The Promise Neighborhood Initiative and Harlem Children Zone

In any of development program or in institution building process, the role of leadership plays vital role in shaping the process and intended outcome. Under the adaptive and creative leadership of Geoffrey Canada, the Harlem Children’s Zone has been evolved as an innovative social model, in which a creative and productive space for children in their neighborhood to be developed and space to be facilitated under the guidance of critical mass of caring adult. This innovative model imbibes the core value of sustainability of development approach in itself, where involvement of external agents and actors help in designing the implementation process of the program by coordinating with the contextual reality. Geoffrey Canada believes that a comprehensive approach of development, in which he identifies ‘sound health care, intellectual and social stimulation and consistence guidance’, brings positive change in the life of children, who born and brought up in vulnerable neighborhood like Harlem.

Apart from integrated program model, Geoffrey Canada also recognizes the role of staff members and their contribution to make the model to be effectively implemented and administrative aspects of the organization to be efficiently evolved. This seems a challenging task for the leader to involve everyone in the same pace and process in designing the implementation strategy. However, involvement and regular visit of Geoffrey Canada with the staff members and centers very useful in capacity building of staff members to recognize the significance of doing and why they have been doing this project?

In fact, this kind of involvement stimulates the process and enables the staffs to understand the core value of implementing the project in broader perspective. This process of sharing and learning from each other was a useful exercise within the organization to evaluate the ongoing process and also to build capacity of the staff members, which would make effective and efficient. The organizational structure and its management of HCZ provides evidences to understand the delegation of responsibility, decentralized decision making structure and direct involvement of Senior level staffs in providing guidance and building confidence seems a core organization philosophy to evaluate output and impact of ongoing program in the working areas of organization.

Geoffrey Canada was firm believer of deepening the organization’s efforts rather than broadening the scope of implementation on the basis of ‘externally perceived needs’ and assessment. In many instances, this has been acknowledged that there is missing link of collaboration between deliverable outputs and coordination within the delegation of responsibility. However, the Harlem Children’s Zone’s mission to bring structural changes in life of children and youth by building safe and enabling environment in and around neighborhood. But, the situation could be better if the organization evolve strategic clarity about its priorities on the basis of available resources (both financial and human) and its performance measurement indicators at initial stage of program implementation. This seems challenging in the context of nonprofit organization like HCZ, because its serve to generate public value, which benefits the community at large. Both internal and external evaluation of HCZ’s programs appreciates these efforts and outcomes.

In many studies including Dobbie and Fryer Study, there are many key findings such as,

·         HCZ should introduce lottery system in its charter schools

·         High quality of schooling impact positively rather than community services

·         HCZ’s educational initiative enhance achievement level in elementary school and math in middle school

·         High per capital cost of investment is major concern

These studies have critically evaluated the organization as well as other external agents, but findings suggest HCZ for introspection and to build its data systematically. During this study, both researchers and staffs members had tough time in collecting and selecting data from the field. In fact, this is also true that working in a vulnerable situation and context, an integrative and comprehensive approach of development is required for.

The HCZ highlights multi layers of community services, which ensure involvement of parents and children since birth to college education. In fact, this is one of the important push factor for upward social mobility of those children, who born and brought up in a kind of context, where consistent supportive system is required for their cognitive and physical development. This is a fact that education is single most effective approach to end the cycle of intergeneration poverty, but this does not mean that other non-educational initiatives go in vain in long term. Both educational and non-educational initiatives need to be coordinated effectively and enabling environment assists individual to attain healthy adulthood, independent and responsible personality.

During the Presidential Campaign in 2007, Mr Obama presented an outlined of an initiative that was primarily evolved to help those families, who are in high poverty zones and to build healthy urban neighborhood. The foundation of his design of intervention was based on the core philosophy of HCZ.  In 2008, $10 million fund was developed to build The Promise Neighborhood in 20 cities in the United States and the allocation of fund was the responsibility of Department of Education. After legislative measure, the Promise Neighborhood is now a reality and the HCZ’s learning and struggle is being incorporated for enabling the community to look after and implement Promise Neighborhood Initiative in their respective community.

I agree that the HCZ’s is still in the process of shaping up its program and also in struggle to address the core issue of development at organization and field level. But, this should also recognize that the programmatic interventions and integrative approach of HCZ has positively affected the community at large. Why poor children are not able to successful in their life? Not simply because of their origin, but they don’t find any supportive mechanism in and around their surroundings to make their destination better. I completely agree that the Promise Neighborhood Initiative would create an ecosystem at community level, where a group of people able to identify the process to implement some program, which already being implemented in HCZ’s working areas.

The success of HCZ is based on time and proper coordination of leadership.