Lessons from Business Champions

As a part of our strategic planning, Business Champions, Inc. is currently identifying and examining exemplary cases in which business leaders have played a significant role to support change so community colleges produce improved outcomes with low-income and underserved populations. Our findings suggest that while business leadership and investments can contribute to the change agenda from a variety of perspectives (i.e., providing increased investments in workers, advising on programs, offering internships, funding scholarships), the role of business leaders to provide "outside-in" support for institutional change is among the most powerful.

Emerging findings about Business Champions as partners in institutional change indicate:

• The functions of business leaders who work from the "outside-in" to use their influence and overcome resistance to change focus in four high-impact areas: (1) Supporting college leaders who work on the agenda, even when they ruffle feathers; (2) Supporting policy reforms at a variety of levels in key areas, such as accountability, regulation and financing; (3) Influencing strategic planning of colleges, workforce boards, technical schools and other public agencies so that increased workforce competitiveness and increased opportunity become top priorities; (4) Engaging other key external leadership groups/building coalitions.

• The number of business leaders who work as key change leaders doesn't need to be large. Groups of 8-12 highly influential, committed, supported, and informed leaders can make a significant difference at the regional and state levels.

• The organizational base for business leadership in this process varies. Leaders may be associated with a stand-alone organization, an employer association, a college board of trustees, a philanthropic organization, a think-tank, or a community coalition.

Informed by these findings and our work over the past ten years, Business Champions, Inc. is pilot-testing a process to build effective business stakeholder engagement in support of sustainable change. This process, currently in its fourth cycle of testing, includes how to: (1) Engage business leaders in problem-solving to increase higher education attainment; (2) Use the business voice to support bold college leaders and build policymaker support for the agenda; and (3) Use business leaders in coalition development.

As a part of our development, we are examining:

• What methods work to find and recruit business leaders who will make a difference?

• What methods work to educate Business Champions about policy issues? How can the extensive body of research and data related to access and success be utilized to inform Business Champions and, in turn, strengthen leadership and promote change?

• What kinds of organizations can support Champions? What kind of staff support do Business Champions need? What level of technical assistance? Given that this change is a long-term endeavor, how do we keep Champions at the table? How do we assess performance and results of Business Champions?