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Canadian Collective Impact Community of Practice

Posted by Kirsti Battista on March 3, 2015

Follow up post to Feb 18th CoP meeting.

The Canadian Collective Impact Community of Practice (CI CoP) is for practitioners who are using the collective impact approach to achieve large-scale system change in Canada. The members meet bi-monthly to discuss questions, challenges and successes in their collective impact work, and to connect with one another.

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Beyond the Comfort of What We Think We Know

Posted by Tom Klaus on February 24, 2015

Has an over-reliance on "best practices" and "evidence-based" practices struck a deathblow to our ability to think creatively and our courage to be experimental?

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Critical Friendships, Reflective Practice, Words and Glue

Posted by Elayne Greeley on February 16, 2015

I am fortunate to have a reflective practice with friends and colleagues who are thinking about thinking. It didn’t happen over night, it took a few years and this blog is a shout out to Ann McCann, Carol Myles, Kim Cole, Jeanette Laanning, Chris Driedzic, Debbie Hynes and Zack Marshall. Some of you have never met but collectively you all bring richness to my head and heart. I am so grateful.

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Act on What You Want to See

Posted by Elayne Greeley on February 6, 2015

Last fall I asked an extremely smart woman a question. I asked her to list three ways that she brings integrity into her social change work. The person was Melody Barnes (@MelodyCBarnes) and it was at Tamarack's Collective Impact Summit. Because she took a long pause to answer, I knew something solid was coming. Her honest answer was two-fold: 1. I act on what I want to see and 2. I hire people who have a sense of humor. Act on what I want to see. Act on what I want to see. What does that mean to my work in community?

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Using Digital Storytelling for Social Impact

Posted by Lisa Attygalle on February 5, 2015

How can the community be active agents of change? What's the process of creating an effective story? What's the best way for a story to motivate action? In an age of fast communication - of snippets, of 140 characters, of 7 seconds to grab attention - it is easy to reach people, but how can we use stories to truly connect?

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A Tribute to Brenda Zimmerman

Posted by Paul Born on February 5, 2015

Brenda Zimmerman, dear friend to Tamarack and a champion of community change and innovation, died verysuddenly in mid-December. She will be deeply missed and she leaves a lasting mark on us all. Like many of you, I was inspired and honoured that Brenda chose to share her newest idea - the concept of “snap back” - with us at the 2014 Collective Impact Summit. Her thinking offers guidance for moving forward despite being surrounded by resilient systems, and we now must share her thinking broadly so that it can live on.

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