Convening of Professional Networks for Knowledge-Sharing and Collaboration in 2016

Learning from its earlier convening efforts, the foundation will increase the volume, scope and diversity of convening activities, and encourage members to become more involved and committed

Learning from its earlier convening efforts, the foundation will increase the volume, scope and diversity of convening activities, and encourage members to become more involved and committedEddie and Jules Trump Family Foundation

Affinity Groups

Grant amount

NIS 224,000

Grant term

One year

In 2015, the Trump Foundation embarked on a pilot year of serving as a convener. We took on this role as a proactive step to increase coherence, collaboration and effectiveness between programs and to encourage sustainability of the foundation’s strategy among its partners. We did so in response to the request and expectation expressed by grantees in the GPR of 2014 to facilitate mutual learning and cooperation between different foundation programs.

We designed our convening activities to address different needs and forms, including cluster networks for programs of a similar nature; exchange fairs to facilitate interaction between developers and operators; and practitioner affinity groups to cultivate mutual learning among professionals from different programs. We initially planned 22 convening events over the course of the year for 280 participants. In reality, we executed 21 meetings and events for 409 participants. They included 14 cluster meetings, 4 exchange events and 3 affinity group workshops, of which 15 were performed in the new office and 6 in an outside facility. One of the affinity workshops included a residential stay, to enable deeper learning.

Cluster networks were launched for programs of teacher residency training; professional communities of practice; diagnostic assignments; and municipalities and school networks, all of which met 3-4 times each. Several cluster networks went on to organize their own activities, such as an international conference and study visits abroad. Additional grants were approved to support these activities.

An external and internal evaluation of the activity, which comprised interviews with participants and staff members, revealed the following:

The overall response from participants is highly positive, and the role of a convener is one that our partners encourage us to maintain. They expect the foundation to deepen the content and learning in these meetings, including more significant mutual learning through observations and sharing case studies. They also expect the foundation to advocate for their interests with the Ministry of Education.
The participants note that the foundation staff is very active in preparing and running the meetings and events. However, those who engaged in more significant activity – such as a study visit, overnight seminars, or organizing a shared conference – developed a greater sense of ownership and felt more connected, obligated and satisfied by the convening experience.
The organizational decision to place the convening activity under our program team, who have close working relationships with the professionals in grantee organizations, benefited the convening activity. Nevertheless, this meant that the convening placed an emphasis on the programs, and less on the grantee organizations, their leadership and the larger surrounding eco-system.
Five foundation team members dedicated approximately 20% of their time to operating the convening activities over the year. Their expertise lies in grant making and they did not undergo specific training on how to effectively convene partners. They had to learn the craft on the job from successes and challenges as they progressed throughout the pilot year.
The foundation’s role as convener included preparing a detailed operational plan, aligning milestones with budget, monitoring progress and performance, and coordinating the work between different team members. In practice, this was more difficult than expected and will require active steps to improve next year.

Learning from these lessons, we propose the following goals for the foundation’s convening activity in 2016:
• to increase the volume and scope of convening activities, and create more opportunities for peer-led learning, observations, and case studies in the field;
• to encourage members to exercise ownership and responsibility for the network, and become more involved and committed;
• to diversify the affinity groups so that they include different professionals in grantee organizations and their leadership;
• to improve effectiveness of internal operations, including performance and financial monitoring, team communications and mastering the craft of convening.

In total, over the course of the year the foundation will convene 765 participants in 28 events, meetings and seminars of 5 cluster networks, 10 affinity groups and an exchange fair . Preparation for and by participants for the workshops and seminars will include translation of relevant academic literature, adding subtitles to classroom videos, and preparing literature reviews.

A detailed work plan will be prepared, including internal division of labor and responsibilities across the foundation team. Progress and performance will be monitored throughout and feedback will be collected from participants at a range of convening events. During the year, a team member will learn more about the craft of convening from literature and from colleagues in philanthropy, in order to train the rest of the team.

* The text above shows the grant as approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors / Grant 206

Vision & Mission

Advisory Council

Sustainable Infrastructure