We are excited to share a big milestone with you. The Collective Impact Forum podcast has surpassed 100,000 streams!
Launched in early 2020, the Collective Impact Forum podcast has served as another way for us to provide resources for and uplift the voices of collective impact practitioners. Through a variety of discussions, we’ve been able to explore multiple facets of collaborating to achieve equitable systems change, including building common agendas, sustaining cross-sector partnerships, elevating community voice, and much more.
We are very thankful to all of you who have been tuning in, whether it is through listening, reading episode transcripts, or recommending specific episodes to colleagues. We wouldn’t have hit this milestone without you!
To celebrate, we are sharing some of our team’s (and some of our fans’) favorite episodes. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the podcast yet, perhaps one of these episodes may provide some support and inspiration.
And if you are wondering how to listen, you can find them in our resource library, as well as on your preferred podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Just search for “Collective Impact Forum.”
Episode Recommendations from our Co-Hosts
In the episode Achieving Transformational Results in Housing Through Partnerships, we learned about Lift to Rise’s work to increase housing stability and economic mobility in California’s Coachella Valley. This conversation really inspired me. The results achieved by Lift to Rise are tremendous—building thousands of much-needed housing units in the region. Their work very tangibly illustrates how a collective impact effort can shift complex systems at scale. In addition, Heather Vaikona from Lift to Rise is a truly exceptional leader that we can all learn from! – Jennifer Splansky Juster, Executive Director, Collective Impact Forum
A meaningful conversation I moderated was with Don Williams of JumpStart, focused on building community partnerships. JumpStart helps incarcerated individuals break cycles of crime and addiction, aiming to reduce recidivism and improve economic mobility. Don’s goal was to create a support system for those reentering society, but a major challenge was changing the mindsets of potential partners. He emphasized relationship-building and shifting the narrative about incarcerated individuals. Don’s persistence in the face of limited support, and his focus on building connections across differences, inspired me. This work reminds me that transforming communities requires ongoing collaboration, even through doubts. – Courtney W. Robertson, Director of Programs and Partnerships, Collective Impact Forum
One episode I reflect on often is my conversation about transformative solidarity with Adaku Utah from Building Movement Project. What resonated with me most is the recognition that we can’t separate systems from the people within them. Real transformation requires being in relationship not just with the systems we seek to change, but with the people who shape them. And that can be hard, especially when these very systems uphold the conditions that sustain inequities. It leaves me thinking about how we balance shared humanity and accountability in the work of transformation. – Cindy Santos, Senior Associate, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
Recommendations from Fans
I’ve listened to several of the episodes multiple times; it’s hard to pick just one to recommend! Among recent episodes, I found Why Is Backbone Leadership Different? particularly worth a repeat. It has so many good lessons about leadership of social impact efforts, generally, and especially about building relationships for effective partnerships when working across different sectors and contexts. The episode is chock full of helpful insights, specific skillsets, and examples that I refer to when speaking with companies about partnering with collectives and backbone organizations. – Nikhil Bumb, Managing Director, FSG
My favorite podcast episode was The Power of Parent Engagement, with Child Safety Forward and their work in Hartford, Connecticut. It was about parent participation and advocacy within this program. The parents themselves were part of the podcast and hearing from them directly really was informative. Their words and their stories were so compelling that I have never forgotten the conversation. I thought at that time this model of working with parents should be the norm everywhere. – Patti Gray Whann, parent of podcast producer Tracy
Recommendations from the Podcast Producer
Hi, everyone. This is Tracy Timmons-Gray, and I’m the main instigator for the CIF podcast. As the producer of every episode so far, I think they are all great! 🙂 But I’ll pull out a few that have really stuck with me.
Bringing an Anti-Racist Approach to Collective Impact: This conversation with my FSG colleague Miya Cain and Dr. Zea Malawa from Expecting Justice was like a mini-master class on what it really means to “embed equity” into every facet of the work, including within one’s governance and steering committees. How Expecting Justice has prioritized and centered mothers in every part of their work is a great example for anyone wanting to know how to be grounded within community.
For Philanthropy to Succeed, All Strategies Must Address Disability: As a disabled person, the topic of disability is one that is close to my heart and I was so grateful to learn from three disabled philanthropy leaders as they shared why it’s so necessary for every foundation strategy, no matter the issue, to include disability in some way. Shout-out to my colleague Miya Cain for moderating such an important discussion.
Defending and Advancing Democracy and Equity in Collective Impact Work: One of our most recent episodes, this discussion with Junious Williams, Erika Bernabei, and Theo Miller explores the changes already happening due to recent policies by the Trump Administration, and how those policies have affected collective social change work. “Sobering, but hopeful,” was the vibe, but I’ll be honest and say that I cried at one point while editing. In the discussion, Erika, Theo, and Junious bring up some very real, heavy topics that many of us are facing right now. There are no easy answers, but their thoughtful advice was helpful as we look to a long hard road ahead.
Thank You for Tuning In!
THANK YOU to everyone for your support of the podcast! We will continue to share stories and uplift practices from the field, and we are so grateful to have you part of this ongoing learning journey!
Until the next episode!
Gratefully yours,
The Collective Impact Forum Team
