One of the most interesting projects I've consulted with in the past few years was with the Ontario Literacy Coalition (OLC). The goal? To imagine, convene and implement a cross-sectoral, cross-ministerial strategy in support of intergenerational family literacy programs in Ontario. (Wow, say that 10 times fast!) Like many umbrella groups, the Ontario Literacy Coalition is a membership-based organization that works to not only increase the capacity of its member organizations, but also to act as a convening entity in the space between the public, private and charity/non-profit sectors. This is where I was invited in.
I spent months researching the most promising practices and programs in the intergenerational family literacy space. I worked to connect the dots between funders and practices in hopes of seeing the obvious way for diverse groups of stakeholders to come together and begin to build a comprehensive strategy of policy, funding and programs in the family literacy space. What my research revealed is that, like most innovative programming, the practitioners and the funders operate all over the map and have very different priorities and ideas about how to move the agenda forward.
For example, some of the most successful family literacy programs in Ontario operate out of the Toronto District School Board with consistent, on-going funding. Clearly the funder in this case will determine the service delivery mechanisms and priorities for moving forward. In another community, a critical family literacy program operates out of the basement of a library and attracts young families through free lunches and vouchers for transportation. This program constantly has to re-invent itself, even going so far as re-naming the program, in order to secure new pockets of funding. Programs across the spectrum and those who fund them have one thing in common - they believe that intergenerational family literacy programming is a key component of healthy, vibrant communities.
So how does this wide array of stakeholders begin to work together in an organized, comprehensive way WITHOUT creating yet ANOTHER organization or government body? I found an interesting solution in my work and association with an imaginative leader and practitioner at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, Tonya Surman. Tonya had previously encountered this conundrum of how to bring various stakeholders together and create some real movement on an issue without creating another organization. She started looking at how to distribute responsibilities and break projects into components and hand them off to smaller constellations of stakeholders that have a natural interest or affinity in that particular piece of the work. You assign the role of convening the larger strategy and shepherding the individual project or research constellations in the direction of the shared vision to an organization or a hired individual that acts on behalf of the collective interest.
What about funding, you ask? Well, the Constellation Model asks organizations that lead various project or research constellations to act as the flow-through for funds and distribute them to the constellation as the work requires. The key here is to identify which organization sitting at a constellation table is already in a position to lead their particular chunk of work with their constellation of stakeholders and remain accountable to the entire collective of constellations.
Sound interesting? Read my full report on applying the Constellation Model to the interests of the intergenerational family literacy stakeholders. Apparently, HRSDC/OLES thinks it's interesting too, as they recently funded the OLC to move forward with this strategy for the next two years, acting as a convening organization. Stay tuned as we follow the implementation of this interesting approach to collaboration.
For example, some of the most successful family literacy programs in Ontario operate out of the Toronto District School Board with consistent, on-going funding. Clearly the funder in this case will determine the service delivery mechanisms and priorities for moving forward. In another community, a critical family literacy program operates out of the basement of a library and attracts young families through free lunches and vouchers for transportation. This program constantly has to re-invent itself, even going so far as re-naming the program, in order to secure new pockets of funding. Programs across the spectrum and those who fund them have one thing in common - they believe that intergenerational family literacy programming is a key component of healthy, vibrant communities.
So how does this wide array of stakeholders begin to work together in an organized, comprehensive way WITHOUT creating yet ANOTHER organization or government body? I found an interesting solution in my work and association with an imaginative leader and practitioner at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto, Tonya Surman. Tonya had previously encountered this conundrum of how to bring various stakeholders together and create some real movement on an issue without creating another organization. She started looking at how to distribute responsibilities and break projects into components and hand them off to smaller constellations of stakeholders that have a natural interest or affinity in that particular piece of the work. You assign the role of convening the larger strategy and shepherding the individual project or research constellations in the direction of the shared vision to an organization or a hired individual that acts on behalf of the collective interest.
What about funding, you ask? Well, the Constellation Model asks organizations that lead various project or research constellations to act as the flow-through for funds and distribute them to the constellation as the work requires. The key here is to identify which organization sitting at a constellation table is already in a position to lead their particular chunk of work with their constellation of stakeholders and remain accountable to the entire collective of constellations.
Sound interesting? Read my full report on applying the Constellation Model to the interests of the intergenerational family literacy stakeholders. Apparently, HRSDC/OLES thinks it's interesting too, as they recently funded the OLC to move forward with this strategy for the next two years, acting as a convening organization. Stay tuned as we follow the implementation of this interesting approach to collaboration.
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