Welcome to the National Girls Collaborative Project Extended

Webinar Session:

Increasing Program Impact: Best Practices in Collaboration

Thank you for joining us! We will begin at

11:00 AM Pacific/ 2:00 PM Eastern.

Webinar Agenda • Introduction to NGCP • Speed Networking • Collaboration Experiences • Collaborations that Make Sense • Collaboration 101 • Best Practices in Collaboration • Action Planning • Discussion • Additional Resources and Wrap-Up

National Girls Collaborative Project

The National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) brings together organizations that are committed to informing and

encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM).

www.ngcproject.org

Collaboratives • Arizona • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Great Plains (ND, SD) • Illinois • Indiana • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Michigan • Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, VA)

• Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • New Hampshire/Vermont • New Jersey • New Mexico • North Carolina • Ohio • Pacific Northwest

(AK, HI, ID, OR, WA) • Pennsylvania • Southern New England

(MA, RI) • Texas • Tennessee • Wisconsin

Project Goals 1. Maximize access to shared resources within

projects and with public and private sector organizations and institutions interested in expanding girls’ participation in STEM.

2. Strengthen capacity of existing and evolving projects by sharing exemplary practice research and program models, outcomes and products.

3. Use the leverage of a network or collaboration of individual girl-serving STEM programs to create the tipping point for gender equity in STEM.

Project Focus 2011-2016 • Strengthen the capacity of girl-serving

STEM programs to effectively reach and serve underrepresented girls in STEM.

• Increase the effectiveness of Collaboratives by providing professional development focused on sustainability, organizational effectiveness, and shared leadership.

• Maximize K-12 school counselors’ access to and use of relevant, high-quality resources that increase awareness of barriers to girls’ interest and engagement in STEM.

Speed Networking

• Your Name • Your Organization/Program & Role • What sets your organization apart in

the field • Resources • Needs 2 Minutes Each

Share Your Collaboration Experience

Collaborations That Make Sense

Presented by:

Katelyn Wamsted Program Director

Girlstart

Girlstart

Girlstart is one of the few community-based informal STEM education nonprofits in the nation specially dedicated to empowering

& equipping girls in science, technology, engineering & math

Girlstart Programs

Women in Engineering Program The University of Texas at Austin

Professional Students

Educators

ENGINEERING

Part of the Expanding Your Horizons national network 540 registered in 2012 4th-8th Grade Girls 3 unique hands-on workshops Led by professional women who are excited about

sharing their STEM career

96% of Girls In STEM participants demonstrated increased awareness of STEM careers

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

Every year during National Engineers Week

Open House

1st-8th grade girls

1,500-1,800 participants 600 engineering volunteers 45 hands-on activities & demos Girl serving orgs, companies &

colleges

Water Works

Use LEGOS and other components to design, create & program underwater robots

Formal curriculum developed by Stevens Institute of Technology (NSF Award #0929674)

WEP & Girlstart disseminating INFORMAL curriculum to TX educators

Collaboration Tips

Tip 1 - Be Specific …Have a plan in place for your collaborations.

Tip 2 - Be Creative…Don’t focus on the “ideal” collaboration.

Tip 3 - Be Respectful…You want to continue collaborating in the future!

#socialmedia

#socialmedia

Collaboration Tips

Break

Collaboration 101

Defining Collaboration

“The process of achieving a goal that could not be attained efficiently by an individual or organization acting alone” (Wang, Haertel, and Walberg, 1997, p.7).

Why Collaborate? • There are uncoordinated services to girls

interested in STEM careers. • Collaboration reduces isolation among

professionals. • Collaboration strengthens relationships

among organizations. It also increases the potential for organizational and individual learning by sharing promising practices.

Why Collaborate? • Collaborative relationships increase access

to scarce resources.

• Collaboration increases capacity to provide more effective opportunities to more girls in STEM.

• Organizations have a better ability to

achieve important outcomes.

Ways to Share Resources

• Networking • Cooperation • Coordination • Coalition • Collaboration

Collaboration Rubric Cooperation (2) • Provide information to

each other • Somewhat defined roles • Formal communication • All decisions are made

independently

Networking (1) • Aware of organization • Loosely defined roles • Little communication • All decisions are made

independently

Coordination (3) • Share information • Share resources • Defined roles • Frequent communication • Some shared decision

making

Coalition (4) •Share ideas •Share resources •Frequent and prioritized communication

•All members have a vote in decision making

Collaboration (5) •Members belong to one system •Frequent communication characterized by mutual trust

•Consensus is reached on all decisions

(Hogue, 1993; Borden & Perkins, 1998, 1999; Frey, 2004)

Challenges to Collaboration

• Collaboration may actually take more time, at least in the beginning

• Belief that individual effort is more beneficial, easier than cooperation

• Lack of trust between partners

Challenges to Collaboration

• Lack of strong, effective leadership

• Different types of organizations often work differently

• Organizational systems do not encourage or support collaboration

How Do You Choose?

• What do we want to accomplish? • What resources do we need? What

resources do we have to share? • Do we have sufficient trust/ commitment to

support the relationship? If the relationship is new, do we have the time/commitment to foster the relationship?

• Search the NGCP Program Directory

Potential Collaborators • K-12 teachers

• K-12 counselors • Higher education faculty • Higher education academic counselors • Higher education STEM program • K-12 after school STEM program • K-12 school day STEM program • American Associate of University Women Branch • Corporate or business partners • Non-profit organizations (Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H) • Girl Scout Councils • STEM professionals • Professional organizations • Applied researchers

Best Practices in Successful Collaborations

1) Prepare 2) Look 3) Plan 4) Build

Prepare to Collaborate

• Reflect on past collaborations and the characteristics of successful or ineffective collaborations.

• Create a quick summary of your program services you can easily share when you first meet potential collaborators.

Prepare to Collaborate

• Identify your program/institutional strengths and challenges.

• Identify the program/institutional resources you have to offer.

• Identify your program/institutional needs.

Look for Collaborators • Find the “home” of your audience

who can benefit from your research findings/program products and services.

• Identify assistance or guides that can

help you. • Network with purpose

Plan for a Successful Collaboration

• Be flexible and patient.

• Be explicit about project benefits for each partner.

• Create a collaboration agreement.

Build a Successful Collaborative Project

• Communicate frequently to move the work forward.

• Adapt as project personnel, plans,

and needs change. • Celebrate successes • Debrief the collaboration.

Voices from the Field: Collaboration in Action

Voices From The Field

• “NGCP has provided opportunities and resources to encourage and support collaboration. The meetings, grants, and educational forums have all provided me with personal opportunities to connect with people I would not have met otherwise.”

• “Having a large network gives each local organization or program more leverage, so the more we collaborate and present our ideas as one entity, the more students benefit.”

Action Planning

Share Your Action Plans

?Questions?

NGCP Program Directory

Get Involved • NGCP Program Directory

http://www.ngcproject.org/register/program • Receive the NGCP E-newsletter http://bit.ly/V8iX04 • Archived Webinars http://www.ngcproject.org/resources/webinararchive • Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ngcproject • Follow us on Twitter

http://twitter.com/ngcproject

Get Involved

Upcoming CSCP Webinar: October 23, 2012, 10:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern

Universal Design: Philosophy, Research and

Application

Next NGCP Webinar: November 28, 2012, 11:00 AM Pacific/2:00 PM Eastern

Tour of the NEW NGCP Website!