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…
“The response to today’s cyber threats can’t be limited to Washington,” says the author of this HBR article. “Cybersecurity isn’t just about compliance with laws and regulation — it’s about guarding businesses from the increasing dangers of persistent threats. As importantly, an effective cybersecurity framework…
“Public-private partnerships for infrastructure (often called PPPs or P3s) have been on the rise in recent years, and many experts believe the trend has yet to peak. … PPPs provide a valuable public service while shifting the financial risk to private wallets. Advocates also mention…
This article from the Harvard Business Review describes the skills that set tri-sector leaders apart. “Our research suggests that people who have succeeded in crossing sectors have had notable careers as leaders,” the authors write. “We have interviewed more than 100 tri-sector leaders around the…
This article from Governing describes the few states that have offices dedicated to examining P3 deals. The author argues that the United States should look to Canada for examples on how to do this well:“Officials in British Columbia have encountered a unique problem in recent…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher In this MIT Sloan Management Review article, Markus Perkmann and Ammon Salter discuss research partnerships comprising companies and universities: “Companies increasingly recognize that to successfully innovate they cannot exclusively rely on their internal R&D. Working with external partners allows…
“Increasingly, social and human services are paid for by governments but delivered by not-for-profit organizations. It’s time to manage the process better,” writes Peter Shergold in this article for McKinsey. He goes on to discuss the details of these new relationships, challenges that can arise,…
In this article for City Journal, Laura Vanderkam looks at the partnership between the Central Park Conservancy and New York City for lessons in how the City should handle other public spaces in a time of limited public funding. “The marriage between the city and…
“The Lodestar Foundation, founded in 1999 and based in Phoenix, has set for itself what many may consider a quixotic journey: to foster, encourage, and celebrate collaborative partnerships among nonprofit and public-sector enterprises that advance social good,” writes Feather O’Connor Houstoun in this piece for…
✴︎ Available only with purchase from publisher In this contribution to SSIR, Saphira M. Baker — former Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services for the City of Richmond, Virginia — asks the question, “What is it that makes collaborative community change efforts involving nonprofits…
In this Governing article, John Donahue warns against asking how much involvement the private sector should have in solving public problems. “The right question concerns not ‘how much’ but rather ‘how’ the private sector should be involved. There is a vast, variegated, and under-examined menu…