Montgomery Moving Forward (MMF) is a vehicle for change. We leverage the Collective Impact model to address complex community problems in Montgomery County, bringing leaders together to define a problem and embrace a common agenda.

MMF is celebrating 10 years of collective impact in Montgomery County, and we are seeking sponsors for our anniversary events and activities.

The issues we focus on are selected strategically, based on community needs and the opportunity to achieve systems change. MMF’s work involves:

  • Engaging veteran and emerging leaders from many communities and professions to develop specific and actionable plans.

  • Innovating through collaboration and competition.

  • Facilitating continuous, open communication to keep the group focused on shared goals and shared outcomes.

  • Coordinating collective efforts to maximize results.

MMF is an initiative of Nonprofit Montgomery, which created MMF in 2012 in recognition of the need to involve multiple stakeholders to address complex community problems.

MMF Leadership

MMF’s Leadership Group is comprised of leaders from the business, education, government, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. These leaders are committed to leveraging their networks and expertise to bring about meaningful systemic change in Montgomery County, and they are supported by the MMF team.

mmf news

During this time when we are often unable to collaborate in person due to COVID-19 restrictions, we at MMF want to stay connected with you!

We hope these email updates and announcements will serve as a vehicle for community, collaboration, and continuity.

July 2023 – The Future of Montgomery Moving Forward—the next decade

After significant discernment, the board of Nonprofit Montgomery and the Leadership Group of Montgomery Moving Forward have made the mutual decision to separate organizationally.

Nonprofit Montgomery conceived of Montgomery Moving Forward in 2012 as Montgomery County’s first and only cross-sector initiative bringing together nonprofit, business, government, education philanthropic and community leaders to address complex, critical issues that affect us all. Grounded in the Collective Impact Model Montgomery Moving Forward has brought together community leaders and subject matter experts to define a problem, embrace a common agenda and develop a Call to Action for systemic change that promotes equity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Over the last decade, Montgomery Moving Forward has addressed two important issues – Workforce Development and Early Care and Education.

Going forward, Montgomery Moving Forward will continue to support the recommendations from the Call to Action for each of those issues. It also will identify a new issue that fits in Montgomery Moving Forward’s “sweet spot” of a complex socio-economic issue that affects all community members and can benefit from focused research, cross-sector discussion, and community engagement to identify a common agenda to guide systemic improvement—all with an equity lens.

Montgomery Moving Forward co-chairs Kevin Beverly and Susan Madden (susan.madden@montgomerycollege.edu) welcome any questions or comments on the transition to an independent entity and ideas about Montgomery Moving Forward’s future.

Jan 2023Check out Leadership Group member’s Shauna Harps’ report Montgomery Moving Forward: A Decade of Community Engagement and Actions published in NSF’s INCLUDES National Network. This report documents MMF’s 10-year history, including how the use of collective impact and logic modeling can lead to systemic change.

Dec 2022Find out how MMF is ending 2022; learn about staff and Leadership Group changes, and plans for 2023.

July 2022 – Learn more about the Launch of the Children’s Opportunity Alliance as the County’s ECE Entity

June 2022 MMFs 10th anniversary celebration at Glen Echo Park rained with success. See the 11 Heroes of Collective Impact who were honored at the event as well as the event program and a special anniversary video marking 10 years of collective impact in Montgomery County created by our partners at Comcast.

Feb. 18, 2022 – On Tuesday, February 15, the Montgomery County Council voted unanimously in favor of Bill 42-21. This landmark legislation will establish an Early Care and Education (ECE) Coordinating Entity in the county. Council President Gabe Albornoz and Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Craig Rice are the lead sponsors of the bill, and all other Councilmembers are cosponsors. Read the press release.

Feb. 2, 2022 – MMF is Celebrating 10 Years of Collective Impact! Read the email and visit our 10th anniversary page to learn more.

Your generous support will help MMF continue to bring leaders together to tackle some of Montgomery County’s toughest problems.

MMF has addressed two important issues in Montgomery County that are closely related: Early Care and Education and Workforce Development.

Both issues are complex and require sustained cross-sector communication and commitment to achieve lasting outcomes, making them well suited to MMF’s Collective Impact approach. Both impact the workforce of today and the workforce of tomorrow.

MMF’s current issue:
Early Care and Education

Early Care and Education (ECE) is a key building block for economic opportunity in the future. At the same time, this issue has a direct impact on today’s employers and employees because working parents with young children need access to affordable, high-quality ECE in order to be productive employees.

MMF released our Call to Action for Early Care and Education on January 31, 2018. Since then, we have led and facilitated numerous efforts to address the goals set forth in the Call to Action, including developing the ECE Toolkit for Employers, a web-based resource for local employers and parents that launched in March 2020.

Learn more>

MMF’s first issue:
Workforce Development

Our Call to Action: Fueling our Future with Skilled Workers and Good Jobs, issued in 2014, was embraced by more than 100 leaders from across sectors.

In October 2015, Montgomery County Executive Leggett announced an initiative to overhaul workforce development in the county, and the County Council approved legislation designating WorkSource Montgomery, Inc. as the County’s first single, readily identifiable structure to lead, elevate and coordinate a comprehensive system of workforce development.

Learn more>

MMF’s work is made possible by the generous support of our funders and contributors.

Since 2012, MMF has been a vehicle for change in Montgomery County, bringing together leaders from every sector to tackle some of our toughest problems.

Explore MMF’s timeline for highlights and milestones.