The 3Cs- Coordination, Cooperation and Collaboration
By: Vani Kapoor
Tags: Social Impact, Impact, Development, Collaboration, Poverty Alleviation

In 2006, Milwaukee had one of the highest birth rates by teenage mothers in the nation. Teen pregnancy is closely linked with other issues such as poor educational outcomes, criminal activities and intergenerational poverty that marred this region. To solve this multifaceted issue, United Way of Greater Milwaukee brought together a multitude of stakeholders, ranging from public officials, nonprofits, businesses and funders and created a plan of action to nearly half the teen birth in the next 10 years. The example of Milwaukee revolves around the theme that large-scale impact stems from cross-sector coordination and collaboration rather than isolated intervention of individual stakeholders.

As of today, a majority of the interventions by the social sector involve discrete programs and isolated impact.

Consequently, more than 1 million nonprofits try to reinvent the wheel, often working at odds with each other and exponentially increasing the perceived resources required to make meaningful progress.

Large-scale social problems are complex and involve many different interdependent actors and factors. Poverty is multifaceted hence, solutions to alleviate it must be multifaceted too.In a world where breakthrough innovations are infrequent and resources are limited, substantially greater progress could be made in solving most of the serious and complex social problems if governments, the private sector and civil society partners with local expertise, experience and connections come together to build strategic and meaningful collaborations.

I believe that collaboration is a key catalyst for driving social change and creating sustainable impact. When each stakeholder views its own program as the primary vehicle for social change, it is natural to bemoan the insufficiency of resources and the resulting kaleidoscope conceals many other opportunities. However, the real problem is not the lack of resources but mismanagement and non-optimal utilization of existing resources. Collective impact, on the other hand, creates an alignment within complex relationships and forms sets of activities which, when combined with shared intentionality, cause previously invisible solutions and resources to emerge. The novelty of working with people from different sectors brings a fresh perspective that fosters creativity and intensifies motivation.

However, this shift from isolated impact to collective impact is not just about encouraging more collaboration. It requires a systemic approach towards social impact to produce true alignment and generate powerful results.

Despite the potential advantages of collaboration, building and operating a collaborative is a complex task. It is challenging to first identify the right stakeholders, organize them around a shared mission, agree on their respective roles, align on a strategy, and build consensus when circumstances alter and mid-flight modifications are required.

I believe that eradication of poverty can be accelerated by building a world of shared prosperity together. Stakeholders from all disciplines and corners of society should come together and leverage their strengths to support multifaceted and multi-stakeholder action on the ground and make systematic use of resources, knowledge, learning and innovation to help solve some of the world’s biggest development challenges.