Great post. I really like the part about ensuring communities have the space, tools, and resources to ensure their stories are heard. Looking forward to seeing more ‘stories’ about equity and community building from diverse voices.
Thanks, Sheri. The Danger of a Single Story really hit home when it was first shared with me not too long ago. Having spent the last half of my career focused on deep, true engagement and amplifying that to include those doing front-line social services, I can attest to the importance and difficulty of creating the space for their voices to be heard, respected, and included in decision-making. Without them - it won’t have the impact we seek
Thanks for the post. This is a very complex problem and understanding this complexity is one step toward creating strategies that work. I use concept maps to share ideas. This Race-Poverty map is an example. http://cmapspublic.ihmc.us/rid=1NYRZ33L1-FSPG2-31NZ/Connecting Rich and Poor in America.cmap
It shows two clusters, with nodes showing issues that affect lives of affluent people and those that affect lives of poor people. Many are the same. Some are different. The lack of available and/or affordable resources poor people have to deal with their issues is one of their challenges. Each node probably has thousands of stories that could be aggregated on some type of web forum. I someone doing that?
A similar map should be created to diagram the challenges of creating equity in collective impact. We’re sharing ideas on SSIR but how many people in poor neighborhoods have access to the internet on a regular basis and are sharing ideas and stories in forums like this? Face to face small group get-togethers are still more common in many places, but who’s capturing the stories from these spaces and using the internet, or local media, to share them beyond the small group so they are heard by more? I’ve been in this space for 20 years, and still am a small voice. How many others like me are sharing ideas, but are not yet being heard? Mapping the problem using various forms of concept mapping might show it better, engage more people, and lead to new solutions.
I am so glad to see equity as part of the collective impact discussion. At The Capacity Group (http://www.thecapacitygroup.org) we have been adding an empowerment lens and an adaptive leadership lens to the collective impact framework for a while now. To achieve equity in collective impact we need leaders that not only have the desire to bring the impacted parties to the table but also the skills and the tools to empower them in that process. It strikes me that I hear many examples of youth leadership - and I have been involved in many groups giving youth an authentic voice myself - and far fewer examples with adults. I worry it comes down to issues of which groups are easier to contain and control in the ways those of us with power feel comfortable. We are starting to see really innovative ways that groups are engaging community using tools like Photo Voice, or natural gatherings such as mural paintings to engage the community in conversation. Bringing people to a “table” is the wrong way to think about things. “Tables” are places professionals gather and where we hold power. We need to think about the places that the communities we serve feel comfortable and go there. As an aside, I want to give a plug to an organization we think has some amazing technology to bring to the table that could open up our collective conversations to broader audiences. It is Loomio (loomio.org). Definitely check it out. It won’t help us bring those most vulnerable in our community to the table who do not have access to technology, but it certainly has the capacity to broaden the number of voices and the richness of discussions by breaking them out of the confines of the standard meeting.
I am so glad to see equity as part of the collective impact discussion. At The Capacity Group (http://www.thecapacitygroup.org) we have been adding an empowerment lens and an adaptive leadership lens to the collective impact framework for a while now. To achieve equity in collective impact we need leaders that not only have the desire to bring the impacted parties to the table but also the skills and the tools to empower them in that process. It strikes me that I hear many examples of youth leadership - and I have been involved in many groups giving youth an authentic voice myself - and far fewer examples with adults. I worry it comes down to issues of which groups are easier to contain and control in the ways those of us with power feel comfortable. We are starting to see really innovative ways that groups are engaging community using tools like Photo Voice, or natural gatherings such as mural paintings to engage the community in conversation. I agree with the commenter above, bringing people to a “table” is the wrong way to think about things. “Tables” are places professionals gather and where we hold power. We need to think about the places that the communities we serve feel comfortable and go there. As an aside, I want to give a plug to an organization we think has some amazing technology that could open up our collective conversations to broader audiences. It is Loomio (loomio.org). Definitely check it out. It won’t help us bring those most vulnerable in our community to the table who do not have access to technology, but it certainly has the capacity to broaden the number of voices and the richness of discussions by breaking them out of the confines of the standard meeting.
This was very thoughtful and well presented. All social issues of concern need the perspective of every “story” no matter how unpopular or controversial the subject matter, no matter what party is involved, all positions need to be represented. Each individual has their story, providing fresh insight.
COMMENTS
BY Erin Okuno
ON October 20, 2015 09:50 PM
Great post. I really like the part about ensuring communities have the space, tools, and resources to ensure their stories are heard. Looking forward to seeing more ‘stories’ about equity and community building from diverse voices.
BY Kathy Szenda Wilson
ON October 21, 2015 06:08 AM
Thanks, Sheri. The Danger of a Single Story really hit home when it was first shared with me not too long ago. Having spent the last half of my career focused on deep, true engagement and amplifying that to include those doing front-line social services, I can attest to the importance and difficulty of creating the space for their voices to be heard, respected, and included in decision-making. Without them - it won’t have the impact we seek
BY Daniel Bassill
ON October 22, 2015 08:05 AM
Thanks for the post. This is a very complex problem and understanding this complexity is one step toward creating strategies that work. I use concept maps to share ideas. This Race-Poverty map is an example. http://cmapspublic.ihmc.us/rid=1NYRZ33L1-FSPG2-31NZ/Connecting Rich and Poor in America.cmap
It shows two clusters, with nodes showing issues that affect lives of affluent people and those that affect lives of poor people. Many are the same. Some are different. The lack of available and/or affordable resources poor people have to deal with their issues is one of their challenges. Each node probably has thousands of stories that could be aggregated on some type of web forum. I someone doing that?
A similar map should be created to diagram the challenges of creating equity in collective impact. We’re sharing ideas on SSIR but how many people in poor neighborhoods have access to the internet on a regular basis and are sharing ideas and stories in forums like this? Face to face small group get-togethers are still more common in many places, but who’s capturing the stories from these spaces and using the internet, or local media, to share them beyond the small group so they are heard by more? I’ve been in this space for 20 years, and still am a small voice. How many others like me are sharing ideas, but are not yet being heard? Mapping the problem using various forms of concept mapping might show it better, engage more people, and lead to new solutions.
BY Jill Blair
ON October 22, 2015 08:27 AM
This is a good and well presented reminder - we need to ask who isn’t at the table and why? And why???
BY Kathleen Krenek
ON October 22, 2015 11:28 AM
rather than the menu/table, a wise person of color once told me to engage a diversity of participants we need to get rid of the table.
BY Julie DiBari
ON October 23, 2015 12:48 PM
I am so glad to see equity as part of the collective impact discussion. At The Capacity Group (http://www.thecapacitygroup.org) we have been adding an empowerment lens and an adaptive leadership lens to the collective impact framework for a while now. To achieve equity in collective impact we need leaders that not only have the desire to bring the impacted parties to the table but also the skills and the tools to empower them in that process. It strikes me that I hear many examples of youth leadership - and I have been involved in many groups giving youth an authentic voice myself - and far fewer examples with adults. I worry it comes down to issues of which groups are easier to contain and control in the ways those of us with power feel comfortable. We are starting to see really innovative ways that groups are engaging community using tools like Photo Voice, or natural gatherings such as mural paintings to engage the community in conversation. Bringing people to a “table” is the wrong way to think about things. “Tables” are places professionals gather and where we hold power. We need to think about the places that the communities we serve feel comfortable and go there. As an aside, I want to give a plug to an organization we think has some amazing technology to bring to the table that could open up our collective conversations to broader audiences. It is Loomio (loomio.org). Definitely check it out. It won’t help us bring those most vulnerable in our community to the table who do not have access to technology, but it certainly has the capacity to broaden the number of voices and the richness of discussions by breaking them out of the confines of the standard meeting.
BY Julie DiBari
ON October 25, 2015 12:40 PM
I am so glad to see equity as part of the collective impact discussion. At The Capacity Group (http://www.thecapacitygroup.org) we have been adding an empowerment lens and an adaptive leadership lens to the collective impact framework for a while now. To achieve equity in collective impact we need leaders that not only have the desire to bring the impacted parties to the table but also the skills and the tools to empower them in that process. It strikes me that I hear many examples of youth leadership - and I have been involved in many groups giving youth an authentic voice myself - and far fewer examples with adults. I worry it comes down to issues of which groups are easier to contain and control in the ways those of us with power feel comfortable. We are starting to see really innovative ways that groups are engaging community using tools like Photo Voice, or natural gatherings such as mural paintings to engage the community in conversation. I agree with the commenter above, bringing people to a “table” is the wrong way to think about things. “Tables” are places professionals gather and where we hold power. We need to think about the places that the communities we serve feel comfortable and go there. As an aside, I want to give a plug to an organization we think has some amazing technology that could open up our collective conversations to broader audiences. It is Loomio (loomio.org). Definitely check it out. It won’t help us bring those most vulnerable in our community to the table who do not have access to technology, but it certainly has the capacity to broaden the number of voices and the richness of discussions by breaking them out of the confines of the standard meeting.
BY Chris Moriarty
ON October 29, 2015 07:33 PM
This was very thoughtful and well presented. All social issues of concern need the perspective of every “story” no matter how unpopular or controversial the subject matter, no matter what party is involved, all positions need to be represented. Each individual has their story, providing fresh insight.