How do you turn an innovative start-up programme into a structured professional programme without losing the passion and energy that comes from its founders? How do you go from a start-up to a more structured, formalised organisation?
This case study looks at how Mothers of Rotterdam, a social service programme based in the Netherlands and founded by a charismatic venture philanthropist, approached the challenge of growing and expanding. It explores many questions relevant to scale:
Is the programme’s inventor the right person to scale the programme? How long does a programme need to run to determine whether it is effective? Is it necessary/advisable to scale the programme in Rotterdam first, and focus on replicating the programme in other cities afterwards or can this happen in parallel? Is there a risk of other cities trying to copy the programme without guidance from the Rotterdam staff and “not getting it right”?
We commissioned this case study with the Harvard Kennedy School as part of a series that explores the transition to scale of early years initiatives.
This collection of six case studies from the Harvard Kennedy School shares lessons on how to scale early childhood programmes.
