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Secrets of Successful Communities

Last year Barbara Walters asked four billionaires for their Top 20 Secrets of Success. The #2 secret? "Always be True to Yourself." It turns out that applies to communities, too. Join national thought leader Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute for an inspirational presentation: Ed will share this and other secrets of successful communities that he has gleaned over the course of decades working in small towns across the country.

And don’t come alone! Join us for the first CommunityMatters listening party; organize a group of friends or colleagues to listen in and start a conversation about how take the message to your community. We’ll provide you with a discussion guide and tools to help you organize a group to get together, get inspired, and get ready to take action. More details soon!

Thursday, August 22, 2013, 3-4 PM Eastern

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Designing for the Vision and Values of Your Community

If you want your project to truly succeed, it must reflect the vision and values of the community. But that’s easier said than done. Join this call to confirm and deepen your understanding of a community’s vision and values, learn how to use that understanding to inform design projects and a range of issues facing communities today, and hear strategies from folks that have succeeded in designing for the vision and values of their community.

We know that great things happen when you get the right people in the same place. That’s why our CommunityMatters® conferences bring together people like you - leaders, thinkers and doers committed to building vibrant communities. Attendees connect, collaborate and generate ideas, then learn about tools and techniques to take action at home.

Our next CommunityMatters conference will take place in the fall of 2014. We encourage you to check back regularly to learn more about all that we’ll offer and how you can be involved.

In the meantime, take a peak at CM'10 to get a feel for what CommunityMatters conferences are all about!

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Old Habits Die Hard: Opportunities & Curveballs in Developmental Evaluation

Developmental Evaluation (DE) offers a powerful approach for tracking and assessing innovations in complex situations. It is a process that requires but also encourages stronger relationships between social innovators and key decision makers. If you find yourself involved in the very beginning or a changing phase of a project, DE might be something that could make a world of difference to the impact you can achieve. It can be used for a range of purposes: supporting program development, developing new and innovative models, adapting effective practice to local contexts and scaling innovations.

DE has been getting increased attention, especially in Canada.  As with any new approach, as it attracts interest, -- and people begin labeling what they're doing by the new name -- "fidelity" issues arise.  DE is not for every evaluation situation.  Indeed, the niche is quite specific.  Calling an evaluation "DE" doesn't make it DE.  So what is the core of DE?  What are its minimum specifications (min specs)? What are the challenges in staying the course in developmental evaluation (and not reverting back to old habits and traditional ways of conducting evaluations). These are the issues Patton will discuss, covering enough of the basics of DE to inform those who are new to it what it is and getting into issues of fidelity, sustainability, and quality for those with more knowledge and experience.

More about the presenter:

Michael Quinn Patton is the head of an organizational development consulting business: Utilization-Focused Information and Training. Known for five influential books on evaluation, including Qualitative/Evaluation and Research Methods, he was the 1984 recipient of the Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Award from the Evaluation Research Society for "outstanding contributions to evaluation use and practice".

Dr. Patton is also the former President of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). Dr. Patton has worked with organizations and programs at the international, national, state, and local levels, and with philanthropic, not-for-profit, private sector, and government programs. He is a generalist working across the full range of efforts at improving human effectiveness and results, including programs in leadership development, education, human services, the environment, public health, employment, agricultural extension, arts, criminal justice, poverty programs, transportation, diversity, managing for results, performance indicators, effective governance, and futuring.

More about the Webinar Series:

Michael Quinn Patton is our next guest in a year-long series on social innovation and related processes, presented under our Inspiring Action for Social Impact banner. SiG is planning one webinar per month (excluding August). Our July webinar will feature Charmina Love and Amy Birchall from Volans in the UK discussing Corporate Social Innovation. Registration for this event will be available soon.

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Making Social Change: Strategies for Funders

Funders of all stripes and sizes are increasingly taking on complex societal challenges. We’re learning that many issues – from homelessness to mental illness, from environmental degradation to school drop-out rates, from poverty to unemployment – have multiple root causes and can have unforeseen interconnections. There are also many ways to tackle these complex challenges: collaboration, social innovation, research, scaling up and out, public policy, knowledge sharing, and more.

What roles can funders play in catalyzing and supporting meaningful societal change? What strategies promise greater impact and will be most appropriate for your organization? At this symposium you will learn more about change agents in Canadian philanthropy through deep dive discussions of real-life cases, overviews on new (and not so new) strategies, and plenary conversations with your colleagues who are aiming to move the needle on complex problems.

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Webinar on the report, Harnessing the Power of Social Finance

The webinar will feature important findings from the report: Harnessing The Power of Social Finance:  Canadians Respond to the National Call for Concepts for Social Finance. The Call, developed in partnership with the Voluntary Advisory Council on Social Partnerships to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, challenged Canadians to come up with their best ideas for solutions to complex labour market and social challenges (e.g., persistent unemployment, homelessness), including social finance tools. The Call was launched in November 2012 and closed on January 31, 2013. The report presents opportunities and ideas that will help pave the way toward better solutions to these challenges and harness private sector capital and best practices, and efficient business models. Siobhan Harty will present the main findings from the report and Adam Jagelewski will be a discussant and expand on general social finance issues in Canada.

Read the report, Harnessing The Power of Social Finance:  Canadians Respond to the National Call for Concepts for Social Finance.

Date: Wednesday, June 26, 12:00 noon EST

Format: Two 20-minute presentations followed by 20 minute Q&A session

Registration Info:

To register, please visit: http://mdd.adobeconnect.com/socialfinanceconnects/

Enter as a guest; allow Adobe Connects a few minutes to configure.

Dial-In: 1-866-261-6767 Participant Code: 9999017#

Although Adobe Connects can configure with your computer’s VoIP and audio system, it is highly recommended that you connect via telephone for optimum audio results. Should you have technical difficulties during the webinar, please email Tristina Sinopoli, tsinopoli@marsdd.com for assistance.

About Siobhan Harty:

Siobhan Harty was appointed Director General of Social Policy at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) in March 2012. In this role, she provides policy leadership at the federal level on income security, retirement and aging, families and care, and social innovation. She came to HRSDC from Public Safety Canada (2008-2012), where she was Senior Director, Emergency Management Planning. Prior to this, Siobhan was a policy advisor at the Priorities and Planning Secretariat, Privy Council Office (2006-2008), where she was responsible for supporting cabinet committees with advice on key social policy and justice files. She also held previous appointments at HRSDC (2002-2006). She has a PhD in Political Science from McGill University, a M.Phil. in Latin American Studies from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A. in Political Science from Concordia University. She has published books and articles on citizenship and nationalism.

About Adam Jagelewski:

Adam Jagelewski is a manager at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing in Toronto. He has supported the early development of the Centre and leads policy and talent strategies. In this capacity he continues to play a stewarding role for the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance - 10-member advisory group of leading social finance experts - and is exploring new models of finance such as the Social Impact Bond. Prior to joining the MaRS team, Adam worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Vancouver Advisory Group as a performance management consultant specializing in aboriginal and non-profit services. He focused on governance policy, community investment and performance measurement, particularly in the area of social impact. In addition to his role at MaRS, Adam helps oversee SocialFinance.ca, Canada’s leading online community for information and opinion on social finance. Adam has a degree in economics from the University of British Columbia.

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