Talking about public health can be tricky, because so many of the terms we use sound like jargon. When public health professionals are talking to each other, that may not be a problem; but when we’re trying to explain our work to community members or professionals from other sectors, the words we use might be confusing. Because CHNA 20 is deeply committed to growing collaborative relationships with all members of our communities -- not just the public health experts -- we’ll be periodically sharing simple explanations of complicated-sounding jargon we use when we discuss our work. We hope this will help demystify some of the jargon and make our efforts more understandable and accessible to our communities.
What is Collective Impact?
Collective Impact is a structured approach to bringing people together to coordinate and act on complex issues, to bring about positive social change.
In other words, collective impact work means that instead of a lot of people and organizations acting on their own to try to solve problems, all those people and organizations get together and act as one unit to accomplish their goals. We sometimes say collective impact is like putting everyone on the same bus to the same destination so that everyone arrives together at the same time, instead of taking their own routes in separate cars. If we all travel individually, some people might get lost; others might take a difficult and roundabout route without realizing it; and others might accidentally get left behind altogether. If we decide to go together, we can all help each other on the journey.
What are the key conditions for collective impact?
As simple as it sounds, designing a true Collective Impact process can be time-consuming (but definitely worthwhile!). In order to be sure that you’re following the principles of collective impact, there are five conditions that must be met:
Common Agenda: All participants share a vision for change that includes a common understanding of the problem and a joint approach to solving the problem through agreed-upon actions. (Everybody agrees on the problem and participates in deciding how to solve it.)
Shared Measurement: All participants agree on how to measure and report on progress, with a short list of common indicators identified to drive learning and improvement. (Everyone knows what success would look like, and agrees on ways to measure how the project is going along the way.)
Mutually Reinforcing Activities: A diverse set of stakeholders, typically across sectors, coordinate a set of differentiated, mutually reinforcing set of activities. (All the people involved in the project come from different jobs, backgrounds and community roles. They don’t all work on the same exact thing at the same time, but they each identify an activity they can do that will help the big picture.)
Continuous Communication: All players engage in frequent, structured communication to build trust, assure mutual objectives, and create common motivation. (Everyone involved in the process stays connected and knows how to share what they’re doing, find out what others are doing, ask for help and celebrate wins.)
Backbone Support: An independent, dedicated staff provides support and key functions for the sustained operation of the collective impact initiative. (There are people whose actual job is to lead and direct the project -- not just as an add-on to an already full plate of duties. In some cases, the backbone support can be the staff of an organization like CHNA 20. In others, the support needs to be hired specifically for the project.)
Are there any other rules or guiding principles for collective impact work?
Yes. In addition to meeting the criteria above, real collective impact work is based on common principles:
Prioritizing equity
Involving community members
Fostering cross-sector partnerships
Making iterative improvements
Cultivating leadership
Making system changes
Encouraging a culture of trust and respect
Customizing action to the local context
In other words, to be aligned with collective impact principles, a project has to truly take the needs and lived experiences of the local community into account. It has to involve representation from all sectors, and constantly seek to improve the work it’s doing in order to meet the project goals.
You can read more about Collective Impact here: https://www.unitedwaylebco.org/collective-impact-resources https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/what-collective-impact
What might Collective Impact look like in real life?
A good real-world example of Collective Impact work exists right here in our region. The CHNA’s Blue Hills Regional Coordinating Council follows the principles and frameworks of collective impact work in the following ways:
Common agenda: All the members of the BHRCC agree that we are working together to address transportation inequities and accessibility barriers in the Blue Hills region.
Mutually reinforcing activities: Our action plan contains both “strategies” and “actions.” The strategies describe how we’ll achieve each goal within the BHRCC’s vision, and the actions provide clear, specific and measurable steps to help us get there. Each of the strategies and actions contain roles for community stakeholders, so everyone can be working on different important activities at the same time.
Shared measurement: The BHRCC action plan outlines measurable objectives and data sources to help us keep track of how we’re doing and make improvements as needed.
Continuous communication: From the very beginning of the BHRCC, we’ve prioritized regular progress reports to members as well as transparency to the general public. Using diverse media channels, events, advocacy and key project activities as communications channels, we’ve provided a continuous flow of information both within and outside of the BHRCC working group.
Backbone support: CHNA 20 has been serving as the backbone organization for this project since early 2019, and will continue to do so through action plan implementation.
If you have further questions about this topic or want to know how to get involved in similar work in our area, please contact us.