Initiatives and Collaborative Work. Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative. The Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative (BAWFC), an Initiative of The San Francisco Foundation, is a nationally recognized initiative led by local and national foundations to address the skills gap that leaves too many job- seekers and workers in poverty while employers are unable to meet needs for a skilled workforce. Launched in 2. 00. BAWFC seeks to enhance economic competitiveness and reduce poverty by strengthening the ability of the workforce development system to meet the needs of employers and low- skilled adults. Read more. District 1. Benefits. An important component of the 7. Hunter. It provides over $3. San Francisco. The Foundation also acts as an advisor so that the IC may achieve maximum grantmaking impact in the areas of workforce development and affordable housing. The Financial Empowerment Program recently launched at the offices of the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation. Read more. Workforce Fund. The Workforce Fund is a five year funding initiative totaling $3,0. CPMC applicant pool, as well as for in- demand occupations that offer a living wage and strengthen the workforce preparation and referral system. In its first year, Workforce Fund will make grants to job readiness training and on- the- job training programs. The Workforce Fund will serve San Francisco residents of the Chinatown, Western Addition, Tenderloin, Mission/SOMA, Outer Mission/Excelsior, and Southeastern neighborhoods applying for non- construction positions. The Workforce Fund is a partnership between The San Francisco Foundation. Building Collaborative Communities - An Essay by Scott London. In 1. 99. 5, I was commissioned by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change to study how collaboration was being used in the United States to build and strengthen community. While there are many forms of collaboration, my research focused on one type in particular—the kind carried out by individuals, groups and organizations in the public sphere. This form of collaboration can be described as a process of shared decision- making in which all the parties with a stake in a problem constructively explore their differences and develop a joint strategy for action. This essay appears in 'On Collaboration' — a collection edited by Marie Bak Mortensen and Judith Nesbitt (London: Tate, 2. It was widely cited in books and publications and reprinted in several monographs. After concluding the study, I went on to observe and work with collaborative teams across America as well as study community leaders who practice collaboration as part of their community development work. I found that collaboration can be a powerful alternative to conventional mechanisms for effecting change, such as coalitions, task forces, and commissions. Traditional groups and organizations tend to be structured vertically. The Memphis Medical District Collaborative (MMDC) is a 501 c 3 non-profit community development organization focused on improving the public realm and built. Decisions are made at the top and people derive their influence and authority from their positions within the hierarchy. This is especially true in professional organizations where leadership is centralized, the work mission- driven, processes guided by procedures and statutes, and internal communication mostly confined to departments, workgroups, and committees. Collaborative groups, by contrast, are structured horizontally. Leadership, to the extent that it exists at all, is broadly distributed. EDC-VC focuses on attraction, retention and expansion of businesses in Ventura County through economic development programs for residents. Community Development Collaborative Program Elective Courses, 2013-14 page 2 of 2 Geography & Planning JPG 1508H Planning with the Urban Poor in Developing. The CONNECT Project: Collaborative Community Development. The YMCA works for youth development. Community Development Collaborative Program BetweenJob titles and professional affiliations fade into the background and people derive their influence from having their ears to the ground, from being well- connected in the community, and from being engaged in a multiplicity of projects. Membership usually spans silos and divisions in the community, processes are guided by norms of trust and reciprocity, and communication is more personal, more conversational, more exploratory than in formal settings. For this reason, collaborative efforts tend to be loosely structured, highly adaptive, and inherently creative. By creating spaces where connections are made, ideas are cross- fertilized, and collective knowledge is developed, collaborative teams generate rich opportunities for innovation. When the right people are brought together in constructive ways and with the appropriate information, they are able to create powerful visions and robust strategies for change. While collaboration is getting a lot of attention today, especially in the fields of management theory and leadership studies, there is relatively little substantive research on the subject. There is, however, a growing body of literature championing its benefits. In the following pages, I review some of the principal sources in order to better understand: What is collaboration? How does it differ from other models of cooperation? What are the prerequisites and dynamics of effective collaboration? What makes an effective collaborative leader? What are some of the chief dangers and obstacles to successful collaboration? And how do we build more collaborative communities? WHAT IS COLLABORATION? As its Latin roots com and laborare suggest, collaboration reduced to its simplest definition means . These range from the academic (. One of the more durable and widely- cited definitions comes from Barbara Gray's 1. Collaborating: Finding Common Ground for Multiparty Problems. Gray describes collaboration as . Collaboration requires that we look not only at the outcomes of our efforts, whatever they happen to be, but also at the process by which we arrive at those outcomes. Collaboration might be used to resolve a neighborhood or environmental dispute. It could be a springboard for economic development in a community or region. Or it could be used to promote greater civic participation and involvement. Generally speaking, the process works best when. The problems are ill- defined, or people disagree on how the problems are defined. Different groups or organizations with a vested interest depend on each other in some way. Those with a stake in a problem have yet to be identified or organized. Some stakeholders have more power or resources than others. Those with a vested interest have different levels of expertise and access to information about the issue. The problems are often characterized by technical complexity and scientific uncertainty. Differing perspectives on the problems lead to conflict or disagreement among the stakeholders. Incremental or unilateral efforts to address with the issue have been ineffective. Existing processes for addressing the problems have proved unsuccessful. Collaborative endeavors take many forms. Some common varieties include: public- private partnerships (sometimes referred to as social partnerships)—ad hoc alliances between otherwise independent organizations that span both the public and the private sectors; future commissions, also known as search conferences, in which citizens and community leaders analyze trends, develop alternative scenarios of the future, and establish recommendations and goals for the community; interagency collaborations aimed at improving social services to children, families, and other members of a community; online networks designed to link various civic, educational, business, and governmental institutions within a community or region; school- community partnerships designed to foster greater collaboration between secondary schools and key community institutions; networks and coalitions—loosely structured alliances among groups, organizations, and citizens that share a commitment to a particular issue or place; and regional collaboratives where local governments work together to promote economic development and service delivery. COLLABORATION VS. OTHER MODELS OF COOPERATIONCollaborative partnerships can be broadly grouped under two headings: those aimed at resolving conflicts and those designed to develop and advance a shared vision for the future. In both cases, the process is aimed at carefully defining and, if need be, redefining the issues involved before moving on to solutions. Collaboration focuses on identifying a common purpose and working toward joint decisions. This distinguishes it from other forms of cooperation that may involve shared interests but are not based on a collectively- articulated goal or vision. In What It Takes, an oft- cited 1. Atelia Melaville and Martin Blank point out that . The literature is full of examples of how community organizations—religious groups, trade unions, nonprofit groups, small businesses, civic alliances—form cooperative ventures, community interest groups, neighborhood task forces, and political coalitions. But these efforts are rarely collaborative in the strict sense. The goal is to join forces to advance a cause, which is different from collaborating to address a collective problem or develop a joint vision for the future. THE PREREQUISITES FOR COLLABORATIONFor collaboration to be effective, it must be democratic and inclusive. Hierarchies of any kind get in the way of sound decision- making, just as excluding some individuals or groups with a stake in the issue can derail the process. It also requires the involvement of a wide range of community leaders, such as mayors, city council members, nonprofit directors and members of the local school board. In a series of case studies of successful collaboratives, David Chrislip and Carl Larson point out that each one . Clearly, some forms of collaboration—such as interagency partnerships—require only that the relevant stakeholders be included. Chrislip and Larson emphasize that the support of high- level, visible leaders . In this way, they all depend on each other to produce mutually beneficial solutions. Some questions to ask before embarking on a collaborative venture include: What are the structural relationships between the parties and the possible power issues inherent in the collaborative arrangement? Is there a clear understanding among all the parties of the respective goals of the other participants? What form of leadership is required to facilitate the process? Does the project have some form of integrating structure, such as a cross- section of steering committees, to facilitate and coordinate decision- making and implementation? Will the project be more effective with a neutral, third- party mediator? Should the media be involved? Does the project have enough time, money, and staff support? THE DYNAMICS OF COLLABORATIONThe process of collaboration is rarely simple and straight- forward. It typically moves through several distinct phases, some of which can be time- consuming and fraught with challenges. Generally speaking, the process begins with an analysis of the situation and a diagnosis of the key issues involved. It moves on to a definition of the fundamental mission or desired outcome. The participants then articulate a common vision and work out a plan and a timetable for meeting their goals. It most cases, the process concludes with an assessment of the outcomes and a review of lessons learned. Barbara Gray describes it as a three- phase process. The first phase, which she calls the prenegotiation or problem- setting phase, is often the most difficult.
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