About

The purpose of Alignment Nashville (AN) is to create a system to bring community organizations and resources into alignment so their aligned support to Nashville’s youth has a positive impact on public school success and the success of our community as a whole.

The idea of aligning resources to increase the benefits to students and the public schools emerged from the work of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, who in conjunction with Vision Link, Inc. interviewed 80 community leaders to identify how the community could better support MNPS and student success. The concept for an Alignment Nashville resulted from those interviews and an Alignment Team (now the Board of Directors) then refined the idea.

AN was developed to ensure all the services children need are provided to them in an effective and efficient way that complements their education and the goals of the public schools. The outcome of all AN’s work is to enable children to be successful. To assure their success, this work must be comprehensive and multifaceted. While some successes will be measured by academic gains, AN understands and designs for the whole child. Those children who are most in need of support are the central focus of the work of AN. The work of AN is to align the community’s resources in support of the school district’s strategic plan. This work will be ongoing and generational.

Community-wide collaboration among schools, non-profits, businesses, and the public sector is necessary for sustained student improvement. Collaboration provides the following advantages:

  • Greater returns on investment—by working together toward common goals, resources are leveraged, duplication is avoided, and efficiency is greatly increased.

  • Higher quality services—utilizing expertise from multiple organizations guarantees a broader perspective and a wiser approach.

  • Enhanced capacity—very few organizations have the capacity to have community-wide impact. A collective effort enhances the impact of each of organization, while generating a much greater overall impact.

  • Leverage of local funding-AN programs have demonstrated they can attract large national funding if local funding has played a role in building the pilot programs.

    • AN has developed a unique model of collaboration that aligns the resources of these organizations to the MNPS strategic plan and Nashville’s Roadmap to Health, aligning all of the city’s resources toward the same goals.

    History

    Alignment Nashville (AN) started as the result of a study conducted by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. A consulting firm, Vision Link, was hired in 2002 to evaluate the need for and capacity of the city’s many organizations and institutions to work collaboratively to improve the education and lives of the city’s children and the future prospects of our community. Vision Link interviewed more than 80 Nashville leaders and convened a representative group several times in the course of this study.

    As a result, more than 100 people engaged in the organization and planning of AN. A board of directors composed of city leaders was created to provide oversight and an Operating Board, consisting of Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) administrators and community organization executives was formed to develop the direction and processes for the working committees. Over 2,000 volunteer hours by a wide variety of organizations have been devoted to the creation of six working committees based on school level. In the past year, thanks to the work of more than 100 health professionals and the 2006 Mayor’s Summit on Children and Youth, six health committees have also been formed and started working.

    MNPS has contributed administrative staff, principals and office space, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce has contributed office space and generous philanthropists have donated more than $700,000 for staffing and operations. More recently, The HCA Foundation and Amerigroup have also provided funding for the Children’s Health Initiatives.