Background
In March 2021, the members of the Collective Impact Core completed the Tamarack Institute’s Collective Impact Self-Assessment. We discussed the results of that assessment in April 2021 and decided our first priority would be creating a collaborative governance document and memorandum of understanding. Basically, we needed to agree on what we expect from each other and how we work together.
The Project
To plan our collaborative governance, we again turned to the Tamarack Institute for inspiration and followed their guidance on the components of collaborative governance.
We formed a sub-committee to discuss each component and make recommendations to the full Collective Impact Core membership. To date, the Collective Impact Core has discussed, revised, and approved each of the following:
- An agreement on how partners will work together
- An agreement on the shared values that drive the work forward
- An agreement on the shared definition of the common agenda
- A defined collaborative model which identifies the accountabilities of the partners
- Terms of reference for key players in the work
- A memorandum of understanding
All of these separate agreements were combined in to the Collective Impact Core Shared Understandings. This document was designed to be part governance agreement, part workbook. The memorandum of understanding or, as we call it, Membership Agreement is specific pages of the Shared Understandings.
Success Metrics
We have a collaborative governance agreement and memorandum of understanding that reflects our values.