Each year the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation hosts a Statewide Afterschool Networks meeting. Coordinated and organized by the Collaborative Communications Group, these convenings serve to bring afterschool practitioners together to share and learn from one another.


2006 National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks Convening
January 30-February 2, 2006
Emory Conference Center, Atlanta, Georgia

Teams from each of the Statewide Afterschool Networks are invited to join together to share ideas, resources, and strategies for achieving the collective goals of the networks. The 2006 meeting will again foster cross-network learning with a range of opportunities for small group discussions on targeted topics.

Each network should plan to bring at least four and no more than seven team members representing the key decision-makers in the state.

Meeting times will be confirmed. For planning purposes, the meeting will likely start at 9:00 am on January 31, with a social/networking event the evening of January 30th; and will likely conclude with a formal dinner and keynote speaker on February 1. Our current thinking is to make arrangements for optional team time from 8am – 11:30am on February 2. More details to come.

Inspired by the architectural design of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Emory Conference Center Hotel is conveniently located at the Emory University Campus only 15 miles from Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, and eight miles from downtown Atlanta. The conference center includes two lodging options: the group rate at the Emory Conference Center Hotel is $145/night and the group rate at the Emory Inn is $115/night. The rate will be available for three days before and after the meeting for participants wishing to add additional nights. Reservations may be made by calling 800-933-6679. Reference: Statewide Afterschool Networks or SAN. All networks are responsible for their own travel and lodging costs. There is no registration fee for the meeting.


2005 After School Evaluation Symposium
The Harvard Family Research Project After School Evaluation Symposium, sponsored by the C.S. Mott Foundation, will bring together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for an evaluation conversation focused on:

building evaluation capacity through the development of an evaluation framework

providing practical guidance on how researchers and evaluators can work with programs to improve practice

developing a “road map” for future research and evaluation, taking into consideration past and current efforts

2005 Statewide Afterschool Networks Coordinators Meeting
The 2005 Meeting of the Statewide Afterschool Network Coordinators took place September 20-21 in Washington, DC. This convening was an opportunity for those involved in the day-to-day activities of the networks to gather and consider strategies and ideas to effectively manage and develop sustainable networks.



2005 National Network Statewide Afterschool Networks Meeting
The 2005 Statewide Afterschool Networks Meeting was held February 1-3 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico. The meeting, centered around the three Statewide Afterschool Networks’ goals, featured inspirational plenaries, informative breakout sessions, valuable team time and ATAC consultations, experiential site-visits, and interactive hot topic discussions. Sandra McBrayer from The Children’s Initiative, Deborah Vandell from University of Wisconsin, Rhonda Lauer from The Foundations Inc., Iris Lav from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Donna Klein from Corporate Voices for Working Families were among the plenary speakers. The meeting was a great opportunity for all three cohorts to learn from each other and together through resources and research presented during the sessions. Main objectives were:

to brainstorm ideas on ways to connect afterschool policy to children and families

to explore the Framework for After-School Programs

to gain tips on business partnership development

to share legislative-afterschool practices and ways to move the policy agenda forward

to learn from each other’s Policies and Practices

2004 Meeting of the Statewide Afterschool Networks Coordinators
Learning Through Change: A Meeting of the Statewide Afterschool Networks served to:

to provide knowledge and opportunity for reflection on the needed leadership skills of statewide network coordinators

to explore the inevitable changes that networks will face and how to turn challenges into opportunities

to delve into the statewide afterschool network goals and understand the role of the coordinator in helping the network achieve those goals

to consider the nuts and bolts of what is needed to build and sustain a statewide network

to develop the learning community of the national network of statewide afterschool networks

2004 Statewide Afterschool Networks Meeting

Teams from the statewide afterschool networks funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation came together February 10-12, 2004, for the second annual meeting of the National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks. Gathering in Durham, North Carolina, the national network considered the critical issues of structuring network governance, ensuring quality of afterschool programs, identifying funding for afterschool programs, and network activities and developing new partners and stakeholders in the network vision.


2003 Meeting of the Statewide Afterschool Networks Coordinators
The national network of statewide afterschool networks coordinators came together September 23-24, 2003, in St. Louis, Missouri, for an interactive learning session that allowed for an exchange of ideas and expertise. The goal of the meeting was to build a learning community where expertise is shared among the networks. Conference attendees were able to reinforce the nuts and bolts of what is needed to build and sustain a statewide network. Topics addressed were:

engaging statewide leadership and coalition building

funding the network

standards for a quality afterschool program and other afterschool opportunities

2003 Statewide Afterschool Networks Meeting
The first large network meeting on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, held on February 11-13, 2003. This convening brought together diverse teams from each of the first nine states to build a foundation for a national network and explore how to create structures that effectively address quality, sustainability, access, and equity in afterschool programs.