Implementing the Lead Agency Model for Collective Impact

Liz Weaver Vice President,

Tamarack – An Institute for Community Engagement www.tamarackcommunity.ca - liz@tamarackcommunity.ca

Online Learning CommunitiesFor Collaborative Leaders who use collective impact approaches to address complex community issues. tamarackcci.ca

For Cities that develop and implement comprehensive poverty reduction strategiesvibrantcommunities.ca

For individuals who care about community, the vibrancy of neighbourhoods and the unique role of citizens in social change.seekingcommunity.ca

Workshop Overview

Collective Impact and Community Change – Collaboration Spectrum – Complexity + Community Change – Pre-Conditions of Collective Impact – Conditions of Collective Impact

Implementing the Lead Agency Model for Collective Impact

Questions?

An Overview of Collective Impact

Greater Cincinnati Foundation Collective Impact: Pulling Together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZZRvNXOozc

Trust

Turf

Loose Tight

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.

The Collaboration Spectrum

5

Complexity + Community Change

Develop common ground,

compromise

or compete.

Follow the ‘best practice’

recipe.Use expertise, experiment and

build knowledge.

Learn-by-doing,see what emerges,

adapt. Create stability, look for

opportunities to innovate.

Wicked Problems & Social Messes

Complex problems are difficult to frame

The cause and effect relationships are unclear

There are diverse stakeholders

Each experience of is unique

The characteristics & dynamics of the issue evolves

There is no obvious right or wrong set of solutions

There is no objective measure of success

Complex problems are difficult to frame

The cause and effect relationships are unclear

There are diverse stakeholders

Each experience of is unique

The characteristics & dynamics of the issue evolves

There is no obvious right or wrong set of solutions

There is no objective measure of success

Characteristics of Complex Problems

Collective Impact

From Isolated Impact 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.

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

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Used for Many Complex IssuesTeen Pregnancy Education

PovertyHomelessness

Health

Community Safety

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?

The Phases of Collective Impact

Phases of Collective Impact

Phase IVSustain Action

and ImpactComponents for Success

Identify champions and form cross-

sector group

Create infrastructure (backbone and

processes)

Convene community stakeholders

Facilitate community

outreach

Engage community and build public

will

Map the landscape and use data to

make case

Create common agenda (common

goals and strategy)

Hold dialogue about issue, community

context, and available resources

Facilitate community

outreach specific to goal

Analyze baseline data to ID key

issues and gaps

Establish shared metrics (indicators, measurement, and

approach)

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)

Determine if there is consensus/urgency

to move forward

Phase IIIOrganize for

Impact

Phase IIInitiate Action

Phase IGenerate Ideas

and Dialogue

Governance and Infrastructure

Strategic Planning

Community Involvement

Evaluation AndImprovement

Preconditions for Collective Impact

• Influential Champion(s)

• Urgency of issue

• Adequate Resources

The Five Conditions of Collective Impact

Common Agenda

Shared Measurement

Mutually Reinforcing Activities

Continuous Communication

Backbone Support

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

Collecting data and measuring results consistently across all participants ensures efforts remain aligned and participants hold each other accountable

Participant activities must be differentiated while still being coordinated through a mutually reinforcing plan of action

Consistent and open communication is needed across the many players to build trust, assure mutual objectives, and appreciate common motivation

Creating and managing collective impact requires a dedicated staff and a specific set of skills to serve as the backbone for the entire initiative and coordinate participating organizations and agencies

Source: FSG

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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

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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

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 CincinnatiEducational 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.

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

Thinking About Shared Measurement

Process: # of people/orgs at table, # of community presentations, articles, etc

Progress: # of programs, # of new initiatives, etc

Policy:

policy c

ha

nges i

n

own

or

ot

her

orga

nizati

ons,

ne

w i

nvest

me

nts, g

ov.

policy c

ha

nges

Shared Measurement

Shared Measurement

• Who is collecting the data? • Will they share the data? • 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?

Mutually Reinforcing Activities

• Agreement on key outcomes.

• Orchestration and specialization.

• Complementary – sometimes “joined up” - strategies to achieve outcomes.

A city-wide collective impact initiative http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=negQKaCvNBU

Memphis Fast Forward

Coordination in Saint JohnPoverty

• 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, FinlandHeart Disease

Close collaboration with a range of organizations has been an essential element of success. Diabetes Voice. May 2008. Volume 53. Special Issue.

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.

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

Implementing the Lead Agency Model for Collective Impact

Six Core Functions for the Backbone Organization

Backbones must balance the tension between coordinating and maintaining accountability, while staying behind the scenes to establish collective ownership

Guide Vision and Strategy

Build Public Will

Support Aligned Activities

Mobilize Funding

Establish Shared Measurement Practices

Advance Policy

Source: FSG Interviews and Analysis

• 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

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

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© 2014 FSG

FSG.ORG

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

Common Misperceptions

Source: FSG Interviews and Analysis

39

© 2014 FSG

FSG.ORG

Effective Backbone Leaders Share Common Characteristics

Source: FSG interviews

Stakeholders describe backbone organization leaders as:

Visionary

Results-Oriented

Collaborative, Relationship Builder

Focused, but Adaptive

Charismatic and Influential Communicator

Politic

Humble

“Someone who has a big picture perspective—[who] understands how the pieces fit together, is sensitive to the dynamics, and is

energetic and passionate.”

Source: FSG Interviews and Analysis

Things to Consider in Collective Impact

• Patient capital • Persistence for longer term, systems change • Align partners across sectors to common

agenda • Legitimize the work of the collaborative table• No playbook, support and advance the skills

and capacity of collaborative partners

Reflecting on Collective Impact

Think – Pair – Share

• What have I learned that I can apply to my role as lead agency?

• What other questions do I have?

Tamarack Learning Opportunities

www.tamarackcommunity.caLearn together through:• Monthly tele-learning Seminars• Engage! e-magazine• Face-to-Face Learning Events• Online Learning Communities• Communities of Practice

Tamarack Learning CommunitiesTamarack CCIFor Collaborative Leaders who use collective impact approaches to address complex community issues. www.tamarackcci.ca

Vibrant Communities: Cities Reducing PovertyFor Cities that develop and implement comprehensive poverty reduction strategieswww.vibrantcanada.ca

Seeking CommunityFor individuals who care about community, the vibrancy of neighbourhoods and the unique role of citizens in social change.www.seekingcommunity.ca

Deepening Community – Just Released!Read the latest book by Paul Born

President of Tamarack Institute

If you do, here are some fun ways to get involved in the Deepening Community campaign: Read the book & post a short review on

Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Indigo.ca, GoodReads.com or iBook

Go to the “Get Involved” page on www.deepeningcommunity.org

Write a post about your thoughts/ideas on the book or on your experiences of community at www.seekingcommunity.ca

Wishing you joy as you deepen community!

Upcoming Tamarack Learning Events

Learn more & register:http://tamarackcommunity.ca/events.html

Additional Resources

• Follow my blog: http://vibrantcanada.ca/blogs/liz-weaver

• Regular updates about Collaboration and Collective Impact are posted on Tamarack Learning Communities Sites: www.tamarackcci.ca; www.vibrantcommunities.ca; www.seekingcommunity.ca

• Stanford Social Innovation Review articles on Collective Impact: http://www.ssireview.org/

• FSG Social Impact Consultants: www.fsg.org

• Collective Impact Forum: http://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/

Additional Resources on Collective Impact

• FSG – collective impact resources - http://www.fsg.org/KnowledgeExchange/FSGApproach/CollectiveImpact.aspx

• Resources for Backbones - http://tamarackcci.ca/blogs/sylvia-cheuy/champions-change-leading-backbone-organization-collective-impact