Susan Sullivan shares from her heart.
“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”
— Margaret Mead
As my time with Eastside Pathways ends, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you:
To those organizations that joined the partnership early, it took a leap of faith to believe in this new nonprofit that wanted to mobilize the community to work together differently using a new approach called collective impact. Thank you for sharing your hopes and challenges so that we could create a shared vision for our community.
To the individuals in the Bellevue School District Equity Department, who had the foresight and vision to recognize that they couldn’t change the structural racism only working from inside the school system; they needed to have the community onboard too. They brought Eastside Pathways under their wing and together we are working to identify and dismantle systemic racial inequities that limit opportunities and hold some children back.
To the organizations in the Partnership and their ability to come together and lean on each other’s strengths to create a stronger safety net to support Bellevue kids and families. And, to the organizations that commit, allocate, and align resources to the collective work by providing in-kind services, staff facilitators and leads for the collaborative workgroups, and think outside-the-box in using their resources to improve community-level outcomes. Your collaboration demonstrates the true impact of being partners in building community. Recent examples of this include the acquisition of Highland Village Apartments to create affordable housing and hosting the Immigration Forum at Stevenson Elementary to address post-election deportation concerns.
To the organizations and community members who continue to show up even when the work gets messy and the direction is not clear. Being vulnerable to admit that we don’t, individually, have the answers to the challenges we face but together we can find them. Continuous improvement is one of the tenets of collective impact – we use data and share learnings to improve programs and systems to better support every child in Bellevue.
To the boards of partner organizations that recognize the impact of organizations working collectively, prioritize that work for their executive directors, and hold themselves accountable for the shared goals. Your ongoing vision and dedication is what is and will continue to transform our community into a place where all can thrive.
To the Eastside Pathways board and staff who are steadfast in their commitment to collective impact and this community. Thank you for your trust and friendship.
I have had the privilege of working with smart, generous, and compassionate people. Together we have brainstormed and dreamed of what is possible for our community; how we define success for our children and how we support them and their families in achieving it. You have thrown yourselves into this work and it has made a difference.
I have great confidence in the leadership of Eastside Pathways and the organizations in the Partnership. While I am stepping away from my formal role at Eastside Pathways, I am still and always a partner and advocate for building a community with opportunity for all kids and families. Thank you for the chance to do this work together.
With gratitude,
Susan Sullivan