Collective Impact: How to Create Large-Scale Social Change

Transcription

1 Collective Impact: How to Create Large-Scale Social Change Liz Weaver Vice President, Tamarack An Institute for Community Engagement - liz@tamarackcommunity.ca My Biography 1

2 An Overview of Collective Impact Community Foundation of Greater Cincinnati Collective Impact: Pulling Together Themes for Today Setting the Stage: The Collaboration Spectrum Understanding Collective Impact What this could mean for complex issues like homelessness 2

3 Think Pair Share Why is it important that I am at this workshop today? The Collaboration Spectrum Trust Compete Co-exist Communicate Cooperate Coordinate Collaborate Integrate Competition for clients, resources, partners, public attention. No systematic connection between agencies. Inter-agency information sharing (e.g. networking). As needed, often informal, interaction, on discrete activities or projects. Organizatio ns systematical ly adjust and align work with each other for greater outcomes. Longer term interaction based on shared mission, goals; shared decisionmakers and resources. Fully integrated programs, planning, funding. Turf Loose Tight 6 3

4 Table Discussion: Collaboration Spectrum How could you use the Collaboration Spectrum with your community partners? What surprised you about the Collaboration Spectrum? Collective Impact 4

5 Tamarack s Approach to Collective Impact Isolated Impact Funders select individual grantees Organizations work separately Evaluation attempts to isolate a particular organization s impact Large scale change is assumed to depend on scaling organizations Corporate and government sectors are often disconnected from foundations and non-profits. From Isolated Impact to Collective Impact Collective Impact Funders understand that social problems and their solutions arise from multiple interacting factors Cross-sector alignment with government, nonprofit, philanthropic and corporate sectors as partners Organizations actively coordinating their actions and sharing lessons learned All working toward the same goal and measuring the same things 10 5

6 Used for Many Complex Issues Teen Pregnancy Health Education Homelessness Community Safety Poverty Collective Impact Framing Questions Do we aim to effect needle- change (i.e., 10% or more) on a community-wide metric? Do we believe that a long-term investment (i.e., three to fiveplus years) by stakeholders is necessary to achieve success? Do we believe that cross-sector engagement is essential for community-wide change? Are we committed to using measurable data to set the agenda and improve over time? Are we committed to having community members as partners and producers of impact? 6

7 Phases of Collective Impact Collective Impact Efforts Tend to Transpire Over Four Key Phases Components for Success Phase I Generate Ideas and Dialogue Phase II Initiate Action Phase III Organize for Impact Phase IV Sustain Action and Impact Governance and Infrastructure Convene community stakeholders Identify champions and form crosssector group Create infrastructure (backbone and processes) Facilitate and refine Strategic Planning Hold dialogue about issue, community context, and available resources Map the landscape and use data to make case Create common agenda (common goals and strategy) Support implementation (alignment to goal and strategies) Community Involvement Facilitate community outreach specific to goal Facilitate community outreach Engage community and build public will Continue engagement and conduct advocacy Evaluation And Improvement Determine if there is consensus/urgency to move forward Analyze baseline data to ID key issues and gaps Establish shared metrics (indicators, measurement, and approach) Collect, track, and report progress (process to learn and improve) Preconditions for Collective Impact Influential Champion(s) Urgency of issue Adequate Resources 7

8 Table Discussion Which of the preconditions is most challenging for your work on housing or homelessness? Brainstorm possible solutions for addressing this precondition. Five Conditions for Collective Impact Specialized Agendas Fragmented Measurements Independent Activities Sporadic Communication Unsupported Efforts Common Agenda Shared Measurement Mutually Reinforcing Activities Continuous Communication Backbone Organization 8

9 Common Agenda Define the challenge to be addressed. Acknowledge that a collective impact approach is required. Establish clear and shared goal(s) for change. Identify principles to guide joint work together. Communication in Tillamook County, Oregon Teen Pregnancy According to the Health Department summary, Tillamook county "found that forming partnerships and working together toward a desired result can bring about astounding results.... Their turn-around was an evolutionary process, with new partners bringing contributions forward at different times." No Shared Agenda Reduce Teenagers Giving Birth Reduce Teenagers Getting Pregnant 9

10 Building a Common Agenda Prior History Pressing Issue Data Positive or negative impact Galvanize leaders across sectors Determine what you need to understand impact of the issue on community Community Context Is there community buy in? Determine community leverage opportunities Core Group Convener Community Engagement Determine who needs to be involved in core group Trusted leadership to facilitate collaborative efforts Determine how to engage the broader community in the effort Common Agenda Worksheet Strategies 5 Assumptions 6 Influential Factors Problem or Issue Desired results 1 (outputs, outcomes 4 and impact) 3 Community needs/assets 2 Source: Kellogg Foundation,

11 Common Agenda What makes the difference between a good movie and a bad movie? Getting everyone involved to make the same movie! - Francis Ford Coppola 21 Identify key measures that capture critical outcomes. Establish systems for gathering and analyzing measures. Create opportunities for making-sense of changes in indicators. Shared Measurement 11

12 Collaboration in Cincinnati Educational Achievement Homelessness STRIVE in Cincinnati Over three hundred educational organizations, human service groups, government agencies and philanthropies and private businesses. Shared agreement on 15 key milestones and 72 measures along a student road-map of success. A strong back-bone organization supporting a variety of networks supporting each key milestone. Measureable progress in most key indicators in recent years. 12

13 Strive Partnership Goals: Working together along the educational continuum to drive better results in education so that every child Is prepared for school Is supported inside and outside of school Succeeds academically Enrolls in some form of postsecondary education Graduates and enters a career Results: 10% increase in graduation rates in Cincinnati since 2003; 16% increase in college enrollment rate in Covington, KY since 2004 Road Map Project Seattle The Road Map Project is a community-wide effort aimed at improving education to drive dramatic improvement in student achievement from cradle to college and career in South King County and South Seattle. The project builds off of the belief that collective effort is necessary to make large-scale change and has created a common goal and shared vision in order to facilitate coordinated action, both inside and outside school. 13

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15 Thinking About Shared Measurement Process: # of people/orgs at table, # of community presentations, articles, etc Progress: # of programs, # of new initiatives, etc Shared Measurement Policy: policy changes in own or other organizations, new investments, gov. policy changes Population : # of people moved out of poverty, # of high school graduates, # of low birth weight babies Who is collecting the data? Will they share the data? Shared Measurement How effective is the data source? What data do we have to collect? What resources will we need? Does this measure actually move us on our collective impact agenda? 15

16 Overview of Shared Measurement There Are a Number of Tips and Tricks to Bear in Mind When Developing Shared Measures Identifying Indicators Limit top-level indicators to a manageable number (~15), with additional contributing indicators if needed Establish a set of criteria to guide the identification and prioritization of potential indicators Collecting and Presenting Data Set specific and time-bound goals and report progress relative to targets Include data on whole populations (vs. a sample) where possible Use numbers as well as percentages to make goals more tangible Leveraging Existing Efforts and Expertise Form a voluntary team of data experts to advise on the design, development, and deployment of a shared measurement system Develop a crosswalk of what partners are already measuring Consider leveraging existing indicators adopted by relevant efforts at the local, provincial, or federal level Agreement on key outcomes. Orchestration and specialization. Complementary sometimes joined up - strategies to achieve outcomes. Mutually Reinforcing Activities 16

17 A city-wide collective impact initiative Memphis Fast Forward 17

18 Coordination in Saint John Poverty Housing Transportation Education to Employment Early Childhood Development Workforce Development Neighborhood Renewal 18

19 Mutually Reinforcing Activities Table Discussion: What is the picture you would draw for your collaborative or collective impact initiative? Create formal and informal measures for keeping people informed Communication is open and reflect a diversity of styles Difficult issues are surfaced, discussed and addressed Continuous Communication 19

20 Cooperation in Karelia, Finland Heart Disease Common Agenda: reduce heart disease. Focus on measuring & reducing a variety of key risk factors (e.g. high fat food diet, smoking, etc.) Emphasis on mutually reinforcing strategies with multisectoral actors (e.g. changing farming practices, media profile, trade policy around production and consumption of dairy products). Backbone support provided by regional health authority. Close collaboration with a range of organizations has been an essential element of success. Diabetes Voice. May Volume 53. Special Issue. In and Out Communication 20

21 Communication If I wanted to talk to my colleagues about using collective impact as a framework for our work, what would I say to them? Backbone Organization(s) Guide vision & strategy Support aligned activities Established shared measurements Build public will Advance policy Mobilize funding Like a manager at a construction site who attends to the whole building while carpenters, plumbers and electricians come and go, the support staff keep the collaborative process moving along, even as the participants may change. Jay Conner Community Visions, Community Solutions: Grantmaking for Comprehensive Impact 21

22 Backbone Organizations Common Misperceptions about the Role of Backbone Organizations Common Misperceptions The backbone organization sets the agenda for the group The backbone organization drives the solutions The backbone organization receives all the funding The role of backbone can be self appointed rather than selected by the community The role of backbone isn t fundamentally different from business as usual in terms of staffing, time, and resources Source: FSG Interviews and Analysis Six Key Functions for the Backbone Organization Guide Vision and Strategy Support Aligned Activities Establish Shared Measurement Practices Build Public Will Advance Policy Mobilize Funding Build a common understanding of the problem Provide strategic guidance to develop a common agenda Ensure mutually reinforcing activities take place: Coordinate and facilitate communication and collaboration Convene partners and key external stakeholders Catalyze or incubate new initiatives or collaborations Provide technical assistance Create paths for, and recruit, new partners Seek opportunities for alignment with other efforts Collect, analyze, interpret, and report data Catalyze or develop shared measurement systems Provide technical assistance for building partners data capacity Build public will, consensus and commitment: Create a sense of urgency and articulate a call to action Support community member engagement activities Produce and manage external communications Advocate for an aligned policy agenda Mobilize and align public and private funding to support goals 22

23 Lessons Learned about Backbones 1. Their value is unmistakeable. 2. Backbones shares strengths in guiding vision and strategy and supporting aligned activities. 3. Backbone organizations shift focus over time. 4. Backbone organizations partners need ongoing assistance with data. 5. External communications, building public will, and advancing policy are common backbone challenges. Source: Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact Initiatives Structuring the Backbone Convener Leadership Table Fiscal Sponsor Community Ownership Steering Committee Backbone Working Groups 23

24 Municipal Government Roles in Collective Impact Early Investor Collaborative Member Working Group Member Host Backbone Champion Convener Municipal Government Other Patient capital Things to Consider in Collective Impact Persistence for longer term, systems change Align funders across sectors to common agenda Legitimize the work of the collaborative table No playbook, support and advance the skills and capacity of collaborative partners 24

25 Strategic Roles for Municipal Government Invest in Capacity Building Support Shared Measures Practice Invest in Access & Use of Data Document Change as it Happens Collective Impact Use collective impact as a framing tool Assess whether everyone in the collaborative is working on the same agenda Developing success measures (process and outcome indicators) Consider the role of the State /Region Partnership as a backbone Learn about what s working and let go of those things that are not making an impact 25

26 Reflecting on Collective Impact Think Pair Share What have I learned that I can apply to my collaborative partnerships? What other questions do I have? Additional Resources Follow my blog: Regular updates about Collaboration and Collective Impact are posted on Tamarack Learning Communities Sites: Stanford Social Innovation Review articles on Collective Impact: FSG Social Impact Consultants: 26

27 Additional Collective Impact Resources Canadian Index of Well Being - Calgary Homeless Foundation - Poverty Matrix Resource - pdf Constellation Model pdf Peel Collective Impact Institute Results Based Accountability + Collective Impact Why Targets and Timelines Matter - Additional Resources on Collective Impact FSG collective impact resources - roach/collectiveimpact.aspx Youth Teen outcomes initiative - ult.aspx?srpush=true Resources for Backbones