Collective Impact: Implications for Jewish Education

1. JEWISH FUNDERS NETWORK: EDUCATION FUNDERS March 2012 Collective Impact: Implications for Jewish Education

2. The Source Text John Kania and Mark Kramer, “Collective Impact,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2011

3. Defining Collective Impact What is collective impact? The commitment of a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem What makes “collective impact” initiatives different from other collaborations? A centralized infrastructure, a dedicated staff, and a structured process that lead to a common agenda, shared measurement, continuous communication, and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants

4. Why Are Collective Impact Initiatives Needed? • The strategy of seeking to find and fund solutions embodied within single organizations, and then growing or replicating the most effective of these, has not worked for complex problems that do not have known “technical” solutions • Large-scale social change comes from better cross-sector coordination rather than from the isolated intervention of individual organizations • Systemic change depends on a sustained campaign to increase the capacity and coordination of an entire field

5. Application to Jewish Education • The challenge of engaging more individuals in Jewish learning, over longer periods, with greater satisfaction and impact, is complex because of the multiplicity of institutions, approaches, and potential learners involved • There is no “silver bullet”: no single institution, program, or sector (day school, camp, supplementary program, etc.) operating on its own can meet this challenge across the Jewish population

6. Application to Jewish Education • Jewish educational experiences are characterized by a multiplier effect: 1+1+1=5 • Thus, the greatest impact comes from the combined effects of many experiences • The more these experiences are coordinated, and the better that learners and families are assisted to create personally meaningful learning journeys, the greater the impact

7. Application to Jewish Education • Ad hoc collaborations, though desirable and sometimes helpful, are difficult to sustain and often fall victim to inertia and other pressing organizational priorities • Thus, there is a need for more formalized approaches to coordinating the efforts of multiple actors to maximize educational engagement and impact

8. What Is Required for Collective Impact to Succeed? • A systematic approach to social impact that focuses on the relationships between organizations and the progress toward shared objectives • A new set of nonprofit management organizations that have the skills and resources to assemble and coordinate the specific elements necessary for collective impact to succeed: • Common Agenda • Shared Measurement Systems • Mutually Reinforcing Activities • Continuous Communication • Backbone Support Organizations

9. Common Agenda • Shared vision for change • Common understanding of the problem • Joint approach to solving the problem through agreed upon actions • Agreement on primary goals, even where there are disagreements on specific dimensions of the problem

10. Application to Jewish Education • How do we achieve a shared vision for collective impact in Jewish education? • What type of shared vision is achievable given the ideological divisions in Jewish life? • What process can lead to a shared vision? • Can we move from seeing different solutions as competitive (day school vs. supplementary programs) to seeing them as complementary?

11. Shared Measurement Systems • Agreement on how success will be measured and reported • A short list of overall indicators • Shared measurement enables alignment of efforts, mutual accountability, and ability to learn from one another’s successes and failures • Different activities require different measures, but all organizations engaged in the same type of activity use the same measures

12. Application to Jewish Education • What might be shared measures of success in Jewish education? • Continuing Jewish learning through the life stages? • Self-consciously using Jewish ideas and values in one’s life? • Acting to perpetuate Jewish life? • What indicators can we track in the absence of sophisticated data? • Participation rates? • Consumer satisfaction? • How do we build the capacity and get institutions to agree to track performance using shared measures?

13. Mutually Reinforcing Activities • Because the multiple causes and components of solutions to social problems are interdependent, each stakeholder’s efforts must fit into an overarching plan if their combined efforts are to succeed • The power of collective action comes not from uniformity, but from coordinating differentiated activities through a mutually reinforcing plan of action • Each participant undertakes the specific activities at which it excels in a way that supports and is coordinated with the actions of others

14. Application to Jewish Education • In this approach, synagogues, day schools, camps, JCCs, new types of programs, etc. would each do different things (that they can do well), but in a coordinated fashion as part of a larger plan that they help to create • The plan must also encompass how these institutions / programs will interact in order to achieve results that no single one could achieve on its own • Do we have the capacity to do this kind of planning – and to implement such plans? • How do we overcome a culture of “turfism,” self-protection and competitiveness among organizations?

15. Continuous Communication • Developing trust is a monumental challenge • Time and regular meetings are needed to come to appreciate common motivations and to be confident one’s interests will be treated fairly • Creating a common vocabulary is critical and takes time • Top leaders must be involved and meeting regularly • Web-based tools can help to keep communication flowing • Rewards come in the form of learning and solving problems together with others who share deep knowledge and passion

16. Application to Jewish Education • Jewish education today continues to operate largely in a siloed fashion • Mechanisms for coordinated planning and even for dissemination and sharing of information are weak • Leaders of different institutions and sectors rarely meet for serious discussions (viz. separate conferences for day schools, camps, etc.) • Are Jewish institutions and leaders prepared to make the commitment of time and energy necessary to develop the level of trust and communication required? • What vehicles can we create to enhance communication across domains, ideologies, etc.?

17. Backbone Support Organizations • To manage collective impact, a separate organization and staff with very specific skills are needed • Key roles for the dedicated staff: • Ongoing facilitation, technology and communications support (facilitator) • Data collection and reporting (data manager) • Handling logistical and administrative details (project manager) • A highly structured process is also needed for effective decision making • Groups of participating organizations receive training, tools, and resources to define a common agenda, shared measures, and a plan of action

18. Backbone Support Organizations • Backbone organizations embody adaptive leadership: • Focus attention and create a sense of urgency • Apply pressure without overwhelming stakeholders • Frame issues to present opportunities as well as difficulties • Mediate conflict among stakeholders

19. Application to Jewish Education • Who can play the “backbone” organization role in Jewish education, locally and continentally? • What capabilities would organizations need to play this role effectively? • What other roles might they need to give up? • How does the “backbone” organization role relate to the three roles suggested for central education bodies in a paper by Meredith Woocher: gathering and disseminating knowledge, creating networks and fostering connections, and envisioning and modeling new possibilities in Jewish education?

20. Funding Collective Impact • Significant financial investment is needed for a successful collective impact initiative • Funders must be willing to • Support a long-term process of social change without identifying a specific solution in advance • Let grantees steer the work • Have the patience to stay with an initiative for years • Create and sustain the collective processes, measurement reporting systems, and community leadership that enable cross-sector coalitions to arise and thrive • Funding collective impact can be a highly leveraged investment

21. Application to Jewish Education • Are Jewish education funders prepared to adopt a “collective impact” mindset, with all that this implies about their own funding practices? • What specific new kinds of funding might be needed in a collective impact approach? • What are the incentives and barriers for funders to adopt a collective impact mindset? • Can / should funders seek to play a role as “backbone” organizations? If so, what would they need in order to play this role effectively?

22. Expanding the Impact of Collective Impact • Collective impact initiatives can learn from one another and connect across communities so individual coalitions don’t need to start from scratch • Initiatives can share adaptable tools and form communities of practice • The ultimate result is a broad-based, collaborative movement for change

23. Application to Jewish Education • “All Jewish education is local” (almost), but • Challenges are similar in many communities • Communities often need and benefit from external resources, including nationally developed and administered programs • Some challenges (e.g., personnel development) cannot be effectively addressed at the local level alone • How can we link “collective impact” initiatives across communities? • How can we act to achieve “collective impact” continentally where this is needed?