Learning from the Harlem Children’s Zone Model

Posted by on October 5, 2009

SAVE THE DATE: NOVEMBER 9 & 10, 2009
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, NYC
CHANGING THE ODDS: LEARNING FROM THE HARLEM CHILDREN’S ZONE® MODEL

Prompted and energized by the Obama administration’s commitment to support effective strategies to improve life outcomes for children in high poverty areas through a national Promise Neighborhoods Initiative, Harlem Children’s Zone® (HCZ) and PolicyLink are proud to announce Changing the Odds: Learning from the Harlem Children’s Zone® Model, a two-day conference on November 9-10, 2009 in New York City. More than 1,000 leaders from nonprofit, community, government, and philanthropic organizations will participate, with a focus on how to transform their communities by replicating the innovative HCZ model.

http://www.hcz.org/conference2009/schedule

Leaders will gather to:

* Share core principles of the HCZ model that can be adapted and modeled at the local level;
* Discuss common obstacles and successful strategies; and
* Learn about the current status of the federal Promise Neighborhoods Initiative.

Keynote speakers are:

* Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education
* Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder & CEO, PolicyLink
* Geoffrey Canada, President & CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone
* Kenneth Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express
* Marian Wright Edelman, Founder & President, Children’s Defense Fund
* Melody Barnes, Director, White House Domestic Policy Council

The conference will address issues that are critical for those developing a local initiative: strategic planning, creating collaborations, evaluating programs, fundraising, engaging the community, and developing a pipeline of best practice programs. The discussion of these critical concepts will be directly informed by insights gained through conversations with over 100 communities that attended HCZ’s Practitioners Institute as well as research on how to best translate the HCZ model into policy.

Registration requirements (http://www.hcz.org/conference2009/register), conference schedule (http://www.hcz.org/conference2009/schedule), and information on location and travel (http://www.hcz.org/conference2009/location-a-travel) are detailed on HCZ’s site.

PolicyLink and the Harlem Children’s Zone® hope you’ll join us in this opportunity to learn from each other to improve the lives of poor children and families and break the cycle of poverty across our country.