Collective Impact Framework

Few organizations embody the spirit of collective impact like Fostering Success Michigan. Their leadership in driving systems change for students with experience in foster care has elevated the conversation statewide and inspired action across sectors. Their model is not only effective — it’s essential.

Collective Impact Framework

Fostering Success Michigan (FSM) began in 2012 at Western Michigan University with a simple but powerful idea: students with experience in foster care could succeed in college—if systems worked together to support them. Early campus leaders, child welfare professionals, and community partners came together to identify what was missing and imagine what was possible.

collage of students of all ages to a picture of the backs of graduates.

Fostering Success Michigan (FSM) employs a Collective Impact Framework to address systemic barriers limiting postsecondary access, persistence, and workforce attainment for students with experience in foster care. By aligning cross-sector partners around shared policy priorities, coordinated implementation, and data-informed decision-making, FSM advances scalable, sustainable solutions that strengthen Michigan’s education-to-career pipeline.

FSM’s approach is grounded in five evidence-based conditions for large-scale systems change: backbone infrastructure, a common policy agenda, mutually reinforcing strategies, shared measurement and accountability, and continuous cross-sector communication.

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