Mark Holmgren's Blog
The challenges we face with respect to building more affordable housing are complex to state the obvious, and resolving them calls for an integrated set of strategies that go far beyond the actual building of more housing. Here are some of the challenges we need to address: AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS AN ECONOMIC PROBLEM People cannot … Continue reading Affordable Housing is an Economic Problem
I have written in the past about what I call the pendulum swing or the bandwagon effect. I think this is what has happened with respect to collective impact over the past 10 years. I suggest it also occurred in the late 1980s when outcome measurement rode into town on its stallion named Logic Model. … Continue reading Collective Impact as Uprising
Funders should apply to community agencies to fund them. Can you get your head around that? What would that look like? Why would that approach be more impactful and cost-effective than current practice? Would this upside down version of funders foster more partnerships? Would there be a transformative power-shift? One of my favorite upside down … Continue reading Upside Down Thinking: Funders should be Rebels
Collective Impact is multi-sector approach to large-scale collaboration that is authentically inclusive of citizens in its development and implementation - in particular citizens who have life-experience with the big problems or issues being addressed, such as poverty, climate change, family violence, and so many more. Collective Impact is not an approach aimed at creating program … Continue reading About Collective Impact: Types of Problems, Degrees of Change, Learning Loops, and Methods of Thinking
In July and August, I sought out individuals in my personal and professional network to contribute to a major paper I was writing on Collaborative Leadership and Co-Creating Cities of the Future. I sought out participation through Facebook, via a survey which I promoted in emails and through Twitter. The paper was released last week … Continue reading 35 Voices On Collaborative Leadership and Co-Creating Cities of the Future
I came across an article by George Monbiot (www.monbiot.com) that appeared in the Guardian this July. In this article, Monbiot writes about James McGill Buchanan, an economist influenced by neoliberalism and deeply funded by billionaire Charles Koch, the 7th wealthiest person in the world. According to Monbiot, Buchanan was an advocate for what he called … Continue reading Democracy is dying. Time to get to work.
Note: In addition to writing about community change and penning commentary, I am a story teller. I write fiction and spoken word. This piece is a mix of fact and fiction, often called "faction." One of my small luxuries in life is having someone come to my house weekly and clean it. I tell myself … Continue reading LIVING POOR: KAREN’S STORY
