for 3
years. This allowed the school district time to see its impact and get on board to
provide funding from there.
Additional
Suggestions
It's a long-term process. The results are really intangible in the first 3-5 years.
Celebrate small victories. Just getting people to the table is a win in and of itself.
12. City, State,
Name of
Program
Tacoma, WA
Board and
Organizational
Structure
The board has 6 officers and 16 other members at large. We have 7 FTEs
and 2 part time staff. We do not have a formal volunteer management
position so our volunteer count really varies per project.
Staff: Executive Director, Director and Assistant Director of Collective Action,
Director of Funding Alignment, Communications Director, Operations
Manager, STEM Manager, Plan4College Outreach Coordinator (PT), Parent
Engagement Coordinator (PT)
Affiliation with
Municipality
We are our own 501(C)3 nonprofit organization
Most
Successful
Relationships
We work very closely with the Tacoma Public School district, we have community
partners who make up our Collaborative Action Networks and we have more than 200
community partners who do everything from provide us with snacks for meetings to
providing significant financial support.
This question will require me to write a book... I'm not sure what you're looking for. We
have MANY MANY very successful community relationships and they are all designed
to support our community built goal of "increasing, by 50%, both the graduation rate of
Tacoma Public Schools students and those who complete a college degree or
technical certificate. Success will require measuring and closing gaps in access,
opportunities, and achievement for all students from cradle to college and career." You
can read more about our organization and community partnerships on our website:
www.GraduateTacoma.org.
Budget The budget is $1million and supports a backbone staff (listed above)
Primary
Funding
Channels
Funding comes from federal, state, regional and local funders - private and public
alike.
Additional
Suggestions
N/A
