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Delegations from Circles USA Florida chapters (including Circles Palm Beach County  and parent organization Pathways to Prosperity , as well as Circles Central FL / Poverty Solutions Group ) came together with pride for this year’s Children’s Week Florida . The event, hosted from Feb. 25 - Mar. 1 at the State Capitol in Tallahassee, is Florida’s largest annual event celebrating and honoring its commitment to children and advocates. Children’s Week Florida began in the mid-90s as a single-day grassroots event. The weeklong festival is now  “a year-round initiative that strengthens Florida’s families and communities… Through a variety of interactive events, educational activities, and outreach efforts, Children’s Week Florida™ seeks to elevate the diverse needs of Florida’s children and youth to our state leaders while acknowledging their achievements. Thousands of attendees including legislators, public officials, nonprofit organizations, business leaders, child and youth advocates, teachers, students, and families attend Children’s Week Florida™ at the State Capitol each year during the legislative session. In addition, Children’s Week and its Partners support numerous community-focused events and activities that take place across the state throughout the year.” [ Source ] FL state leaders, elected officials, child and youth advocates, partners, teachers, children and families were on hand for this year’s festivities. Notable guests included representatives from the Department of Children and Families (DCF), Health (DOH), Education (DOE) and Juvenile Justice (DJJ), as well as President Designate Senator Ben Albritton and Speaker Designate Representative Danny Perez. Other Children’s Week activities included a Storybook Village for little ones; a screening of the film Speak Life End Bullying the Musical ; a Teen Day geared to help young adults learn the history of the legislature and its processes, tour the old and new state house, and meet with lawmakers and lobbyists to discuss issues impacting youth in Florida; and a virtual “Thoughtful Thursday,” which offered online learning sessions about the impact of trauma and afterschool program advocacy.    Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris says, “[Children’s Week] has demonstrated what it means to prioritize the best interests of our state’s children and youth through sound policy, strategic investments, and strong partnerships. Children’s Week is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together and magnify ‘One Voice,’ united around supporting resilient families. This week and all year, I encourage every Floridian to reflect on ways they can positively impact children in their lives and communities.” Circles participants L-R: Jodi Schwartz, Bentoria Murray, Lynette Fields; Kemberly Bush, Pastor Dames Circles Central Florida chapter youth created “Celebration of Hands” artwork that was displayed in the Rotunda of the Florida State Capitol— “to remind legislators [of] who is impacted by the decisions they make,” said Lynette Fields of Poverty Solutions Group. “[Our chapter] created their hands display at their weekly meetings, and then some of the Circles families got to see them in person…How cool is that? Our intergenerational group attended Children's Week to let them know their voices can be heard at any age.” [ Source ]

What is “Collective Impact”? Collective Impact Forum defines the term as “a network of community members, organizations, and institutions who advance equity by learning together, aligning, and integrating their actions to achieve population and systems level change.” Coined by John Kania and Mark Kramer in a seminal 2011 paper , collective impact has become a nonprofit sector catch-all term for people and groups coming together to do what individuals can’t. Circles USA began as a loose-knit collective with this imperative. Today, CUSA brings a 25-year history of building community to end poverty through intentional friendships, personal transformation, and systemic change led by the people closest to the challenge, per our mission . Our vision is that all individuals live in equitable, thriving communities where poverty no longer exists.  Over the years, Collective Impact (in tandem with related, community-rooted practices like mutual aid) has come to be a model for radical collaboration with distinct best practices and tools. Circles USA’s anti-poverty model has naturally grown into this Collective Impact model and recognizes that the more we take a Collective Impact approach, the more successful our local chapters are at taking a community-based, holistic approach to mitigating poverty in their community. How is a Circles chapter a local Collective Impact group? * In order to bring people together in a structured way to achieve social change , Circles USA supports local chapters to: Address the complex, large-scale issue of poverty Become the backbone organization for the community Convene cross-sector partner organizations around a common agenda to align resources and maximize outcomes Listen to people with the lived experience Assess community assets and gaps Train participants, volunteers, and community partners Measure outcomes and craft improvements with the CUSA database system Hold individuals and partners accountable for progress Strengthen relationships within the community Engage with our national community of practice for peer innovations *Based on text and graphic from the CI Readiness Assessment Can Circles USA support our Collective Impact group? If your Collective Impact group is working to alleviate poverty by fostering economic mobility and community building, the Circles model, materials, coaching, data system, and community of practice can fuel up your results. See our national Impact Report and Lives Transformed series at www.circlesusa.org to learn more about our results. Or reach out to kamatara@circlesusa.org to schedule a 1:1 to assess your community readiness.