From 29th September to 1st October 2015, Clear Impact and the Host Committee held the 2nd international RBA Summit in Sydney, Australia. More than 250 public sector leaders, elected officials, and nonprofit professionals attended this event to learn more about Results Based Accountability (a.k.a Outcomes Based Accountability) and how it is improving the lives of children, adults, families, and communities around the world.
Delegates learned from renowned RBA practitioners like Nigel Richardson (Director of Children’s Services Leeds, England), Diane Snelling (Vermont Senator), Sharon Shea (Owner, Shea Pita and Associates), and Mark Friedman (creator of RBA and Director, Fiscal Policy Studies Institute. Guests appeared particularly moved by Richardson’s Keynote, during which he shared the story of improving Leed’s Ofsted Ratings on Children’s Services through the use of OBA. Richardson and his government colleagues have dedicated themselves to making Leeds a “child friendly city” by 2020, specifically by integrating children fully into the improvement process, using restorative practice, reporting data frequently on “Weekly Obsessions” indicators, and of course – through Outcomes Based Accountability. Guests also heard a special keynote from Anna Bligh, CEO of YWCA NSW and former premier of Queensland. Bligh shared the story of implementing RBA in YWCA NSW through planning to actually embedding the framework.
While presentations showed incredible variety in content and style, themes that surfaced included evidence of RBA implementation success, RBA implementation tips, the usefulness of the Clear Impact Scorecard software as an RBA implementation tool, and evidence of turned curves on worldwide population indicators like health, children ready for school, youth homelessness, and countless others. One theme that consistently showed was the inspirational and energetic nature of the international RBA summits. Presenters were particularly adept at inserting humor and physical movement into their presentations and keeping audience members entertained and engaged throughout. There were even several instances in which dancing and singing were utilized to keep the momentum going.
To top off the summit, guests engaged in a visualization exercise with Clear Impact President Phil Lee, in which they chose an indicator or population measure and then planned out a road-map for turning the curve on that measure using the skills, knowledge, and practice gained from the previous three days. Guests appeared eager and prepared to begin the RBA journey within their own organizations.
Clear Impact would like to say thank you to our guests, speakers, organizers, host committee, and sponsors for making this year’s summit a success! We look forward to seeing you at next year’s event and learning all about your turned curves!
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