Collective Impact Forum

When building a collaborative strategy or working through your implementation plans, it might feel like what you need most is a crystal ball (or a mystically accurate Magic 8 ball) to reveal which activities will work, which won’t, and where you can pivot so you and your partners can keep making progress. Moving ahead while surfing through ambiguity and questions like, “what will happen if…” can make the process of working together even more uncertain and stressful.The practice of futurism can be helpful when working through questions about where your collaborative work can go, and how your work may be affected by shifts in , political, financial, environmental, and other conditions.In this new podcast episode, we explore how futurism can be used by collaboratives. We talk with Trista Harris, President of FutureGood, an organization that supports funders and nonprofits by tapping into future thinking. We discuss how these practices can support scenario-planning, risk mitigation, and imaging what an “ideal future” might be.In the discussion, we also explore the future trends that collectives may need to consider, including the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), disaster planning, and imagining a bright future when facing daunting challenges.Resources and FootnotesFutureGoodPast FutureGood webinarsMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

Without proactively removing the structures and systems that have contributed to inequity, place-based collaboratives can not make a meaningful impact on the lives of those most excluded and underestimated in communities. However, given the increasing anti-DEI political and cultural headwinds unfolding in the US and several other countries, communities are facing increased challenges pursuing their equity work.To explore this topic, we share an audio recording from the Day 3 opening panel discussion at the 2024 Collective Impact Action Summit. The panel discusses the challenges collaboratives are facing in their work to advance equity and how collaboratives can navigate through this adversity to continue making progress towards their collective goals. This session was originally held on May 2, 2024.Featuring:Jennifer Splansky Juster, Executive Director, Collective Impact ForumMonique Miles, Managing Director, Aspen Institute Forum for Community SolutionsPaul Schmitz, Senior Advisor, Collective Impact ForumJunious Williams, Senior Advisor, Collective Impact ForumResources and FootnotesAspen Institute Forum for Community SolutionsLeading Inside OutJunious Williams Consulting, Inc.Targeted UniversalismCentering Equity in Collective ImpactRacial Equity ToolkitCIAS 2024 Keynote 2: Power Building, Trust, and Relationships: Supporting Movement Beyond Moments of Reckoning'More on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

Navigating and managing change is key to a collaborative’s journey, but it’s also one of the most challenging as each partner’s relationship, personal history, and ability to participate in change can vary. Differences in how partners navigate change, if not recognized and explored, can make it difficult for the collaborative to  achieve meaningful progress towards shared goals.How does one lead and navigate through these varying responses to change? In this new podcast episode, we explore this question and more with Dr. Nicole Caridad Ralston and Ileana Ortiz from the racial equity consulting firm Beloved Community.They have created a curriculum on navigating change, and we discuss the variety of skills needed to both lead and support change efforts, including:Why self-awareness is a critical part of working through change, including understanding one’s own history with and gut reaction to changeHow to work through change while centering anti-racism and anti-oppressionWhy it’s important to understand that change is both “head work” and “heart work”Why capacity building can be necessary to support your team or collaborative to work through changeResources and FootnotesFull transcript for this episode available at collectiveimpactforum.orgBeloved CommunityBarbara Trautlein – Change IntelligenceWhite Supremacy CultureAnother CIF episode featuring Beloved Community: How Community Leads the Way with Participatory Action Research (PAR)From Dr. Nicole Caridad Ralston, here are some reflection questions for a change management process:How will you free up time and energy to focus on the change process? Where can you delegate projects or shift/share power?Who are the key people who can work with you to facilitate the change process?Who are the key influencers who need to embrace the vision and/or be included in the discussion and planning process?What permissions need to be secured? From whom?Who are the people/groups most affected by the proposed changes? What impact will each face?What can you do to help people embrace the change?How will you strengthen relationships during the change process?From Dr. Nicole Caridad Ralston, here are more commonly used change management frameworks:Lewin's Change Management Model:Main Principles: Lewin's model, based on the Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze stages, emphasizes the importance of addressing psychological resistance to change. The unfreeze stage aims to create awareness and challenge existing mindsets. The change stage introduces new behaviors, and the refreeze stage solidifies the new norm.McKinsey 7-S Model:Main Principles: The 7-S Model focuses on the interconnection of seven elements: Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff. Alignment across these elements is essential for successful change.ADKAR:Main Principles: ADKAR focuses on individual change adoption through stages: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. It recognizes the psychological journey individuals undergo during change.Bridges Transition Model:Main Principles: The Bridges Model emphasizes managing emotional transitions during change through stages: Endings, Neutral Zone, and New Beginnings.Kotter's 8-Step Model:Main Principles: Kotter's model outlines eight steps for successful change, emphasizing leadership's role in setting direction, creating urgency, and anchoring changes.More on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

Addressing issues related to disability and access are often cordoned off within the social sector and philanthropy. Disability is often deemed as “separate” from issue-specific systems change work, such as education, climate, economic mobility, or health equity. Funders supporting causes like these may think that their focus does not require including disability, or that addressing disability may make things “too complex” and “out of scope” for their issue-focused grantmaking efforts.This exclusion of disability from the wide spectrum of grantmaking has its own reverse multiplier effect. Instead of scaling change to reduce inequity and create the conditions for more people to thrive, excluding disability means that change only addresses a subset of people while overlooking communities deeply affected by systemic inequity. In this episode, we talk with a group of philanthropic leaders who are each dedicated to advancing disability justice. We discuss why addressing disability is imperative for all grantmaking to be successful, and how funders can embed disability across all of their philanthropic work.Featuring:- Miya Cain, Associate Director, FSG (Moderator)Rebecca Cokley, Program Officer of U.S. Disability Rights, Ford FoundationRyan Easterly, Executive Director, WITH FoundationSandy Ho, formerly Program Director, Disability Inclusion Fund, Borealis Philanthropy, and currently Executive Director, Disability and Philanthropy ForumResources and FootnotesDisability Rights at Ford FoundationDisability Inclusion Fund at Borealis PhilanthropyWITH FoundationDisability and Philanthropy ForumSins InvalidDisability Visibility ProjectRamp Your VoiceThe Curb-Cut EffectImani Barbarin: Creating Accessible Spaces for BelongingMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

Understanding a community’s “context” and its readiness for complex change work is a critical factor for launching and advancing collective impact work.Knowing the local context is necessary to support work with and within a community--who is part of the community, what are they experiencing, and what are their challenges, needs, assets, and opportunities? Where do relationships exist, and is there enough trust among participants to support a foundation for long-term work? Without a basic understanding of  community context, supporting change within a community is difficult and runs the risk of causing more harm than good.In this episode, we learn about the state-wide initiative Community Organizing for Prevention (COFP), which is working with 30 communities across Colorado to support youth and prevent substance misuse. By coaching and supporting community mobilizers who train local partners to advance collective impact work, COFP strived to create a collaborative infrastructure of support across the state, but early feedback indicated that each community had their own circumstances and needs, and there wasn’t one strategy that would address them all.We talk with Kit Jones (Colorado School of Public Health) and Marc Morgan (Community Organizing for Prevention, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) about how COFP moved forward with humility and deep listening, evaluating and evolving their strategies to support what their communities needed to equitably move forward. We also discuss how COFP, as a state funder, is working with other funders to sustain the work and create a stronger infrastructure for collective change across Colorado.Resources and FootnotesCommunity Organizing for PreventionCommunity Organizing for Prevention EvaluationTraining the Trainer on Policy and Systems Change at the Local Level Full Report and Executive SummarySystems Change and Deep Equity by Sheryl Petty and Mark LeachThe Water of Systems ChangeMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

A core element of collective impact is changing systems in the pursuit of equity. Pursuing policy change and advocacy efforts are some of the key levers to effectively change how systems operate. But how can cross-sector partners within a collective impact initiative work together to co-create a policy agenda that addresses inequities and closes disparities?In this discussion we learn how a policy agenda can drive collaborative action and strategy to support collective impact work, how it can communicate where a collaborative stands on issues, what are the challenges in building a collaborative policy agenda (including bringing partners onboard), and how to approach shifts in the political environment.Joining for this discussion to share about their policy agenda work are Maegan Frierson and Dr. Shayla Young from KConnect, a backbone organization that supports a network of public, private, and independent organizations in Grand Rapids, Michigan. KConnect aims to facilitate and advance a common agenda to ensure all children in Kent County have a clear path to economic prosperity through quality education, family, and community support.Resources and FootnotesKConnectKConnect Shared Policy Agenda and PACE Toolkit KConnect Community Engagement Compensation FrameworksKConnect 2023 Impact ReportThe Water of Systems ChangeMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we wanted to highlight the importance of recognizing and supporting mental health as a critical and necessary element of a robust and sustainable collective impact effort.We frequently receive questions from a wide variety of collaboratives that are experiencing challenges related to the mental health of their team and partners, and the impact that this has on the collaborative’s work. For this episode, we invited the national nonprofit Mind Share Partners to address some of those questions. Mind Share Partners focuses on changing the culture of workplace mental health so that both employees and organizations can thrive.In this discussion, we discuss four key topics that we often hear from collaboratives:How to deal with burnoutHow to manage conflict within the collaborativeWhat to do if the collaborative doesn’t have a culture that supports the mental health of its participantsHow mental health can affect a collaborative’s sustainability and ability to make progress on its long-term goalsIn this discussion, we dive into these four topics with Mind Share Partners’ Bernie Wong and Carrie Grogan. They provide guidance and examples of what a collective impact effort can consider if its goal is to build a strong and sustainable culture that prioritizes the mental health of participants in the work.Resources and FootnotesMind Share Partners and their Resource HubCreating Mentally Healthy Cultures: How To Get StartedImani Barbarin: Creating Accessible Spaces for BelongingMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

For more than a decade, The Opportunity Youth Forum at the Aspen Institute’s Forum for Community Solutions has been working with a growing network of urban, rural, and tribal communities across the U.S. to build and scale reconnection pathways that achieve better outcomes in education, employment and overall well-being for opportunity youth. (Opportunity Youth are young adults, age 16-24, who are not engaged in work or education.)Based on their work with a network of 40 communities, along with thought leaders and funders across the field, OYF is advancing four key principles that, when brought together, help empower youth to lead thriving and healthy lives. These principles are: Belonging, Meaning, Wellbeing, and Purpose (BMWP).OYF has brought together what they are learning from their communities on these core concepts, along with academic research and thought leadership. Out of this collaboration, they are developing a BMWP framework as well as a series of examples that demonstrate that when young adults are supported in an environment where they feel they can have a thriving future, the outcomes for both them and their greater community are more successful.In this podcast conversation, we talk with OYF Director Geneva Wiki about this developing BMWP framework, what the concepts of Belonging, Meaning, Wellbeing, and Purpose mean, and how to operationalize these practices into your own work.Full transcripts of our podcasts are available at collectiveimpactforum.orgResources and FootnotesOpportunity Youth ForumTargeted Universalism at the Othering and Belonging InstituteYouth & Young Adult Wellbeing reportCentering Youth in Well-Being Research and Programming: A Guide for Adult AlliesPodcast: john a. powell – Operationalizing Equity in Collective ImpactLife Course frameworkPurpose and Identity Processes LabMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

We welcome back members of the Healthy Food Community of Practice to hear what they learned from their multi-year collaboration and how the way they worked together changed over time.Launched in 2020, the Healthy Food Community of Practice is a network of more than 50 organizations working toward a shared goal—that communities of color across the country can access and consume nutritious food. Through their collaboration, they came to understand that to be successful, the community of practice had to shift *how* they worked together in four key ways:Move from scarcity to abundanceMove from consensus to consentMove from breadth to depthMove from “I” to “we”These pivots were necessary for the Healthy Food Community of Practice to strengthen their network and their ability to collaborate with each other, but it wasn’t easy.In this new podcast conversation, we talk with community of practice members Minerva Delgado (Alliance to End Hunger) and Stacey McDaniel (YMCA of the USA), and Community of Practice Facilitator Carolina Ramirez (Community Wealth Partners) about their experiences and what they learned as they made these shifts in how they worked together. They share what was most challenging and most necessary for their work to be successful.Resources and FootnotesBlog: From Chaos and Competition to Clarity and Coordination: Four Pivots for Aligning Coalitions to Achieve EquityResource: Targeted UniversalismArticle: Curb Cut EffectPodcast: Strengthening Relationships through a Community of PracticeHealthy Food Community of PracticeAlliance to End HungerYMCA of the USACommunity Wealth PartnersMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

The Millers for Nutrition coalition is working with 100+ millers and other partners to achieve an ambitious goal—getting nutritious, fortified food to 1 billion people by 2026.One of the critical questions that Millers for Nutrition has grappled with is how to get private-sector partners, many of whom may be in competition with each other, to find common ground, build sustained, trusting relationships, and ultimately work together to support healthy food access for millions of people.To learn what has worked to support private-sector collaboration, we talk with backbone team member Christian Pirzer from Endeva, and Yvonne Bakken from dsm-firmenich, a founding coalition partner. We explore what has been most helpful in developing these partnerships, and how they balanced the needs and considerations of the millers and other partners.Resources and FootnotesMillers for NutritionEndevadsm-firmenichMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

What does it mean to build a movement? How is movement building connected to organizing and practicing solidarity with others? And why are these concepts important to make progress on collective work?In this deep dive conversation, we discuss core aspects of movement-building with Adaku Utah, senior manager at Building Movement Project. In this discussion, we review definitions of movement-building, organizing, and solidarity. We also explore what it means to be doing movement work and why strong relationships are necessary to build strong movements.References and FootnotesBuilding Movement ProjectAdaku UtahMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

Getting to the heart of complex problems can be tricky. How does one untangle the many threads that can be involved? How do you uncover what the real pain points are so that you can address them?In this discussion, we explore the approach of human-centered design and how it can be used to both discover and uplift perspectives to help find community-focused solutions.To learn more about human-centered design, we talk with Michelle Carrillo and Leslie Tergas of ThinkPlace West.  The discussion explores their work using the “four voices of design” approach, and uplifts examples of how to use this approach within collective work. We also discuss how tools like “empathy interviews” can help draw out community voices so that one can get a deeper understanding of community members’ experiences, including what’s working and what’s not.References and FootnotesThinkPlaceFour Voices of DesignMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/ 

Communities can be “researched,” engaged, and surveyed to explore a variety of questions such as what barriers are preventing students from graduating? What are the local economic and health impacts of having only a few grocery stores in the area? It’s important to rigorously explore these types of questions, but there can be danger in taking data and stories from a community for the purpose of research. You can fall into the trap of “community extraction” if the research is not deeply connected to how that community progresses.Participatory Action Research, otherwise known as PAR, is a methodology that engages those closest to the issues and positions them as the leading experts in research on and about their community.To learn about PAR, and what it looks like when community members are the researchers, we hear about the work of NoLa CARES, a collaborative of childcare organizations that focuses on creating access, resources, and equity for the success of Black and Latine women in New Orleans, Louisiana. We talk with Dr. Nnenna Odim (Beloved Community) and community researchers Peggy Patterson and Lisa Williams about how NoLa CARES practices PAR to further their goals -  embedding it into their initiative to uplift community leadership, voice, and expertise, and support community members to take the lead in the changes they want to see.References and FootnotesNoLa CARESBeloved CommunityMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

Addressing homelessness in rural areas has multiple complexities  including scarcity of funding, support services, and shelter options, as well as facing a common misconception that rural homelessness does not exist.To better understand how homelessness was affecting their community, partners working in Mercer County, IL came together to participate in their own “100-day challenge,” an organized collaborative event that supports communities in kick-starting complex change efforts. As part of their 100 days, they mapped out the broader system that contributes to getting people rapidly housed and stress-tested their support infrastructure to see what was working and what was not.In this discussion, we talk with several leaders from this work to learn about how folks came together for these 100 days. Joining us to share their experiences is Cathy Jordan (Project Now) and Sean Whitten, Sara Robens, and Peter Muse (RE!NSTITUTE). They share how they worked through challenging times to uncover how homelessness was hidden in their community, and what they did to support people moving into housing. Resources and FootnotesProject NowRE!NSTITUTESystems Change and the 100-Day ChallengePalm Beach County 100-Day Dual Sector ChallengeMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

During the winter break, we're replaying some of our favorite past episodes.This replay episode features a dynamic discussion from the 2021 Collective Impact Action Summit, and focuses on the importance of narrative in collective social change efforts. This discussion is led by Melody Barnes of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions, and features Crystal Echo Hawk from IllumiNative, Rashad Robinson from Color of Change, and Nayantara Sen from Real Food Real Stories. Resources and Footnotes: Video and Transcript: The Role of Narrative Change in Collective Action (Collective Impact Forum)Building Narrative Power (Color of Change)IllumiNative Insights and Actions Guide (IllumiNative)Making Waves: A Guide to Cultural Strategy (The Culture Group)Cultural Strategy: An Introduction and Primer (Art/Work Practice and Power California)Stolen Land, Stolen Bodies, and Stolen Stories (Stanford Social Innovation Review)More on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/