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Collective Impact

is an approach for bringing people together in a structured way to achieve systemic social change. The community of ������Ƶ is a nationally-recognized leader in successful collective impact initiatives, and together with the , ������Ƶ College is proud to serve as a strong “backbone” for these cross-sector collaborations. Together the backbones maintain focus, foster collaboration, and ensure the initiative’s sustainability by guiding vision and strategy, facilitating aligned activities, establishing shared measurement, building public will, mobilizing resources, and strengthening internal capacity. 

Some of these network-based coalitions for community change include: 

������Ƶ Education Partnership

The supports youth and families in ������Ƶ, Iowa, by aligning community organizations toward shared educational goals. Formed in 2015 as part of the national Campaign for Grade Level Reading, GEP is a network of over 20 organizations creating opportunities for children and families through transformative education partnerships.  Local expertise comes from community organizations, funding is managed by the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation (GPCF), and the network’s collaborative infrastructure is provided by ������Ƶ College. 

Podcast

Listen to the Networks for Social Impact podcast with Northwestern University Professor Michelle Shumate as she interviews Monica Chavez-Silva to learn about the ������Ƶ Education Partnership. Chavez-Silva shares about the campaign and how this program originated and continues to evolve and thrive in the rural community of ������Ƶ. To hear the full podcast, visit .  

Build a Better ������Ƶ

Funded by the USDA’s Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge (RPIC) along with ������Ƶ College, the City of ������Ƶ, ������Ƶ Mutual, and the Claude & Dolly Ahrens Foundation, the launched in 2022 as a multi-year, multi-sector, community-based initiative to assess and activate ������Ƶ’s strengths, needs, and aspirations for residents, workers, and those who rely on ������Ƶ’s resources. The research identified and prioritized issues, with specific goals of fostering community pride, strengthening collaboration, and driving community development. Along with serving as co-backbone with the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation, ������Ƶ College played a pivotal role in securing and hosting the USDA grant, directing the community-based participatory research, and providing important back-bone coordination and support for the overall project success.

������Ƶ Alliance

Created in response to a series of racial harassment incidents on and around the ������Ƶ College campus in 2022, a group of volunteers from all over the ������Ƶ community came together to identify ways to ensure ������Ƶ is a place where everyone knows they belong. Consisting of residents, leaders, and friends of ������Ƶ, the is a group of people who value the community and want to see it thrive. Bringing together a range of perspectives, the ALLiance is focused on connecting individuals, students, community, and systems to foster a spirit of collaboration and belonging.