Community leaders gather to learn how to make an impact through collaboration
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Collaboration is a concept that has roots as far back as 16th century Austria.
Although the idea of collaboration is not new, the way collaboration is impacting communities across the country is a new trend that is resulting in innovative partnerships with shared resources, money saved and problems solved.
More than 160 Nashville area nonprofit agency leaders, board representatives and public or private partners interested in learning more about collaboration and collective impact gathered at Lipscomb University Tuesday, Oct. 21, for the kick-off of the second convening of Collaboration College, an innovative initiative designed to encourage collaborations among a cross-sector of organizations in the area. The program is in itself collaboration and is organized by Lipscomb University, The Center for Nonprofit Management, Baptist Healing Trust, The HCA Foundation, c3 Consulting and North Highland Worldwide Consulting.
Community collaboration experts Nigel Jacob and Blair Taylor shared their experiences and insights on how collective impact initiatives are shaping new models of innovation for cities across the country at the daylong event — Collaboration 101 – From Collaboration to Collective Impact: Principles, Case Studies and Best Practice.
Jacob is co-chair of Boston’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, a civic innovation incubator, and urban technologist-in-residence of Living Cities, a philanthropic collaboration of 22 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions.
“How do we take an approach to innovation that is not top-down, but collaboration driven,” Jacob asked the audience. “How do we as leaders in our community enable local governments to think differently? Governments can’t do it alone.”
Jacob shared his experience in Boston, which was one of the first cities in the country to launch an office dedicated to innovation and finding ways for communities to run more efficiently and creatively through collaboration. The office has been in existence since 2009.
“I wanted to create a place for innovators from all stripes and flavors to come with their pitches and ideas for collaboration,” he said. “We are essentially a laboratory. Our goal is to take the interesting approaches suggested and turn them in to experiments that we try out in the world.”
Along the way, Jacob said he has learned several lessons about collaboration that can be helpful to other communities seeking to foster these partnerships. Among these are:
- Empower people to collaborate;
- Learn to speak another language. “Communication is hard,” he admits. “In our various silos we talk about things differently. When you put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you see the world differently. You learn to talk about it in a different way.”
- Work to build trust;
- Rethink boundaries. Jacob said organizations need to “find ways to let the outside in a vice versa;”
- Set a context; and
- Be liberated. “Working together can lead to liberation,” said Jacob.
Taylor is president of Memphis Tomorrow, an association of chief executive officers of that city’s largest businesses, which seek collaborative, diverse partnerships to foster prosperity and quality of life for those who live in the Memphis community.
She shared examples of successful collaborations in Memphis such as the Family Safety Center that began as an idea from someone in the Department of Human Services. Today, 42 agencies in the Memphis area have formal agreements to be a part of and offer services through the Family Safety Center. And the program is about to expand outside the Memphis area with centers across the state.
“It isn’t always easy to collaborate with a number of people in a room,” said Taylor. “But when they have a shared vision and a shared set of outcomes, great things can happen.”
She reiterated the key elements of successful collective collaboration: shared vision and mission, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities and a “backbone” organization that will take the lead in moving the work forward.
In addition, members of the first Collaboration College class discussed successful models of collaboration and collective impact in Nashville that developed as a result of the program. These include:
- Collaboration for Family Support—This group shares operations and practice that strengthens the agencies involved in the collaboration—Nurses for Newborns, the Martha O’Bryan Center, Conexión Américas and Family & Children’s Service— and strengthens families by engaging their heritage, assets and self-strengthening capacities. Projected cost savings: $288,000 over three years
- Youth Opportunity Center Shared Services —Members of this team found ways for STARS (Students Taking a Right Stand) and Oasis to develop a collaborative back office shared model between the agencies that can be shared with other youth-serving organizations that reduces overhead costs and improving the organizational effectiveness of each nonprofit group. Cost savings: 17 percent back office costs
Lipscomb University and CNM have teamed up to offer Collaboration College in an effort to change how public, private and nonprofit leaders and supporters view and manage cooperative ventures as well as to encourage creative partnership ideas to expand the reach of community aid in Nashville. Through this program teams of leaders representing a variety of organizations throughout Middle Tennessee will collaborate to find creative ways to serve their constituents and community more effectively
The program will continue throughout the school year as participating agencies are led through a curriculum and consultative experience, resulting in the top teams receiving grant funding for their proposed collaborative projects. Agencies are welcome to proceed within the college as far as they want to go.
In March 2015, six participating team partnerships will be selected to move forward with financial modeling, best practices, cultural assimilation and other areas critical to the success of their collaborative project. These teams will receive 50 hours of consulting services targeted specifically to the developmental needs of the project. Strategic consulting partners for the initiative are c3/consulting, North Highland Worldwide Consulting and HCA. The top collaborations will be announced in October 2015. The teams with the best collaborative project proposals will receive awards totaling $50,000 at the CNM Salute to Excellence funded by Baptist Healing Trust and the HCA Foundation.
The program began in 2011 and gave six teams of nonprofits the direction, resources and encouragement they need to collaborate successfully. More than 150 local nonprofit leaders participated in the inaugural Collaboration College 101 conference that launched the initiative. Six teams made up of leaders from 18 nonprofits in Middle Tennessee, participated in the yearlong program. Teams collaborated on projects related to family support, employment opportunities for homeless citizens, mental health resources, health care, domestic violence services and organizations serving youth.
Collaboration College was born out of an event in January 2009 – Collaborate for a Cause – hosted by Lipscomb’s Institute for Law, Justice and Society then-housed in the College of Professional Studies and CNM’s previous efforts to encourage nonprofits to consider collaboration as a means to expand their reach in the community.
For more information visit www.collaborationcollege.com.