Capacity Building for
Whole-Child Development

Inclusive leadership practices must be paired with a strong, shared commitment to building the capacity of all staff for whole-child development. Overall, capacity-building efforts enable staff to live out a whole-child purpose through consistent, predictable learning and feedback opportunities, as opposed to singular, one-off learning moments. Drawing from the understanding that learning is integrated, supporting staff growth is most effective when it is inclusive of staff’s experiences and acknowledges the importance of context in skill, knowledge and mindset building.

Capacity-building work goes beyond the implementation of prescriptive programs and the adoption of a set of best practices, and includes the ongoing commitment of resources, time and space that supports continuous learning and improvement over time. These opportunities include distributive and collaborative learning and support where adults are actively engaged in capacity-building efforts for self and others, as opposed to passively receiving information in one-directional professional development sessions or reactively receiving accountability feedback as part of a formal evaluation process. Capacity-building efforts also call on everyone to model, advocate and consistently prioritize whole-child development, especially when the pressures exist to do otherwise.