Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone, spoke at Independent Sector last night.  He was awarded the 2009 John W. Gardner Leadership Award “in recognition of his groundbreaking success in helping children and families in Central Harlem to break the cycle of generational poverty.”  In a word, he is amazing.  Visionary, inspirational, entertaining… a model for all of us.  His work with the Harlem Children’s Zone exemplifies an approach that is receiving a lot of attention at this conference, and rightly so:  we cannot work in silos, attacking a problem from one angle only.  To be truly successful, we need to think much more holistically.  It’s not just violence, or hunger, or education, or parenting skills… to address big problems, we need big solutions – solutions that address all elements of life in the community we’re trying to serve.  One organization can try to do that alone, but it is in partnership with others that the true potential for greatness lies. 

The passion of the Independent Sector is readily evident here, as is the desire to really roll up our collective sleeves and tackle the big problems facing our country and our world.  Just a few of the quotes that have struck me these last few days:

 “…focus on common moral imperatives.  Don’t go left, don’t go right – go deeper.” – Jim Wallis, Sojourners

“As long as we set organization-level goals, as opposed to community level or national-level goals, we won’t succeed.  How can we claim institutional success if the community is crumbling around us?” – Brian Gallagher, United Way Worldwide

What is needed for this type of community-level collaboration?  “Identify your friends and engage them,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, of the NAACP.  For me this really highlighted the value of social network mapping.  Who else is out there, working on this issue, or related issues?  Who else works in your community, period?  Who can you engage in a strategic discussion about to really make a difference?

Collaborative funding, or “strategic co-funding” as REDF has referred to it – seems like another imperative for the sector.  Our problems are big, and we need real investment.  Last year, 10 foundations pledged a total of $100 million over eight years to help restructure Detroit’s economy and position the city for the future.  Why isn’t that happening in every major city?  On every major issue?

Tags: civic engagement, collaboration, community, education, harlem children's zone, independent sector, parenting skills, poverty

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 10:29 am and is filed under Civic Engagement and Volunteerism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.