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In this issue of our periodic newsletter, we will share the results of the Perfecting Partnership After-Action Review, additional resources for working with government partners and add to the discussion on a critical behavioral competency. We will also share the newest ICS course available to staff and partners!
The Results Are In...
Earlier this year we engaged in the process of conducting an after-action review of Perfecting Partnership 2017 and 2018. Thanks those who gave their time to participate in the review process, we were able to learn about the strengths of the program and extract actionable ideas for improving Perfecting Partnership moving forward.
View the visual summary to learn about our key findings and the changes we plan on implementing for Perfecting Partnership 2020.
Another Resource for Government Partnerships
Partnering with governments is one of the key ways to achieve sustainable change at scale. In our last issue, we featured CRS’ own Engaging Government Guide as a resource for developing sound approaches to partnering with local government. Recently, we came across Leveraging Government Partnerships for Scaled Impact a resource developed as part of the Scaling Pathways initiative from the Innovation Investment Alliance. This guide shares lessons learned and practical advice from the field on initiating and maintaining government partnerships. Thanks to John Hembling, STA for Health Evaluation and Research, for sharing this resource!
ICT Tools at a Glance
Looking to introduce ICT interventions with partners? The ITC4D team has made it easy to start the conversation, by providing one-page summaries of the ICT Tools that CRS supports. The guidance includes information on what the tool is, provides examples of how the tool has been used in previous projects, the costs to partners, and the available training. There is guidance currently available for AirWatch, ArcGIS, BarTender, CommCare, and PowerBI, with more to come.
Go Farther Together
In Season 2 of the I AM CRS podcast, produced by the Human Resources department, we learn about how colleagues around the world who exemplify what the agency behavioral competencies look like in practice. In episode 4, we hear from SVP Shannon Senefeld on why Builds Relationships is a critical competency and from Maria Arroyo, on how the this competency informs her work.
The PCS Unit is excited that people across the agency are talking about ways strengthen their competency in relationship building, because Relationships are at the heart of partnership. To add to the conversation, we’ve created a playlist on CRS Learns which features courses and other resources that speak specifically to building relationships with partners.
Voices from the Community
Speaking of “together” we are fortunate to have a strong community of PCS practitioners who share their own best practices for building relationships with partners and conducting capacity strengthening in the context of those relationships. Our voices from the community section allow us to amplify those voices by featuring articles submitted by members of the Partnership & Capacity Strengthening Community. These short articles are a great way to learn about and from the work our colleagues are doing globally.
Thank you to the following colleague who submitted an article for this edition:
Pascasie Musabyemungu, CRS Rwanda Church Support Program Puts Local Dioceses on Path to Self-Sustainability
if you have PCS examples from your country program of innovative work, best practices or recommendations, please consider sharing them for the next edition of our Newsletter. You can view the submission guidelines now or look out for the next call for submissions.
Assessment to Action Planning Course
Our theory of change is rooted in partnership and requires working with our partners to improve their organizational capacities. We learn about WHAT capacities need improvement through the process of organizational capacity assessment. Assessment to Action Planning, is the second of the level 2 courses available through the Institute for Capacity Strengthening. In this highly interactive course, you will learn about CRS assessment tools, how to conduct participatory capacity assessments, and methods for uncovering the root causes of organizational weakness. The course also describes how to use the results of the capacity assessment to develop an action plan which will inform the subsequent process of accompanying partners as they work to strengthen their organizational capacity.
The course is currently available in English and Spanish.
Looking for previous editions of the PCS Newsletter? You can find our newsletter archive on the ICS website.
www.crs.org
Partnership & Capacity Strengthening Unit.
