Collective Impact Overview: A Framework for Community Change Donna Jean Forster-Gill Program Manager, Vibrant Communities Canada – Cities Reducing Poverty www.vibrantcanada.ca - donnajean@tamarackcommunity.ca

An Overview of Collective Impact Community Foundation of Greater Cincinnati Collective Impact: Pulling Together http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZZRvNXOozc

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. Organizations systematically adjust and align work with each other for greater outcomes. Longer term interaction based on shared mission, goals; shared decision-makers and resources. Fully integrated programs, planning, funding. Turf Loose Tight

Collaborative Life Cycle MATURITY EXPLORATION expand possibilities & buy-in conserve new thinking declining outcomes place bets manage choice CORE LEADERSHIP DIRECTION & crisis birth SUSTAIN & GROW unravel develop & adapt shared vision chaos refine reconnect DEVELOPMENT CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

Key Practices for Effective Collaboration Assessing the Environment Creating Clarity Building Trust Sharing Power and Influence Reflection

Why Collective Impact

From Isolated Impact to Collective 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. 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

Used for Many Complex Issues Teen Pregnancy Health Education Homelessness Community Safety Poverty

Setting the Stage for Collective Impact

Preconditions for Collective Impact Influential Champion(s) Urgency of issue Adequate Resources

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 five-plus 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? From White House Council on Community Change

Collective Impact Efforts Tend to Transpire Over Four Key Phases Governance and Infrastructure Strategic Planning Phases of Collective Impact Collective Impact Efforts Tend to Transpire Over Four Key Phases Community Involvement Phase I Generate Ideas and Dialogue Phase II Initiate Action Phase III Organize for Impact Phase IV Sustain Action and Impact Components for Success Convene community stakeholders Identify champions and form cross-sector group Evaluation And Improvement Create infrastructure (backbone and processes) Facilitate and refine Continue engagement and conduct advocacy Support implementation (alignment to goal and strategies) Collect, track, and report progress (process to learn and improve) 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) Facilitate community outreach specific to goal Facilitate community outreach Engage community and build public will 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)

What is Collective Impact

Five Conditions for Collective Impact Specialized Agendas Common Agenda Fragmented Measurements Shared Measurement Mutually Reinforcing Activities Independent Activities Sporadic Communication Continuous Communication Unsupported Efforts Backbone Organization

What makes the difference between a good movie and a bad movie? 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

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

Building a Common Agenda Prior History Positive or negative impact Pressing Issue Galvanize leaders across sectors Data 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 Determine who needs to be involved in core group Convener Trusted leadership to facilitate collaborative efforts Community Engagement Determine how to engage the broader community in the effort

Who’s driving the agenda? How complex is the issue? 5 things to consider when building a common agenda Who’s driving the agenda? How complex is the issue? How does the issue play out in the community? Who is doing what already? What are the next steps? Agenda – requires working differently together; Complex – set boundaries for what will and won’t work on, look at where most impact is and let go of rest Play Out – data – need data to make informed decision What doing – map community assets Next steps – talk about it, engage the community, listen more than speak

Shared Measurement Identify key measures that capture critical outcomes. Establish systems for gathering and analyzing measures. Create opportunities for “making-sense” of changes in indicators.

Collaboration in Cincinnati Educational Achievement 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. Homelessness

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 Mention that the Halton 7 is already a shared measurement framework – clear indicators, measureable results

Shared Measurement in Vibrant Communities Canada Process: # of people/orgs at table, # of community presentations, articles, etc Progress: # of programs, # of new initiatives, etc 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

Mutually Reinforcing Activities Agreement on key outcomes. Orchestration and specialization. Complementary – sometimes “joined up” - strategies to achieve outcomes.

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

Continuous Communication 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

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 2008. Volume 53. Special Issue.

In and Out Communication

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. 2004. Community Visions, Community Solutions: Grantmaking for Comprehensive Impact

Common Misperceptions about the Role of Backbone Organizations 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

Lessons Learned about Backbones Their value is unmistakeable. Backbones shares strengths in guiding vision and strategy and supporting aligned activities. Backbone organizations shift focus over time. Backbone organizations’ partners need ongoing assistance with data. External communications, building public will, and advancing policy are common backbone challenges. Source: Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact Initiatives

Shared Aspiration: 1 million Canadians will move out of poverty. Active Learning Community Network to scale up social change Common Evaluation Framework with shared measures 8 Action Teams advancing shared priorities Loop of continuous communication 100 Cities/Regions/Provinces/Territories reducing poverty together Shared Aspiration: 1 million Canadians will move out of poverty.

Beyond Backbone: Other Critical Roles in Collective Impact Community Ownership Convener Fiscal Sponsor Backbone Working Groups Steering Committee Leadership Table

Role of Convener Convening and Hosting:  the convener initially calls the table together Early Investor:  the convener is often an early investor in the collaborative effort Fiscal Sponsor:  in many cases, the convening organization acts as a fiscal sponsor for the backbone infrastructure including holding funding for the collaborative table, hiring staff and providing administrative infrastructure Trusted partner:  convening organizations are often members of the collaborative roundtables but not the chair or lead, this role is held by another member of the roundtable

9 Leadership principles for Backbone Leaders View the system you are trying to change through a lens of complexity Let the vision be “good enough” rather than trying to plan every little detail Live with balance between data and intuition, planning and action, safety and risk Be comfortable with uncovering paradox and tensions Don’t wait to be “sure” before proceeding with actions Create an environment of information, diversity and difference, connections and relationship Mix cooperation and competition – it’s not one or the other Understand that informal conversations, gossip and rumor contribute to mental models, actions and beliefs. Listen to these. Allow complex systems to emerge out of the interaction of systems, ideas and resources.

results of Collective Impact

Significant shifts in policy Needle Moving Change Unlikely suspects working together Innovative solutions to complex problems Increased community engagement Increased awareness of complex issues Feeling of control over some of society’s wicked problems

Things to Consider in Collective Impact Patient capital 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 Learn what’s working and quickly let go of what isn’t

Reflecting on Collective Impact Think – Pair – Share What have I learned about collective impact that I can apply to my role in the Halton Our Kids Network? What other questions do I have?

Additional Resources Stanford Social Innovation Review articles on Collective Impact: www.fsg.org Resources for Backbones - http://tamarackcci.ca/blogs/sylvia-cheuy/champions-change-leading-backbone-organization-collective-impact Collective Impact Readiness Tool: http://vibrantcanada.ca/content/collective-impact-readiness-assessment-tool

Thank You Enjoy the Collective Impact Journey!