Pathways to Success Use and Benefits of Partnership
In this pre-recorded webinar, for the TAFE Respect and Equality Network and commissioned by Melbourne Polytechnic, Kit McMahon, CEO of Women's Health in the South East (WHISE), discusses the importance and benefits of partnerships in preventing violence against women. She explains that partnerships are vital pieces of infrastructure for primary prevention work, as they allow organizations to share resources, skills, and energy towards a common goal.
Key points:
Partnerships enable collective action, encompass whole population responses, diversify people involved, build capability, promote self-advocacy, leverage resources, and provide a network of support.
Partnerships evolve through stages: networking, coordinating, cooperating, and collaborating. At the collaborating stage, partnerships develop the capacity of all members, have a clear purpose, and give up individual turf for the greater good. When selecting partners, it's essential to consider the skills, expertise, and resources each partner brings to the table. Not everyone needs a seat, but relevant stakeholders should be included.
Measuring partnership success can involve various indicators, such as members' understanding of the partnership's purpose, the diversity of expertise, collaborative outcomes, minimized barriers, and the partnership's sustainability and continuous improvement. WHISE and other women's health services in Victoria use an impact framework to measure how their partnerships deliver outcomes in preventing gender-based violence and promoting gender equality.
The webinar emphasises the importance of investing time and energy into building relationships, being transparent, and learning from each other to develop robust partnerships in primary prevention work.
The prerecorded webinar can be accessed via You Tube here - https://youtu.be/lcJSIiFg9e8 - and runs for around 56 minutes
