The Bush Approach

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The Bush Approach is an evaluation tool developed by the Bush Foundation to gauge program strategy. Their approach is based on the belief that systems are really made up of the people within them. Changing systems, therefore, requires inspiring, equipping, and connecting people to do the work.

The Bush Approach is based around four questions:

1. What is the goal?
2. Who is required for success?
3. What do those people need to be inspired, equipped and connected?
4. What ecosystem conditions are required for their success?

Join us and Bush Foundation President Jen Ford Reedy and Strategy and Learning Vice President, Allison Barmann, as they discuss the Bush Approach and share examples from their education initiative.

Jen has been President of the Bush Foundation since September 2012. Prior to joining the Foundation, Jen served as Chief of Staff and Vice President of Strategy for Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, where she led the creation of GiveMN.org, Give to the Max Day, and the Minnesota Idea Open. Jen was also a consultant with McKinsey and Company for nine years and directed the Itasca Project, a CEO-led regional civic initiative in the Twin Cities.

Allison joined the Bush Foundation in 2013 to lead the Strategy and Learning team. In this role, she helps the Foundation do good every year, ensuring they are continuously learning from and improving their program strategies and operations.

Previously, Allison was a strategy consultant with McKinsey and Company and directed the Itasca Project, an alliance of CEO’s and civic leaders addressing economic competitiveness in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. She also worked at a technology start-up in San Francisco and as a Plant Engineer at 3M. She earned her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, where she was an all-American gymnast.