May 2021Collective Impact Newsletter
Dear Creative Community,
Welcome to the 3rd edition of of the DC Collaborative's Collective Impact Newsletter! This newsletter will provide you with updates on the ongoing work for Any Given Child DC, including our committee work and opportunities for further engagement in collective impact.

Back-bone Update
Collective Impact is a framework for data-driven strategic planning. View the Collective Impact Resource Page on our website and one of the Collaborative's previous blog posts for more information.

DC Collaborative's Role in Collective Impact: "Back-bone Support"
Collective Impact is driven by our entire arts and humanities education community, providing leadership and the support infrastructure to enable our community to work together to achieve its collective goals. The Collaborative team is here to listen, guide, and help facilitate.

Upcoming Membership Meeting
The DC Collaborative will be holding a "State of" Arts and Humanities Education convening on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, 2:00-3:30pm. This meeting will be an opportunity to provide updates on AGC DC, plan future meetings, and serve as a forum for DCPS colleagues to share updates.
May 2021 Collective Impact Newsletter Contents:

  1. Steering Committee Update
  2. Data Visualization Update
  3. Equity/Justice Committee Update
  4. Assessment/Evaluation Committee Update
  5. AHFES Programming Committee Update
  6. Collective Impact Resource Feature: Impacts of Arts Education
AGC DC Steering Committee Update
The Steering Committee met on April 9 and May 14, 2021. The committee worked on updating our goals for the next school year and assessing the needs of our committee structure moving forward. The Steering Committee is also reviewing materials related to establishing a governance structure in Collective Impact, (recent blogpost here).

DC Collaborative Community Terms and Audiences
The Steering Committee is finalizing the glossary that speaks to defining the DC Collaborative's audience and outlining our common language as an arts and humanities education field. The document will serve as a foundation for the committee's communications and data initiatives. The document has gone through the Equity and Justice Committee. Now the glossary is aligning vocabulary regarding data, assessment and evaluation in conjunction with our next data visualization collection launch. The glossary will then be shared with the DC Collaborative Board of Directors as a next step. For questions please reach out to [email protected].
Next Meeting Date: June 11, 2021 at 9:30 AM
AGC DC Equity & Justice
Subcommittee Update
The Equity/Justice Committee, facilitated by co-chairs Jeanette McCune (view bio) of the Kennedy Center and Michelle Hoffmann (view bio) of Washington Performing Arts, is continuing to turn their passion into action and activism. To date, the committee has worked on the following initiatives:

  • Shared Vocabulary and Resources: A glossary of terms has been created to better inform their work and how it impacts the community. It can be found here with specific references/resources for those interested in taking a deeper dive into Justice, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access work.
  • Recruitment: The recruitment of new members is an ongoing process as we seek to build a chorus of authentic and passionate advocates of equitable and anti-racist arts and humanities education within the DC Community at large. Those with tires to neighborhood councils, DCPS and DCPCS systems, local arts organizations, youth development programming, local government and/or community initiatives are encouraged to join. Please contact Ashlee McKinnon ([email protected]), the Collaborative's point of contact, or fill out the interest form.
Next Meeting Date: June 15, 2021 at 3:00 PM
AGC DC Assessment & Evaluation
Subcommittee Update
The Assessment/Evaluation Committee is currently drafting questions to include in the 2020-2021 Collective Impact Survey. Anyone in the Collective Impact community is welcome to edit, provide suggestions/comments, questions, etc. Please provide any comments or feedback by June 1, 2021.

The committee also held their first meeting on April 14, 2021. The members discussed modes of data collection/sharing, long- and short-term goals, and began the brainstorming process for the Collective Impact survey.
Next Meeting Date: TBD
Data Visualization Update
Based on our SY17-18 data dashboard groups feedback, we are tailoring our SY19-20 data dashboards towards a more purposeful framework for our community stakeholders. The focus will be geared towards:
  1. Simplifying dashboards for DCPS usage
  2. Clearly mapping the collaborative work and collective impact with our members
  3. Curating data intended for strategic planning for AGC DC
  4. Demonstrating DC Collaborative's value for potential funders and grant-makers
  5. Creating the Co-Lab: a portal for data sharing

Questions? Contact Wendy Wang Pisa, Manager of Community Partnerships: [email protected]
AHFES Programming Subcommittee Update
The Programming Committee would like to share the following dates and registration links for upcoming Connecting to Curriculum Workshops. Please register if you are interested.

Connecting to Curriculum Dates:

For additional questions or concerns, please contact Trés McMichael, Education Programs Manager at [email protected].
Collective Impact Resource Feature
This month, we are highlighting the article "The Arts Advantage: Impacts of Arts Education on Boston Students" from EdVestors. The article highlights a study conducted in Boston Public Schools over the course of 11 years. The researchers sought to use data in order to see how access to arts learning opportunities impacted both academic and social-emotional outcomes.

A summary of the study is provided on the DC Collaborative's Tumblr page.

“The study took place over 11 school years (2008-2019), and included over 600,000 K-12 students in the Boston Public School system. The researchers used the school-level data ‘to examine the effects of variations in students’ arts resources and learning opportunities’ (2). Rather than comparing students who engaged in arts courses with students who did not, students were compared to themselves: ‘the main analytical strategy employed...is estimating changes within, rather than across...relative to their own changes in arts education participation’ (2).”
Ways to Give
Donate to the DC Collaborative online or remit payment by check to:

DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative

The DC Collaborative is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All gifts are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

  • Are you a government employee? Give through the  CFC Catalogue of Caring. We're CFC#66894
  • Does your company have a matching gift program? Would you like to make a gift of stock or a planned gift? Let us know
The DC Collaborative is a recipient of an FY21 General Operating Support Service Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
The DC Collaborative is proud to receive a grant for its Collective Impact work supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The DC Collaborative is the backbone support organization that leads members of the Any Given Child DC program, an initiative of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.