Collective Impact: A shared vision needed to tackle poverty

THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
By Greg Landsman

The child poverty rate in Cincinnati has grown from 20 percent in 1970 to 53 percent today, the second highest in the nation. Unless we act boldly and collectively, things will likely get worse, there will be even less fairness and equality, and poverty will further undermine the progress of our city. People throughout the city are already leading on many of these items, and have been for years. As a city, we certainly have the leadership, proven ideas, and resources to tackle child poverty in dramatic and sustainable ways. One approach being used by many in Cincinnati and across the nation to address other challenges and opportunities is collective impact. Not just people working together, although that’s a good thing. The question becomes, are we ready to establish a collective approach and shared vision to dramatically reduce child poverty, agree on a set of shared measures that we will track together for decades, and begin to seriously invest – with private and public money – in those efforts and interventions that will move kids and their families out of poverty and into more hopeful, middle-class lives. [link]