In March, Michael Looft, the Backbone Team’s Director of Technology, set out on a road trip to visit fellow place-based partnerships across the country. Along the way, he explored how communities are tackling similar challenges—like data sharing, equity in education, and systems change. His reflections remind us how staying connected to the national StriveTogether network helps our backbone team bring fresh insight, tested strategies, and renewed purpose back to our work here in Marin.
Last month, I decided to add purpose to a personal road trip by visiting a few fellow place-based partnerships along the way. Using StriveTogether’s map of community partners as my guide, I mapped out a route that took me through four states in America’s heartland. As the Backbone Team’s Director of Technology, I saw it as a chance to learn how other communities are using data and tech to drive equity in real, tangible ways.
Spending time with people doing similar work in different contexts—many navigating complex political and cultural landscapes—was both grounding and inspiring. It reminded me just how critical collective impact work is right now, especially as children and families across the country face mounting challenges. It made me think about the unique landscape we’re navigating here in Marin, and the power of learning from others on similar paths.
Poughkeepsie, New York
My first stop was the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet (PCC), located in the scenic Hudson Valley. Formed in February 2020, PCC is building a cradle-to-career agenda for the city’s 4,000+ students and their families.
Meeting with the PCC team, I was struck by their energy and commitment to a bold new ten-year strategic plan. They share office space with MASS Design Group—the international architectural nonprofit behind the city’s new Family Partnership Center—which reflects how deeply their work is embedded in broader community development efforts.
Despite differences between PCC and Marin Promise Partnership—such as team size and setting—I recognized familiar challenges: how to leverage technology for seamless data sharing, and how to design dashboards that offer clarity without overwhelm. Our conversations helped me re-examine how we use our own tools and surfaced new ideas to explore.
Chattanooga, Tennessee
After a week visiting family in Virginia, I made my way to Chattanooga 2.0. I was especially inspired by their early grade storybooks that reflect the culture and language of Chattanooga’s local Mayan communities—resources that could be equally valuable in supporting similar populations in Marin.
Their Great Teachers Great Leaders action team focuses on recruiting and retaining high-quality, diverse educators—closely aligned with our own Educator Diversity Initiative. It was a powerful reminder that having a teacher who shares a student’s background can improve test scores, reduce disciplinary actions, and increase graduation rates—no matter where you are in the country.
Berea, Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio
In Berea, I met with the Appalachian C2C Partnership, part of Partners for Rural Impact. Their work to support rural communities across Kentucky—and their ongoing efforts to develop shared data systems—resonated with our own challenges around creating a countywide student referral system.
In Dayton, I connected with Learn to Earn Dayton. I was especially moved by the reach of their Civic Leadership Program, which equips participants with tools for civic engagement, coalition-building, and systemic change across the state. It reinforced how much we all benefit when information and insights flow across place-based communities tackling similar barriers to opportunity.
Cincinnati, Ohio
After eight years with Marin Promise Partnership, this was my first visit to Cincinnati—home base for StriveTogether. I arrived full of anticipation, knowing I was finally in the place where this work began.
Spending time with fellow data folks in Cincinnati—talking shop about the technical hurdles and real-world challenges our nearly 70 StriveTogether communities are navigating—brought me even closer to this work in ways I didn’t expect. Somewhere over the course of those two days, it clicked: this trip wasn’t just about connecting dots on a map. It was about remembering what makes this work powerful in the first place.
Place-based partnerships do more than align systems. They connect people—people who are walking similar paths, facing shared challenges, and co-creating bold solutions in real time.
This journey reminded me of a deeper truth: our mission isn’t just about systems change. It’s about ensuring those systems work for everyone—so that every person, in every neighborhood, has the freedom and opportunity to pursue their own unique path. And when we bring national insight back to our local work in Marin, we help build systems that truly reflect the needs of the communities we serve.
And the more we collaborate to make those systems equitable, the stronger our communities will be.
