Collective Impact is working with the Joint Commission on Sports Medicine and Science (JCSMS) to engage its membership in the Collective Impact approach. JCSMS serves as a convener and catalyst for cooperative ventures. The Collective Impact approach is a commitment of a group of individuals from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem, using a structured form of collaboration. The concept of collective impact hinges on the idea that organizations need to coordinate their efforts and work together around a clearly defined goal if they are to create lasting solutions to social problems on a large-scale. This approach was highlighted in a Stanford Social Innovation Review article titled “Collective Impact”. More recently, with financial support from the Wallace Foundation, the Teachers College of Columbia University engaged in research relating to collective engagement around education reform. Their report (Collective Impact and the New Generation of Cross-Sector Collaborations for Education) describes the development of cross-sector collaborations and presents findings from a scan of initiatives across the United States. With assistance from Collective Impact, JCSMS membership is exploring how the model might be used to address relevant issues facing their member organizations.
For over a 15 month period, Collective Impact worked with West Virginia University School of Public Health, West Virginia Health Improvement Institute, and West Virginia Health Innovation Collaborative providing planning, facilitation, research, and stakeholder engagement and input services for the State Innovation Models (SIM) project. SIM is based on the premise that state-led innovation, supported by broad stakeholder input and engagement, will accelerate health care delivery system transformation to provide better health and better care at a lower cost. SIM encourages public and private sector collaboration to design and test multi-payer models to transform the health care systems in the state. The goal of the SIM project is to support states in using all of the levers available at the state level to engage stakeholders – including payers, providers, and the public – to design a plan that can deliver significantly better care, smarter spending, and healthier people through statewide transformation of the health care delivery system, payment methodologies, and integration of population health interventions.
After hearing from nonprofits around the state that one of their greatest needs was to learn how to collaborate with other nonprofits, businesses, and government within their communities, the West Virginia Nonprofit Association reached out to Bruce Decker to facilitate 4 regional trainings on Building Bridges for Community Impact. The day long workshops were a good balance of content and group engagement. Bruce addressed the ‘nuts and bolts’ of collaboration, and then wove in ‘real life’ group exercises that resulted in preliminary partnerships and regional action plans on issues relevant to each community. His facilitation skills kept the participants engaged. He offered new information, fresh ideas, and taught participants new skills for strategic planning. It was a great experience to work with Bruce and I look forward to tapping into his expertise in the years ahead. ~ Laura Lee Haddad, Executive Director, West Virginia Nonprofit Association, Lewisburg, WV
How can we get people more engaged, more productive, and happier at work? Is technology part of the problem – and could it also be part of the solution? Dave Coplin, Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft, imagines what might be possible if more organizations embraced the full, empowering potential of technology and encouraged a truly open, collaborative and flexible working culture. Click here!
