1. Bringing Down the Monster:
Addressing Complex Social Problems through Collective Impact
Diane R. Bessel, PhD, LMSW, CNM
National Association of Social Workers - New York State
Annual Conference 2015

2. Community Problems
As social workers, we learn about a wide array of problems through our engagements with individuals, families, organizations, and communities.
Poverty
Homelessness
Interpersonal Violence
Violence in Communities
Inequality in Education, Employment, Opportunity
Isms and Intersectionality

3. Nature of Community Problems
Simple
Clear cause and effect relationship that can be mastered using basic skills
Complicated
Requires expertise, coordination, & communication; reasonable certainty about result especially when replicated
Complex
No clear rules to guarantee success – unique, changing circumstances; trial and error; varied interaction X
Most problems are treated as Simple or Complicated
Interdependent Factors and Actors
Source: Getting to Maybe (Wesley, Zimmerman, and Patton 2007)

4. Nature of Complex Problems
Difficult to define because they are rooted in systems
Involve complicated, ever-changing web of cause-effect relationships
No clear pathways and no clear solutions
Wide array of organizations and actors seeking to address them
Organizations and actors often work in isolation
Actors rely on own experiences, perspectives, and understandings when developing strategies
Efforts are typically limited in scope, may lack appropriate focus, and/or are so resource intensive that they are unsustainable
That which cannot be sustained, cannot be effective

6. Collective Impact Seminal Piece Published in Winter 2011
Large Scale Social Change
Attracts Attention from:
Foundations
Researchers/Think Tanks
Federal Government
United Ways
Proliferation of Related Work

7. What is Collective Impact?
No single organization, actor, or entity, alone, has the ability to solve the world’s most challenging problems. Collective Impact occurs when actors from different sectors commit to a common agenda in order to solve a specific, often very complex, community problem.

8. Today’s Session
Focus on the role Collective Impact strategies can play in addressing complex, even monstrous, social problems.
At the end of today’s session, participants will:
Understand the theory behind Collective Impact and its five necessary conditions.
Draw on knowledge of successful initiatives to determine whether Collective Impact may be right for their community.
Become aware of Collective Impact resources including research and tools.

9. Tale of Two Impacts Isolated Impact Collective Impact
Organizations work separately and compete for resources
Funders select individual grantees based on identified parameters
Large scale change is assumed to depend on scaling
Evaluation attempts to isolate a particular organization’s impact
Corporate & government sectors are disconnected from foundations and non-profits
All players bring their unique skills to work toward same goal
Organizations actively coordinate their actions, measure same things, and share lessons learned
Process orientation with continuous improvement focus
Cross-sector alignment occurs with government and corporate sectors as essential partners
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Collective Impact (Winter, 2011)

10. Nature of Collective Impact
Supports changes in individual and organization behavior that create an ongoing progression of alignment, discovery, learning, and emergence.
In many instances, the progression greatly accelerates social change without requiring breakthrough innovations or vastly increased funding.
Previously unnoticed solutions and resources from inside or outside the community are identified and adopted.
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Embracing Emergence: How Collective Impact Addresses Complexity (Winter, 2013)

11. Nature of Collective Impact
Existing organizations find new ways of working together that produce better outcomes.
Leaders come to recognize and accept continual unfolding of newly identified opportunities for greater impact, along with setbacks.
Develop new way of seeing, learning, and doing that marries emergent solutions with intentional outcomes.
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Embracing Emergence: How Collective Impact Addresses Complexity (Winter, 2013)

13. Five Conditions of Collective Impact
Backbone Support
Common Agenda
Shared Measurement
Mutually Reinforcing Activities
Continuous Communication
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Collective Impact (Winter, 2011)

14. Five Conditions for Collective Impact
Common Agenda
All participants have a shared vision for change including a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solving it through agreed upon actions
Shared Measurement
Collect data and measure results consistently across all participants ensuring efforts remain aligned and participants hold each other accountable
Mutually Reinforcing Activities
Participant activities must be differentiated while still being coordinated through a mutually reinforcing plan of action
Continuous Communication
Consistent and open communication is needed across the many players to build trust, assure mutual objectives, and appreciate common motivation
Backbone Support
Requires a separate organization(s) with staff and a specific set of skills to serve as the backbone for the entire initiative and coordinate participating organizations and agencies

16. Backbone Organizations
Effective backbone support is critical to Collective Impact work.
Backbone organizations offer a unique vantage point, reach, and a skill set not possessed by many other organizations.
Requires vision, relationship building skills, focus, adaptation, results-orientation, and charisma.
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact (Winter, 2012)

17. Nature of Backbone Organization
Backbone organizations bring a wide range of people together to work on the issues.
Backbone organizations understand community issues as well as the types of activities that are already going on and how to align them.
Backbone organizations facilitate a natural progression from partnership-focused activities toward broader externally focused, community level activities.
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact (Winter, 2012)
Champions for Change: Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact (2013)

18. Nature of Backbone Organization
Backbone organizations build partner capacity to contribute to and use data in shared measurement system.
Backbone organizations communicate the value of the effort and progress being made.
Backbone organizations must balance the tension between coordinating and maintaining accountability, while staying behind the scenes to foster collective ownership.
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact (Winter, 2012)
Champions for Change: Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact (2013)

19. Six Common Activities of Backbone Organizations
Guide Vision and Strategy
Support Aligned Activities
Establish Shared Measurement Practices
Build Public Will
Advance Policy
Mobilize Funding
Externally Focused Community Level Activities
Partnership Focused Activities
Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review: Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact (Winter, 2012)

20. Six Common Activities of Backbone Organizations
Guide Vision and Strategy
Bring various stakeholders together to discuss pressing social issues; develop a collective agenda; and determine key strategies to be employed
Support Aligned Activities
Identify available resources and facilitate dialogue among key players to ensure coordination of activities toward goals
Establish Shared Measurement Practices*
Develop systems to measure outcomes and use data to make meaningful decisions
Build Public Will
Ensure that community members are increasingly aware of the issues, express support for the initiative, and are empowered to take action
Advance Policy
Ensure that policymakers and influencers are aware of initiative and advocate for system changes that are aligned with goals
Mobilize Funding
Funders redirect funds to support this activity and provide new public and private resources

21. Shared Measurement Practices
Source: Champions for Change: Leading a Backbone Organization for Collective Impact (2013)
Goal: Identify metrics for use in tracking progress toward a common agenda across organizations, and to provide scalable platforms to share data, discuss key learning, and improve strategy and action.
Partner Outcomes
- Effective?
- Sustainable?
Initiative Outcomes
- Working Effectively Together?
- Funding Flows?
- Policy Change?
Community Outcomes
- Movement on Key Indicators?

23. Collective Impact in Action

24. Collective Impact in Action

26. Collective Impact Tools Readiness Assessment
No Awareness
Denial/Resistance
Vague Awareness
Preplanning
Preparation
Initiation
Stabilization
Expansion/Confirmation
Professionalization

27. Collective Impact Tools Collective Impact Readiness Tool
Partnership
Information Sharing
Networking
Learning
Collaboration
Shared Goals
Advocacy
Coalition Building
Collective Impact
Shared Understanding
Shared Agenda
Shared Strategy

28. Collective Impact Tools Backbone Organization Assessment Tool

29. References
Communities of Practice,” Vibrant Communities. Accessed June
Hanleybrown, F., Kania, J., and Kramer, M. (2012). "Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work". Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter, 2011.
Kania, J. and Kramer, M. (2011) "Collective Impact". Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2011.
Kania, J., and Kramer, M. (2013). “Embracing Emergence: How Collective Impact Addresses Complexity.” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter,
Turner, S., Merchant, K., Kania, J., and Martin, E. (2012)."Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2013.

30. Questions/Comments Diane R. Bessel, PhD, LMSW, CNM
Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Program Director Social Work & Sociology
Daemen College
4380 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14226
Phone: