Network Members
The Promising Practices Network (PPN) was founded by a partnership between four state-level intermediary organizations. The Network now includes additional organizations and individuals who are dedicated to providing quality evidence-based information about what works to improve the lives of children, families, and communities. Network members provide guidance and collaborate to develop and promote the PPN website.
Family Communications, Inc. (FCI)
PPN Board of Advisors representative: William H. Isler, Executive Director
Family Communications, Inc. (FCI) works in a variety of media to promote the social, emotional and intellectual development of children and to support parents and other caregivers as well as teachers and other professionals in their work with children. FCI was founded by Fred Rogers in 1971 to produce Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. About to enter its 42nd season, the Neighborhood continues to air on numerous PBS stations and is the longest-running program on public television. Leading up to and since the end of the Neighborhood's production run and Fred Rogers' death, FCI began applying Fred's values and approaches to other ways of working with children and families. We began focusing on creating and delivering multi-media professional development materials and workshops for teachers, child care providers and other adults who work with children. As did Fred and the Neighborhood, the staff and products of FCI today build on solid child development theory, deal with themes that are central to the lives of children and families, encourage open and honest communication about even the most difficult subjects, and help build strong relationships among children and adults, all of which are conditions that support learning.
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Family and Community Trust
PPN Board of Advisors representative: Bill Dent, Manager, Missouri Community Partnerships; Staff Director, The Family and Community Trust
The Family and Community Trust seeks to coordinate and reform the systems through which communities and state agencies work to improve the lives and well-being of Missouri's families and children. This systems reform effort is known as "Caring Communities." It has substantially changed the way that government and communities interact, while addressing the diversity of need throughout the state. The Caring Communities initiative will focus on reporting the facts about whether goals such as moving people into higher paying jobs, keeping families healthy, and ensuring that children are learning are being met.
Georgia Family Connection Partnership
PPN Board of Advisors representative: Gaye Morris Smith, Executive Director
Georgia Family Connection Partnership is a nonprofit organization formed from the merger of Georgia Academy for Children and Youth Professionals, Inc. and Family Connection. Both organizations were founded in 1991 with funding from the Woodruff Foundation and the Whitehead Foundation, along with state investments. Georgia Academy has been a leader in providing training to professionals working with children and youth in Georgia. Family Connection is the largest statewide network in the nation with 159 community collaboratives working to improve results for children and families. Georgia Family Connection Partnership is the catalyst that drives continued systems change on behalf of improving results for children and their families in the State of Georgia.
Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families (GCYF)
PPN Board of Advisors representative: Stephanie McGencey, Executive Director
Grantmakers for Children, Youth & Families (GCYF) is a membership association of grantmaking institutions. Our mission is to increase the ability of organized philanthropy to improve the well-being of children, youth and families. We serve as a forum to review and analyze grantmaking strategies, exchange information about effective programs, examine public policy developments and maintain ongoing discussions with national leaders.
Hands On Mississippi
PPN Board of Advisors representative: Catherine Gautier, Executive Director
Hands On Mississippi is a nonprofit that mobilizes individuals to join together to address community needs, providing camaraderie as well as guidance through creating an impact with service. In partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Mississippi Commission on Volunteer Service, nonprofit agencies, and local community members and business partners, Hands On Mississippi supports the volunteer-driven recovery of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and actively rebuilds a more civically engaged community.
Kansas Action for Children
PPN Board of Advisors representatives: Gary Brunk, President and Chief Executive Officer, and
Shannon Cotsoradis , Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
The mission of Kansas Action for Children is to advocate for policies and programs that ensure and improve the physical, emotional, and educational well-being of all Kansas children and youth. KAC is an independent and nonpartisan voice on their behalf, working to ensure that Kansas children have the best opportunities in the nation to grow and thrive. Kansas Action for Children seeks to improve public policy and public systems rather than to assist children on a case-by-case basis through direct services. Changes in public policy affect large numbers of children.
New York State Office of Children & Family Services (OCFS)
PPN Board of Advisors representatives: Nancy Martinez, Director, Strategic Planning and Policy Development, and Susan Mitchell-Herzfeld, Director, Bureau of Evaluation and Research
The mission of the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) is to serve New York's public by promoting the well-being and safety of its children, families and communities. OCFS supervises the child and family service programs operated by New York’s 58 local departments of social services, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, county and municipal youth bureaus, and private providers. Such programs include foster care, adoption assistance, child protective services, preventive services for children and families, protective services for vulnerable adults, programs for the blind and visually handicapped, domestic violence services, youth development programs, and child care. OCFS is also responsible for the administration of residential facilities and community-based programs for juvenile delinquents and for oversight and fiscal support of juvenile detention programs.
RAND Corporation
PPN Board of Advisors representative: James A. Thomson, President and CEO
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND employs more than 700 research professionals; nearly 80 percent hold advanced degrees, most commonly the doctorate, in varied disciplines. We have made rigorous program evaluation a hallmark of our work, enriching the range of techniques for evaluating policies in education, health care, welfare, drug control, and the justice system. We have provided practical advice about how well programs are working and how efficiently resources are spent in furthering program goals.
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