In an article recently published by Community Investments Magazine, Jeff Edmondson and Nancy Zimpher delve into one of the most popular concepts in the social sector (Collective Impact) and one of the lesser understood (Civic Infrastructure).
Gaining momentum at an incredible pace, the concept of Collective Impact has infiltrated our world. Communities across the country want to have it, and citizens everywhere want to be a part of it. It’s infected the social sector, the business sector, the civic sector, and more, with an admirable passion for making intentional and measurable change where they live. But through our sense of urgency, we sometimes forget an essential component to creating the most effective and sustainable collective impact - and that is Civic Infrastructure.
In their article, “The New Civic Infrastructure: The ‘How To’ of Collective Impact and Getting a Better Social Return on Investment,” Edmondson and Zimpher walk us through the definitions of collective impact and civic infrastructure, the relationship between the two concepts, and the importance of each. Because, as they say in the article,
“It turns out that they key to improving student outcomes at the population level is not a program, but a process.”
