4/10/2023 0 Comments Collective impact![]() ![]() It can be difficult to ensure representation from different counties, for example, and to facilitate engagement among distant partners who may be facing different educational issues.Įven though many Northwest collective impact initiatives are in relatively early stages, sustainability challenges are already emerging, particularly related to maintaining enthusiasm and commitment among partners and funding levels. LogisticsĬoncerns included human capital needs and difficulty securing funding for collective impact structures.ĭistance alone can make it difficult to coordinate communication and meetings, but rural areas also face additional challenges in implementing collective impact efforts. Getting started, sustaining momentum, and demonstrating results were all challenges that funders and implementation teams faced in regards to the slow pace of their systems change work. We found that organizations that have historically competed for the same resources may have trouble working together and/or with the backbone organization. While initiatives across the Northwest make strides toward building shared ownership, partners described the difficulty of authentically engaging specific sectors in the work. Partners are increasingly shifting their work to align with the initiatives’ goals by embedding aligned strategies in their own strategic plans.įunders and implementation teams also described key challenges. Improving Coordination and Alignment Across partnersĬollective impact efforts have also seen early success at improving the alignment of funding and strategies to support the initiatives’ goals. One partner said that broad-based ownership is what will allow the community to make progress toward improving outcomes for students. Building Shared Ownershipįunders and implementation teams described the strengthening of existing relationships and the development of new partnerships as key successes. ![]() Partners explained that the framework “helped to coalesce leaders across the community” and gave them a way “to think about and talk about the education system.” Partners also emphasized the value of establishing a “backbone” team to guide the group through setting goals and defining measurable objectives and to provide logistical support for the initiative’s working groups and meetings. Relating to the success of the start-up and early implementation phases of their collective impact efforts, funders and implementation teams highlighted these areas. They explained that making progress on complex issues, such as school readiness, can’t be done alone and that collective impact provides a useful framework for building on existing strengths and prior relationships and in aligning stakeholders already working on these issues from different angles. ![]() In our discussions, funders and implementation teams across the Northwest expressed optimism about collective impact as a framework for systems change as well as a strong willingness to reorganize around this structure. The findings provide the type of “lessons learned” that can benefit not only newly formed collective impact initiatives but also a wide range of groups embarking on large-scale collaborative efforts. To explore the emergence of collective impact as a growing model for improving education outcomes in the region, REL Northwest staff recently spoke with funders and implementation teams from initiatives in five Northwest states. As existing collective impact initiatives begin to mature, newer collectives can learn from the successes, challenges, and growth areas identified by their predecessors. Collective impact has emerged as a popular model in the Northwest, and nationally, for addressing long-standing challenges in reaching community-level educational goals and achieving of success for children and families. ![]()
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