Like many others around the country, I have been questioning whether the programs being used by individual nonprofits and government agencies to address important social issues are achieving desired social changes. A few months ago, I was inspired by an
Like many others around the country, I have been questioning whether the programs being used by individual nonprofits and government agencies to address important social issues are achieving desired social changes.
A few months ago, I was inspired by an article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled “Collective Impact — Creating Large-Scale Social Change.”
The authors contend that substantially greater progress could be made in alleviating many of our most serious and complex social problems if nonprofits, government agencies, businesses and the public work together in a collaborative multi-year effort around a common agenda, common goals and common metrics in order to create community-scale collective impact.
But don’t we already work collectively on Kaua‘i?
In my work with our nonprofit sector, I have been impressed with the level of collaboration on our island. People recognize they need to work together. What has been missing, in my view, to solve some of our most difficult challenges is a focus around a common vision, common goals and common measures. In other words, we need to do more than collaborate; we need to work toward collective impact.
Among the successful examples of this collective impact model is Cincinnati, Ohio, where about 300 organizations and agencies, including the Department of Education, have partnered since 2006 to strengthen the education of young people “from cradle to career.”
A continuum of services needed to accomplish that goal was identified and the collective impact effort utilized organizations and agencies to provide specific services along the continuum. Existing resources were deployed toward the common effort; it did not require creation of new organizations, just a new way of operating.
The project has been in action for five years, supported by the nonprofit Strive Together, which serves as the “backbone organization,” providing support and coordination services.
Has this innovative approach been effective?
According to an Aug. 21, 2010, article in The Cincinnati Herald: In less than two years, 13 of the 16 “turnaround schools” have shown measurable improvement in overall performance. At least five of the schools have jumped two categories in the Ohio report card ranking system. Six of the schools have met all of their federal accountability targets for adequate yearly progress.
In January of this year, the nonprofit Kaua‘i Planning & Action Alliance, for which I work, shared the collective impact article with a group of visionary local leaders. We invited them to watch a webinar on collective impact and discuss the concepts.
The response from the group was enthusiastic and they have met monthly since then to become more familiar with the collective impact approach, determine Kaua‘i’s readiness for such a project and consider what issues would benefit from this approach.
We have tried to learn as much as we can about the factors needed for successful collective impact projects, which include: a shared, cross-sector commitment to a multi-year approach; community champions supporting the initiative; commitment to a common-goals agreement on a continuum of service; identification of organizations to provide services along the continuum; a common set of metrics and an agreement to evaluate and report on impacts based on the metrics; a common language to bring people together based on the data; support from a backbone organization to provide project management; maintain community outreach; and track and measure results.
Our collective impact discussion group believes that Kaua‘i is ready to utilize such an approach. We looked for an urgent issue likely to generate widespread community interest and support and where collectively we had an opportunity to make a significant difference for the island. We heard from people working with young people who said some of the problems they see are a lack of interest in school, low self-esteem, a lack of hope for the future, acting out, living like there’s no tomorrow, lack of a sense of belonging in the community and substance abuse.
Recognizing that the future is in the hands of today’s students, our focus became clear. We felt that working collectively and with a common purpose for the education and development of our young people would provide benefit today for the youth involved and also provide long-term benefits in developing our future leaders and citizens.
We set the following goal: to nurture and develop Kaua‘i children and youth to be healthy, empowered and self-motivated, living a life that matters with the tools they need to succeed from the cradle to career.
This is a big goal that will require us to shift our thinking beyond our own individual family, school, business or organization. Our collective focus has to be on developing knowledge, skills, character and physical and mental health in each child on the island. To ensure success, we have to determine if we have the factors needed to be successful.
I am headed to Portland, Ore., to learn more at a national conference on cradle-to-career programs with people from 28 states. Communities that have already implemented this approach will share their experiences, and others, like us on Kaua‘i, will learn how others got started and how to organize for success.
If you would like to learn more about the collective impact approach, go to www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/collective_impact/ to read the article that has sparked national discussion and action on this topic.
• For more information, contact Diane Zachary at Kaua‘i Planning & Action Alliance, 632-2005 or dzachary@kauainetwork.org. The Garden Island welcomes Zachary as a regular contributing columnist to Business Week. Her column will appear on the last Sunday of each month.
