Eden Yesh
Kootenay Employment Services
Community Development Coordinator
ey@kes.bc.ca
Collective Impact is a method of getting people to
work together differently in pursuit of a clearly
defined common goal.
It brings funders, businesses, nonprofits and
government together in a structured and deliberate
way to achieve social change.
It’s about working together to make effective use of
the resources already within a system.
Context: Collective Impact in our current age
Collective Impact: Theory and conditions
Collective Impact: Examples in action
Case study: Creston, BC
Group exercises: Linking to your community
Sharing ideas: and questions period
“The utter collapse of human civilization will be ‘difficult
to avoid,’ NASA funded study says” 18-Mar-2014
Evolution of consciousness: thought & knowledge
Steve McIntosh
“We believe that a principled, well-developed social policy
framework that builds common understanding, is
pragmatic in delivery and is measured by outcomes can
streamline delivery of critical services, improve the results
for those who need it most and guide decision making
into the future,”
Board Voice in a letter to city council
“Increasing evidence shows that social cohesion is critical
for societies to prosper economically and for
development to be sustainable,” the World Bank
proclaims on its website. “Social capital is not just the
sum of the institutions, which underpin a society — it is
the glue that holds them together.”
Vancouver Sun article Sept. 2014 –
Interview with Michael Davis (BV Chair)
Hildy Gottlieb
http://www.creatingthefuture.org/
 Context: Collective Impact in our current age
Collective Impact: Theory and conditions
Collective Impact: Examples in action
Case study: Creston, BC
Group exercises: Linking to your community
Sharing ideas: and questions period
• FSG – coined conditions for Collective Impact
1. An Influential Champion - An individual or small group who
command the respect necessary to bring CEO-level cross-sector
leaders together and keep them actively engaged over time.
Perceived as “even-handed” and respected by their peers.
2. Adequate Financial Resourcing - Adequate financial resources
to last at least two to three years and generally involving at
least one anchor funder to support needed infrastructure and
planning.
3. A Sense of Urgency for Change - A new opportunity or crisis
that convinces people that a particular issue must be acted
upon now and/or that a new approach is needed.
Is the general public aware? Has it come to a breaking point
yet?
John Kania - FSG
• FSG – coined conditions for Collective Impact
John Kania - FSG
Define the pressing issue or opportunity
Acknowledge that a cross sector approach is needed
Create clear and shared goals for change
Identify the values that will guide your work together
Example for each
Tamarack Institute
Identify key indicators that capture important outcomes
Aim for 8-10 indicators max.
(preschool readiness/high school grad rates; affordable
homes/average income)
Agree on a system to gather data and monitor performance
from each partner
(email, online platform)
Set a common evaluation framework
(every 6 months)
Consider measurements in these four areas
Tamarack Institute
Aligning activity across sectors towards common goal
Look for duplication; opportunity to collaborate
Gatherings and celebrations
Make your structure visual
John Kania - FSG
Trust and working relationships build over time
What types of communication will you use?
(Email, online platform, events, coffee chats)
How often will you use each communication medium?
Have formal and informal ways to stay updated
Issues are surfaced and worked on collaboratively
Celebrate and publish accomplishments!
Sharing best practices between similar groups
Guiding Vision and Strategy
Aligning and Coordinating Activities
Creating and Supporting Shared Measurement
Partnering in the Building of Public Will
Advancing an Aligned Advocacy/Policy Agenda
Mobilizing Funding to Support the Collective Effort
“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
Community Visions, Community Solutions:
Grantmaking for Comprehensive Impact
Phase I: Initiate Action
• Understanding of the landscape of key players and the existing work
underway
• Baseline data on the social problem to develop the case for change
• An initial governance structure that includes strong and credible champions.
Phase II: Organize for Impact
• Stakeholders work together to establish common goals and shared measures
• Create a supporting backbone infrastructure
• Start aligning the many organizations involved in the shared goals and
measures.
Phase III: Sustain Action and Impact
• Stakeholders pursue prioritized areas for action in a coordinated way
• Systematically collect data
• Put in place sustainable processes that enable active learning and course
correcting as they track progress toward their common goals.
John Kania - FSG
www.tamarackcommunity.ca
 Context: Collective Impact in our current age
 Collective Impact: Theory and conditions
Collective Impact: Examples in action
Case study: Creston, BC
Group exercises: Linking to your community
Sharing ideas: and questions period
Education
Strive Together: A National Movement to Improve Education for Every
Child, From Cradle to Career
The Strive Together Cradle to Career Network is a national network of
53 community partnerships in 28 states working to improve education
success for every child by bringing together cross-sector partners
around a common vision. Together, the Network impacts over 5.5
million students nationwide
Health
http://vimeo.com/97953387
Shape Up Somerville: Building and Sustaining a Healthy
Community with Collective Impact
Initiative Goal: To take a community-based, participatory,
environmental approach to prevent obesity for the people who
live in, work in, or visit Somerville.
Homelessness
http://calgaryhomeless.com
Calgary Homeless Foundation: dedicated to stopping what had been
the fastest growing rate of homelessness in Canada;
They are implementing a 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness along
with non-profit agencies, businesses, governments, the faith
community, donors and all Calgarians.
The goal is to develop a more effective homeless-serving system that
will end homelessness, instead of just managing it.
The foundation coordinates the overall system, funds and supports
non-profit agencies, conducts research, oversees an information
management system, owns housing and increase public awareness.
Poverty
http://www.vibrantcommunities.ca
Tamarack: A Community engagement institute and the Canadian
champion for Collective Impact. Work closely with FSG.
Vibrant Communities: one of their initiatives, significantly
reduced poverty levels in several Canadian cities.
They have a 10 year goal to eliminate economic poverty across
Canada, and are well on their way! (poverty reduction strategy)
 Context: Collective Impact in our current age
 Collective Impact: Theory and conditions
 Collective Impact: Examples in action
Case study: Creston, BC
Group exercises: Linking to your community
Sharing ideas: and questions period
One year initiative to facilitate cross-sector
relationship building and establish a common goal
for the Creston Valley.
If all things were possible,
what would you see in the Creston Valley….?
What assets do we already have….?
7 months of events over dinner; 50-70 persons each event
1,000 ideas generated; narrowed to 300 specific project ideas
Final voting event, dinner and music; 240 persons; 3 ballots
Top projects in each sector identified; common goal chosen
Funders event – 6 funders; 8 organizations presented
Common goal research and community steering committee
(Government, nonprofits & community champions)
Preparation for ongoing support to new trails society
Support letter to new council
(2 council champions)
Trust and relationships were fostered :
(7 months of meals and brainstorming together)
Capacity was built at KES to build momentum:
(convene and facilitate cross sector groups)
Community champions were identified
Priority sectors were identified
(Recreation, Business, Agriculture)
A common goal/project was reached:
Trail to connect 3 communities
(healthy community/trails and recreation needs)
To identify and keep your key community champions
informed, a database is critical:
Who are the champions your the community?
What sectors they represent?
Which meetings they attended?
How much influence they have in community: scale 1-5
(top 100 exercise Tamarack)
Updated contact info
“We are all on a path, every last one of us, that
path started long before we were a twinkle in
anyone’s eye, and it is continuing long after we are
gone; but the path ahead of us does not need to
be a continuation of our past.” Hildy Gottlieb
How do we be a leading example of change in BC,
our slogan being “the best place on earth”….?
 Context: Collective Impact in our current age
 Model and Process: Collective Impact
 Case study: Creston, BC
Group exercises: linking to your community
Sharing ideas and questions period
What issue(s) do you feel is most pressing in your community?
(Education; health; poverty; economy)
What are the opportunities I see where the pre-conditions exist
for a collective impact effort in my community?
(Influential champion - Adequate financing - Sense of Urgency)
Are there already collaboratives or networks in place in my
community, in which I can see the collective impact ideas
enhancing?
(Do they include business, nonprofit, government and funder?)
Which of the 5 conditions of collective impact is my community
ready for? Why?
(Common agenda; Shared measurement; Mutually reinforcing activities;
backbone support)
If you’d like the slides or to discuss further;
Feel free to contact me:
Eden Yesh
Kootenay Employment Services
Community Development Coordinator
ey@kes.bc.ca
www.collectiveimpactforum.org
http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/collective_impact
http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/embracing_emergence_h
ow_collective_impact_addresses_complexity
www.tamarackcci.ca
http://tamarackcci.ca/files/the_top_100_partners_exercise.pdf
http://tricountycradletocareer.weebly.com/about.html
http://strivetogether.org/approach
http://calgaryhomeless.com/
http://www.vibrantcommunities.ca/