Whether you’re working on a local collective impact initiative or a national public-private partnership; whether you’re a practitioner or a researcher; whether you’re looking for basics or a detailed look at a particular topic, our Resource Library can help you find the information and tools you need for your cross-sector thinking and practice. The Library — which includes resources from research organizations, advisory groups, training organizations, academic centers and journals, and other sources — spans issue areas, sectors, and partnership types.
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There are a number of academic courses, programs, and certificates offered in the United States in which cross-sector collaboration is a major theme. We hope this list will be useful for educators who are interested in how this topic is being taught at universities across the country…
In this paper, Living Cities offers “a strategic framework for cross-sector partnerships including describing and defining the traits that make up a strong foundation, factors that influence success, and behaviors of high-impact efforts. In addition to the theory, the paper steeps these ideas in four…
This landmark SSIR article introduced the concept of collective impact and its five conditions of collective success. “Collaboration is nothing new. The social sector is filled with examples of partnerships, networks, and other types of joint efforts. But collective impact initiatives are distinctly different. Unlike…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher “Theoretical and empirical work on collaboration has proliferated in the last decade. The authors’ 2006 article on designing and implementing cross-sector collaborations was a part of, and helped stimulate, this growth. This article reviews the authors’ and others’…
“This report focuses specifically on a cross-sector collaborative effort to significantly reduce traffic congestion in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota. The organizers of the program concluded that a collaborative, multi-modal approach was crucial to making real headway on a longstanding, costly, nearly intractable…
This resource guides leaders of cradle to career education partnerships in choosing the members of their “Leadership Table” — “a formalized group of executive level members of the organizations participating in the Partnership … charged with setting the overall strategy for the Partnership, committing organizational/institutional…
“STEM learning ecosystems harness unique contributions of educators, policymakers, families, and others in symbiosis toward a comprehensive vision of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for all children. This paper describes the attributes and strategies of 15 leading ecosystem efforts throughout the country with…
“Public-private partnerships aren’t new in higher education. But, in 2012, some especially compelling financial reasons accelerated development of public-private partnerships between public universities and private entities in their communities. Public institutions have never been under more pressure to find alternative sources of revenue to help…
The Building an Accountability Structure Toolkit aims to help members of a cradle-to-career partnership: Understand the importance of an accountability structure. View different types of structures and their respective advantages and disadvantages. Understand and outline the roles and responsibilities that need to be accommodated in…
“Foundations have a long tradition of convening and funding collaborative groups with the hope that this will lead to large-scale impact. Although funder-driven collaboration sometimes leads to breakthrough solutions, foundations have also pushed the participating organizations into artificial, awkward, and unsustainable efforts. This article argues…
✴︎ Available with free registration “E3 Alliance is a collective impact initiative designed to align the region’s education systems so all students succeed and lead Central Texas to economic prosperity. This case study provides collective impact backbone organizations, funders, and partners with an overview of…
“The purpose of this resource is to provide a guide for partnership staff in addressing common challenges while building an accountability structure, particularly ensuring the structure is suited to meet local, contextual needs. It provides questions to consider when building your unique accountability structure to…
“The Better Data toolkit helps partners in a collective impact effort collect better data and use it to drive decisions. It guides them to collect complete data about youth outcomes, community supports, and leadership actions; align and connect data for decision making across systems; and…
“This case describes an ongoing collaborative process — the Tech Valley Civic Forum in New York State’s Capital Region — that was mobilized in the civic space of collective activity among the state, the market, and individuals. The Forum involves non-profit, business, government, and education…
This workshop at the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation’s 2006 conference “addressed how civic engagement practitioners can assist local governments in thinking systematically about and choosing among the various forms of civic engagement in public decision-making.” The materials from that workshop can be found…