Using Collective Impact To Bring Community Change

Collective Impact as a tool to bring about community change has seen remarkable growth in usage since 2011. Collective Impact has been used successfully with a variety of local issues and has raised the consciousness of how community groups interact as well as the approaches that can lead to long-term innovations. This edited volume sets forth conceptual foundations for using Collective Impact as well as sharing basic approaches that have succeeded in projects under diverse circumstances. It will be useful for both academics and practitioners as Collective Impact continues to undergo substantial changes in focus and direction. Building on Kania and Kramer’s influential work, it provides readers with detailed insights not only into how the Collective Impact system works but also innovative applications to issues facing community developers. The diverse topics shared by the contributing authors make this volume especially important for practitioners designing programs to bring about long-term changes in their communities. Including discussion about how Collective Impact has succeeded in different governmental settings, this book demonstrates how Collective Impact has been modified to accommodate the associated cultural differences with 10 chapters written by experienced on-the-ground community development experts.

Community shapes our identity, quenches our thirst for belonging, and bolsters our physical, mental, emotional, and economic health. But in the chaos of modern life, community ties have become unraveled, leaving many feeling afraid or alone in the crowd, grasping at shallow substitutes for true community. In this thoughtful and moving book, Paul Born describes the four pillars of deep community: sharing our stories, taking the time to enjoy one another, taking care of one another, and working together for a better world. To show the role each of these plays, he shares his own stories—as a child of refugees and as a longtime community activist. It’s up to us to create community. Born shows that the opportunity is right in front of us if we have the courage and conviction to pursue it.

Collective Impact is intended to help community leaders effectively engage participants in strategic planning initiatives and achieve desired results. It is a logical extension of, and builds on, earlier efforts that experienced difficulties helping groups implement actions identified in the planning processes. This book examines successful practices that apply Collective Impact principles to a variety of community development issues including reducing poverty, and similar topics. Contributing authors also examine techniques used in working with local groups to facilitate effective changes in their communities. The discussions focus on settings in which Collective Impact efforts are likely to succeed using a variety of case studies that vary by intent, purpose, and location. Discussions of involvement by community and campus partnerships, regional planning organizations, and other groups can affect the ways in which Collective Impact principles are applied and how well they work. The discussions conclude with transformational changes within Collective Impact, moving from the individual to the system and future directions for Collective Impact approaches. Practitioners and scholars alike will find the discussions of various approaches and outcomes using Collective Impact useful in designing future efforts to bring about community change. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Community Development.

Based on a proven leadership model, Everybody Leads shows how leadership can be found in uncommon places and reveals how to inspire and cultivate the leadership of those focused on social change. It shows how to take responsibility to work with developing leaders to make a difference and outlines the five key leadership values. Sponsored by Public Allies, the book helps leaders to connect across cultures, facilitate collaborative action, recognize and mobilize all of a community's assets, continuously learn, and be accountable to those they work with and those they serve. Register at www.josseybass.com/emailfor more information on our publications, authors, and to receive special offers.

Healthy, safe, vibrant communities have at their core leaders and stakeholders who believe in and work together to affect positive change. The Journey of Collective Impact provides practical approaches and resources to advance collective impact, and explores new thinking about its application. Community leaders and practitioners of collective impact will find ways to: • Explore the core conditions of Collective Impact, including developing a common agenda, shared measurement, accessing mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communications and backbone infrastructure • Apply the Collective Impact framework • Take Collective Impact to the next level Community leaders will find a framework for community change in a broad range of issues including poverty reduction, homelessness, health and wellbeing, and the environment. With contributions from a variety of authors, the articles in this book contain unique perspectives about the application of collective impact. They provide the skills and strategies necessary for success in implementing the collective impact framework.

Collective Impact is intended to help community leaders effectively engage participants in strategic planning initiatives and achieve desired results. It is a logical extension of, and builds on, earlier efforts that experienced difficulties helping groups implement actions identified in the planning processes. This book examines successful practices that apply Collective Impact principles to a variety of community development issues including reducing poverty, and similar topics. Contributing authors also examine techniques used in working with local groups to facilitate effective changes in their communities.??The discussions focus on settings in which Collective Impact efforts are likely to succeed using a variety of case studies that vary by intent, purpose, and location. Discussions of involvement by community and campus partnerships, regional planning organizations, and other groups can affect the ways in which Collective Impact principles are applied and how well they work. The discussions conclude with transformational changes within Collective Impact, moving from the individual to the system and future directions for Collective Impact approaches. Practitioners and scholars alike will find the discussions of various approaches and outcomes using Collective Impact useful in designing future efforts to bring about community change.??This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Community Development.

“Offers practical guidance for how to work with diverse others, which is a precondition for confronting many of the complex challenges we face.” —Morris Rosenberg, President, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Collaboration is increasingly difficult and increasingly necessary. Often, to get something done that really matters to us, we need to work with people we don’t agree with or like or trust. Adam Kahane has faced this challenge many times, working on big issues like democracy and jobs and climate change and on everyday issues in organizations and families. He has learned that our conventional understanding of collaboration—that it requires a harmonious team that agrees on where it’s going, how it’s going to get there, and who needs to do what—is wrong. Instead, we need a new approach to collaboration that embraces discord, experimentation, and genuine cocreation—which is exactly what Kahane provides in this groundbreaking and timely book. “Kahane shows that people who don’t see eye-to-eye really can come together to solve big challenges. Whether in our businesses, our governments, our communities, or our personal lives, we can all benefit from this smart and timely book.” —Mark Tercek, former President, The Nature Conservancy and coauthor of Nature’s Fortune “Shows us how thinking and seeing differently can help us navigate this challenging landscape. Kahane abandons orthodoxy in taking on the most intransigent problems, showing us the path to effective action in a complex world.” —James Gimian, coauthor of The Rules of Victory “Collaborating with the Enemy belongs on the same shelf as Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Machiavelli’s The Prince.” —Stephen Huddart, President, The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation

Finally, a book that offers a practical yet well-researched guide for practitioners seeking to hone the way they show up in citizen space. At a time when public trust in institutions is at its lowest, expectations of those institutions to make people well, knowledgeable, and secure are rapidly increasing. These expectations are unrealistic, causing disenchantment and disengagement among citizens and increasing levels of burnout among many professionals. Rekindling Democracy is not just a practical guide; it goes further in setting out a manifesto for a more equitable social contract to address these issues. Rekindling Democracy argues convincingly that industrialized countries are suffering through a democratic inversion, where the doctor is assumed to be the primary producer of health, the teacher of education, the police officer of safety, and the politician of democracy. Through just the right blend of storytelling, research, and original ideas, Russell argues instead that in a functioning democracy the role of the professionals ought to be defined as that which happens after the important work of citizens is done. The primary role of the twenty-first-century practitioner therefore is not a deliverer of top-down services, but a precipitator of more active citizenship and community building.