Backbone. Place-based approach. Cross-sector. Systems change. In our work, and the work of our partners, we often get caught up in the world of jargon and sector-specific terminology without realizing it. We can get so caught up in our day to day that we forget what these terms mean to us, our work, and the people for and with whom we are working to create meaningful change.
The focus of this month’s newsletter is systems change, reflecting specifically on what it means to us and how we integrate that perspective in all our work. Systems change means that, instead of creating a new program or policy, we look at how all the elements of a system are connected and then find leverage points to help shift parts of the system in a sustained, coordinated way over time. If this sounds like a heavy lift, it is. Systems change does not happen overnight and it can be easy to get discouraged along the way. But, we can also identify and achieve small wins that move us closer to that bigger goal, we can learn along the way and use that learning to adjust our strategies, and we can engage new voices that not only help strengthen the process, they can lead to better outcomes. We have some great resources in this newsletter, including blogs and resources that look specifically at the idea of systems change, share stories about system changes efforts, and present some tools and techniques to help reach your goals.
Spark Policy Institute develops innovative, research-based approaches to help clients solve complex societal problems that defy easy solutions.
Tools for Social Innovators
When we originally envisioned the toolkits, we saw them as a collaborative, shared resource contributed to by a network of change agents who are eager to share their knowledge, experiences, and tools for social change. So, after developing 12 toolkits on a wide range of topics for our Tools for Social Innovators series, the most recent of which is Tools for Integrating an Equity Lens, we’re hitting the pause button and taking a moment to reach out to you, our partners, for contributions. If you have a resource or case study to share we encourage you to head on over to our “contribute” page where you can submit your resource for inclusion in a toolkit!
Share this: Are you a #ChangeAgent with a tip, trick, tool or case study? Share it with us here! http://bit.ly/1JVmUM2
Effective systems change relies on good evidence; however, addressing complex problems requires thinking differently about what, exactly, good evidence means. Enter developmental evaluation (DE), a type of evaluation that is grounded in systems thinking and uses real-time data to inform decision-making as an innovation evolves. DE is thus particularly well-suited for innovations in which the path to success is not always clear. This blog post makes the case for the use of DE in addressing complex problems and creating systems change and includes a number of excellent resources for practitioners and funders who are interested in learning more about DE.
One of the things that has become clear in our work with systems change broadly and collective impact specifically is that no one program or organization can address large-scale issues on its own. Put another way, our impact goes further when we work together toward a common agenda. Over the past nine months, Spark has been serving as the backbone for the Healthy Schools Collective Impact (HSCI) initiative, which has the bold goal of ensuring all Colorado K-12 public schools provide an environment and culture that integrates health and wellness equitably for all students and staff by 2025. This blog highlights how the Initiative is working to create systems change by working collaboratively, as well as how groups facing the challenge of meeting a bold goal can move from planning to doing.
Join the conversation: How can #CollectiveImpact help support #COHealthySchools?
Systems building. Partnerships. Collaboration. These are commonly-used words in the world of social change, but what do they really mean? Systems-building work can often be abstract, so we dove in and collected stories from the Early Childhood Councils Leadership Alliance to highlight what systems building can accomplish. It’s more than just a catch-phrase, and it has real impacts on Colorado’s children and families!
Effective systems change relies on good evidence; however, addressing complex problems requires thinking differently about what, exactly, good evidence means. Enter developmental evaluation (DE), a type of evaluation that is grounded in systems thinking and uses real-time data to inform decision-making as an innovation evolves. DE is thus particularly well-suited for innovations in which the path to success is not always clear. This blog post makes the case for the use of DE in addressing complex problems and creating systems change and includes a number of excellent resources for practitioners and funders who are interested in learning more about DE.
One of the things that has become clear in our work with systems change broadly and collective impact specifically is that no one program or organization can address large-scale issues on its own. Put another way, our impact goes further when we work together toward a common agenda. Over the past nine months, Spark has been serving as the backbone for the Healthy Schools Collective Impact (HSCI) initiative, which has the bold goal of ensuring all Colorado K-12 public schools provide an environment and culture that integrates health and wellness equitably for all students and staff by 2025. This blog highlights how the Initiative is working to create systems change by working collaboratively, as well as how groups facing the challenge of meeting a bold goal can move from planning to doing.
