What does Seeding Success do?

Our work aligns strategy, policy, and funding to ensure every family has the resources they need to succeed. We seek to transform the unjust systems that currently exist in our community by bringing together leaders and organizations from all sectors to analyze the data, identify opportunities, and work toward a common goal.

When was Seeding Success founded and why?

Seeding Success launched in January of 2013 as part of a strategic plan during the merger of Shelby County Schools and Memphis City Schools. A community engagement committee made a formal recommendation to create an organization that would help bring community and education systems together for a collective impact approach, ensuring that K-12 students and families would have the resources and support they need in the newly merged school system. We launched as part of a cohort of cities supported by StriveTogether and United Way Worldwide. Until 2015, Seeding Success was anchored at the United Way of the Mid-South.

In 2015, we joined the PeopleFirst Partnership, a collaborative effort dedicated to improving education outcomes and growing talent in Memphis and Shelby County. In July of 2017, the partnership voted to merge the entities involved and move forward as Seeding Success, an independent organization focused on strengthening education to ensure student success from cradle to career.

What is public policy?

Public policy is the language of the government—the system of laws, regulatory measures, and principles on which social laws are based. Public policy informs how systems like education, health, labor, housing, and more are regulated and impact our everyday well-being.

What is a public policy agenda and how does S2 develop it?

A public policy agenda is a slate of social issues and proposed solutions that is presented to policymakers for consideration. The Seeding Success Public Policy department collaborates with a diverse policy committee and partners in adjacent sectors on a range of educational issues to create an annual agenda that drives our advocacy efforts both locally and at the state level.

Our policy agenda development process includes the following phases:

• Research and Analysis: Investigate key issues through review/evaluation of current contexts, review of literature, and dialogue with Public Policy Committee members

• Feedback Collection: Use feedback from our partners and the communities they serve

• Approval: Present policy proposals to Public Policy Committee and S2 board for approval

• Advocacy: Pursue passage of policy proposals in relevant local and state administrative and/or legislative bodies.

What is social and economic mobility?

Social and economic mobility is the ability of an individual, family or group to improve their income, well-being, proximity to resources and power, and access to opportunity over their lifetime.

S2 uses public policy to address barriers to economic opportunity and create positive social changes that empower families to move out of poverty and achieve better life outcomes.

What is DEI and how is S2 committed to it?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a term used to describe policies and programs that promote the representation and participation of different groups of individuals, including people of different ages, races and ethnicities, disability statuses, genders, religions, cultures, and sexual orientations. This also covers people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, skills, and expertise.

In July of 2019, S2 began to formally engage in internal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work. We have valued DEI principles since our inception, but before 2019, we had never had the benefit of outside expertise. When unrestricted funds became available to us, we chose to invest in building this competency.

We recognized that we must be intentional about putting the work of racial justice front and center in all that we do. If we're going to do that authentically, we have to unpack what roles we might be playing in perpetuating inequity. We needed to start internally with ourselves and our team.

S2 contracted with Dr. Maya Bugg and LaMikia Castillo of The Bugg Consulting Group, LLC (BCG) to guide us toward stronger integration of DEI in all aspects of our work.

PHASE 1: July 2019 - October 2019

In phase one of this effort, BCG conducted an assessment across all team and board members, focus groups and interviews based on key areas identified from the assessments, and an independent internal audit of hiring practices, salaries, and employee recruitment and retention.

Themes and key takeaways were:

• S2’s culture facilitated inequity of voice, both internally and externally. In fact, equity in general was a challenge for the organization.

  There was a contingency of S2 team members that did not believe that racism, classism, and/or ableism is real. Depending on the seats in which they sit, this is a threat to the overall mission of the organization.

  Some of the team struggled with understanding their own biases as well as what it means to “not see color”. The S2 team needed some explicit development regarding the concepts of racism, privilege, equity, and white fragility.

  There was a chasm between the perceived state of the organization and the experiences of many of the team. Specifically, many white team members did not believe there was an equity issue, while the experiences of Black and junior-level employees told a different story.

PHASE 2: November 2019 - January 2020

The information gathered in Phase 1 was used to guide the S2 team through a day-long visioning and strategic planning session that resulted in the development of our DEI vision, goals, and overall strategic plan. From this session, four key areas were identified to advance the work:

1. Common Metrics & Language

2. Talent & People Management

3. Capability Building

4. Policies & Practices

Phase 3: January 2020 - Present

S2 formed internal working groups to implement the four key areas. Key successes and deliverables from the workgroups so far include:

• Revised employee policy handbook

• Finalized language for DEI vision, goals, and values

• Key equity considerations for hiring and projects/initiatives

• Revised hiring practices

S2 began a series of staff-wide DEI training with the help of partners:

• Facing History And Ourselves (Foundational Training)

  • Implicit/Unconscious Bias

  • Anti-Racism & Anti-Blackness

  • White Fragility & Privilege/Navigating Micro-Aggressions

• Diverse Learners Cooperative (Ableism Training)

• BRIDGES (Youth-Adult Equity Training)

• OutMemphis (LGBTQIA 101 Training)

• NACA Inspired Schools (Indigenous Populations and Cultural Appropriation)

This work is far from over, but we have each committed to having the vulnerability to self-examine, hear when we've missed the mark, admit that aloud, and correct the course. We are determined to emerge as better listeners and partners in pursuit of a shared vision of equitable, systemic change in Shelby County.

You can read our DEI Strategic Vision Statement here.

How does S2 use data to support Partners?

S2 maintains a data sharing agreement with Memphis-Shelby County Schools to help community partners track the progress of the students they serve. We offer a range of training to help partners understand rules for the ethical use of student data and how to interpret data to inform decisions. We also coach partners one-to-one on how to use data to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and interventions to improve student outcomes. Learn about training opportunities here.

How can my organization become a data partner?

To access aggregated data or summarized data for students they serve, partners should fill out a data request form and sign a data confidentiality agreement.

To access student-level data, partner organizations must sign a Seeding Success partnership and data sharing agreement, and an MSCS FERPA agreement. Email Taylor DeMagistris, taylordm@seeding-success.org, to begin the process.

Refer to our Data FAQ for additional information.

What is S2’s role in the More For Memphis PARTNERSHIP?

Seeding Success is the recipient of the Blue Meridian Partners Place Matters grant through which More For Memphis (MFM) was founded. From the beginning, Seeding Success pledged to make the opportunity a public-private collaboration informed by the community and centering those most impacted by systemic inequity in Shelby County.

Community members, nonprofit orgs, and various institutions have worked together to shape More For Memphis, co-defining the mission, vision, goals, and structure. Now that MFM has completed the preplanning and design phases, Seeding Success serves as a project manager to ensure the alignment of all MFM work groups and fulfill the deliverables outlined in the grant award. Learn more and get involved at moreformemphis.org.