The Real Work of Progress: What Memphis Teaches the World

What Happens When We Stop Talking and Start Acting?

Every year, the United Nations General Assembly fills New York with the sound of global declarations. World leaders gather to set goals, to make commitments, to say they care. But what happens when those words are just that—words? That's where Memphis steps in.

I've spent years working in cities like this one, watching how public problems don't disappear just because someone has a good idea or a catchy slogan. Real change comes from something more enduring: the slow, deliberate work of institutions learning to trust each other.

"The work in Memphis shows what progress looks like before it becomes a story."

This is exactly what I learned while visiting Memphis again and again over the years. It's not just about having the right plan or enough money—it's about building relationships, sharing data, and holding each other accountable for results.

From Kindergarten to Community Power

Memphis is a city that knows how to turn small wins into big shifts. When I first visited in 2018, there was a crisis looming over pre-K education. A federal grant was about to expire, and 1,000 seats were at risk of disappearing forever.

Seeding Success, a local nonprofit, stepped up. They worked with the city government, county leaders, funders, and providers to not only preserve those seats but expand access. Together, they raised nearly $90 million in public funding over six years.

This wasn't easy. There were disagreements, delays, setbacks. But there was also something more important: a shared understanding that kids matter—and so do the systems that support them.

The Backbone of Progress

We've all heard about “collective impact,” right? It's become a buzzword in policy circles and social innovation spaces. But what makes it real is the backbone organization—someone or something that holds the structure together when things get messy.

In Memphis, that backbone was Seeding Success. They weren't trying to be heroes—they were helping institutions figure out how to work better together. They managed data, coordinated activities, aligned funding, and made sure everyone stayed focused on the outcomes that really mattered: kindergarten readiness, early childhood development, and community investment.

And it worked. In less than a decade, kindergarten readiness among local pre-K students jumped from 34% to 62%. That's not just statistics—it's real-life progress for families who have seen their children thrive in school and beyond.

UN Goals Without Implementation Are Just Promises

This is the point where the world leaders at the UN General Assembly should be paying attention. They're good at setting goals—they're not so good at delivering them.

The Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious, but they're also vulnerable to the same challenges that affect every complex policy effort: coordination failures, lack of funding, and leadership changes that disrupt continuity.

As Garance Choko points out, only 36% of SDG targets with sufficient data are on track or making moderate progress. That's a sobering reality when you consider how much potential there is to improve lives through better education, health care, housing, and employment opportunities.

So what separates those successful initiatives from the ones that fade away? It's not political ideology or shared values—it's the willingness to collaborate across institutions, even when they don't always agree on everything else.

The Secret Ingredient: Persistence

There's no magic formula for collective impact. No single playbook that guarantees results. What matters most is persistence—holding fast to shared objectives long after the cameras leave and the headlines move on.

In Memphis, we saw this play out over more than a decade. The system didn't collapse when budgets ran low or leadership changed. Instead, it adapted, evolved, and kept moving forward because people believed in something bigger than themselves.

That belief was what made StriveTogether, the national network that supports place-based partnerships like Memphis, so effective. They reported that 71% of communities with sufficient data improved at least four outcomes against a 2022 baseline—from kindergarten readiness through employment. That's not just a number—it's proof that working together matters.

Why the U.N. Should Listen to Memphis

So what would the United Nations learn from the folks in Memphis? For starters, they need to invest more in the structures that make collaboration possible—not just in declarations or speeches but in actual funding and staffing.

The Resident Coordinator system within the U.N. has been a vital backbone since 2019. But as Garance Choko reminds us, those offices still need adequate and predictable financing to do their job properly.

At the end of the day, the U.N. talks about how important it is to act together, but it often forgets that the most meaningful partnerships happen at the local level—and they require constant effort and resources.

A 'We' That Actually Works

The work in Memphis teaches us something powerful: that change isn't about having the same vision or belief system. It's about showing up, keeping commitments, and working through differences when they arise.

Progress is messy. Institutions have competing priorities. People have different ideas of what justice looks like. But if we can build relationships that last beyond a single term, beyond a single election cycle, then we can create systems that truly serve everyone.

In Memphis, this “we” isn't driven by politics—it's driven by a commitment to children and families who deserve better than empty promises. And while the world may be full of grandiose speeches in New York, it's still possible to find hope in the quiet persistence of communities that refuse to give up.

That kind of “we” is what makes progress real—and it's something every city, every country, and every institution should aspire to.