SPIRE CoLab

January 2016 – March 2019

SPIRE CoLab

The Purpose

The SPIRE CoLab was a partnership between philanthropy and journalism to inspire communities to take action through solutions journalism, focusing on responses to social issues. It reflected the brave new world of journalism, where it no longer takes a printing press for a story to have a widespread and immediate impact. The content of SPIRE CoLab focused on the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a movement to ensure all children read on grade level by the end of third grade. SPIRE CoLab evolved into The Patterson Foundation’s Aspirations Journalism initiative.

Strengthening the Impact

The Patterson Foundation and the Herald-Tribune Media Group collaborated to innovate and experiment in media, philanthropy, and community engagement. The Herald-Tribune Media Group's newsroom managed the day-to-day operations of SPIRE CoLab. It operated as an independent news initiative aimed at providing media organizations with content and engagement tools that could benefit their respective communities. This collaboration between philanthropy and journalism evolved into The Patterson Foundation's Aspirations Journalism initiative, which expanded upon the learnings and success of SPIRE CoLab. The intention of Aspirations Journalism was to inform, educate, and galvanize the community to build movements around sustainable community networks through the lenses of Age-Friendly Sarasota, the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, the Suncoast Nursing Action Coalition, and The Patterson Foundation's work with the National Council on Aging, along with other timely social topics.

FAQ's

Click on frequently asked questions below to learn more about this initiative...

Why did The Patterson Foundation support this initiative?

The Patterson Foundation believes in strengthening the efforts of people, organizations, and communities. The SPIRE CoLab inspired people and organizations to take action on grade-level reading in a way that creates a more successful future for all communities.

Where does the acronym SPIRE come from?

SPIRE stands for Syndicate, Partner, Innovate, Resolve, Engage:

Syndicate reflects the capability of the partnership to collect and distribute pertinent information through media.
Partner reflects the unique partnerships involved in the SPIRE CoLab: the Herald-Tribune Media Group and The Patterson Foundation; the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and its participants; and the readers and their stories.
Innovate reflects the emergence of a new way of sharing information among stakeholders and concerned parties.
Resolve is required to advance a cause.
Engage represents the active participation and resulting actions of all people involved.

What issues did the SPIRE CoLab look at?

The SPIRE CoLab focused on the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which The Patterson Foundation supports as a national enterprise funder. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a national collaborative effort based on an important predictor of school success and high school graduation: reading at grade level by the end of third grade to create a more promising future for children. SPIRE CoLab’s coverage focused on the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties in Florida.

How did the SPIRE CoLab evolve?

Following the learnings and success of the SPIRE CoLab initiative, The Patterson Foundation and the Herald-Tribune Media Group created Aspirations Journalism to continue grade-level reading coverage while extending coverage to additional community networks through the lenses of The Patterson Foundation’s initiatives: Age-Friendly Sarasota, the Suncoast Nursing Action Coalition, and its work with the National Council on Aging, along with other timely social topics.