The Latest

What the 2014 Collective Impact Summit Meant to Me

Last year I joined the Collective Impact Summit after completing a Masters in Africa and International Development from the University of Edinburgh. Having lived, studied and worked abroad on and off for the previous three years gaining insights and experience regarding international development initiatives within southern and eastern Africa, I came home feeling disappointed and disheartened by the track record of the field and lost by the complexities of the issues I had faced in both my practical work and my theoretical studies. Frustrations around top-down approaches to community development initiatives; the saturation and overlap of NGO’s working in silos on similar issues within the same regions; the neglect of context-specific, place-based solutions and the proliferation of silver-bullet ideas to ‘save the world’; the privilege and power of the western voice over the strength and wisdom of community actors.  It felt as though one could not take a step forward in this field, without taking two steps back. 

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18Blocks Helps Neighbours Share More than a Postal Code

Social media platforms connect us with people around the world. But how do we start a conversation with our neighbours? Enter 18Blocks ­- a free, hyper-­local, online network designed to help neighbours connect around common interests.

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Connecting to Change the World

 

I became aware of the power of networks in the 1990s while working in the field of community economic development (CED) overseas and in Canada. While the majority of the micro­enterprise programs were supporting individual entrepreneurs to establish their own businesses to generate additional income for their households, the pioneers at the Appalachia Center for Economic Networks were weaving together small and medium enterprises into mutually supporting economic networks. The difference in revenue, profits and economic activity was dramatic: networks really exemplified the old adage that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.

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New Video: Neighbours Deepening Community

This beautiful video, Neighbours Deepening Community, debuted last month at the 2015 Neighbours: Policies & Programs Gathering.

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Engaging Unusual Partners in Collective Impact

Engaging unusual partners is integral to successful Collective Impact efforts. The fresh perspectives these partners bring offers an opportunity to gain a richer perspective of your community and the issue you are hoping to impact. And, their connections and endorsement of the work of a Collective Impact effort can be tremendously valuable in advancing your efforts more quickly.

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Rural Health Hubs Framework & the Collective Impact Opportunity

Developed and endorsed by a multi-sector rural health hub advisory committee, the Rural Health Hubs Framework for Ontario was finalized in January 2015. A central recommendation within the framework calls for the development and implementation of local Community Health Plans in rural communities in collaboration with local health and social service providers and community members.

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