How do you place shared ownership and learning at the core of your partnership framework? Dance4Life’s Board of Franchisees (BoF) has been a crucial vehicle for this since its establishment in late 2017. This year, a new Board of Franchisees has formed and they had their first face-to-face meeting in February in Amsterdam.
During this meeting, time was spent on getting to know each other and creating a team spirit. The members of the Board of Franchisees explored their different interests and expertise to come up with a clear role division that brings out the best in everyone. In addition to the BoF’s ongoing role as advisory body to Dance4Life, each member will also support in the design of online and offline learning interactions within the franchisee network.
Composition of the Board
Corazon Ayoma, Program Coordinator at Family Health Options Kenya, is a great organizer as well and concerned with the visibility of franchisees and the Board within the network.
Kaajal Pradhan is the chair of the Board of Franchisees. She’s the Head of Restless Development Nepal and has been part of the Board since its initiation in 2017. Kaajal is a natural presenter and loves to co-design new initiatives and activities.
Amala Rahmah, Country Representative of Rutgers Indonesia, complements the group with her excellent research, monitoring and evaluation skills and her analytical mind.
Ai Min, Program Officer of China Family Planning Association, is the go-getter of the group, with her enthusiasm and planning skills she will make sure the Board stays on track!
Together they came up with four core values to guide their work in 2019: integrity, visibility, transformative, and inclusiveness!
Main focus in 2019
One of the questions central to the first meeting of the BoF was: “How can we ensure ongoing learning within the franchisee network as well as track the impact and effectiveness of this learning?” It was decided to expand the number of learning interactions by organizing webinars, updating and improving our online learning environment called ‘MyDance4Life’, and facilitating more communication through newsletters. Existing learning activities such as the peer visits and the annual Dance4Life Experience in Amsterdam will be continued in 2019 as well. A monitoring framework will be designed and tested to track how effective and useful these learning interactions are for franchisees.
Ripple effect for impact
Additionally, the Board is concerned with strengthening the feedback mechanisms franchisees can use to share their input and which feeds into the advice they share with Dance4Life on a continuous basis. The BoF is determined to achieve a ripple effect that accelerates impact for young people around the world!
