Tools and Resources for Advancing Community-Based Systems Change

Systems change efforts require more equitable approaches to address disparities in communities, including raising community voice, changing policies, and rethinking practices. And as many foundations and community leaders develop, co-design, or refine programs in education, employment and public health, among other areas, there are opportunities for them to more deeply root investment and engage with communities to sustain their impact.

That's why, given the complexity of social change efforts in this increasingly urgent social justice and geopolitical moment, the question is no longer whether funders and community partners should invest and engage in systems change work, but how.

Mathematica and Equal Measure developed these tools and resources in collaboration with the foundation and its partners in the participating communities to advance understanding of "systems change" — that is, shifting the conditions that produce and hold societal problems in place. You will find these tools and resources in the Evidence and Insights section toward the bottom of the page.

If you have questions or comments about the tools and resources, please contact Kristin Hallgren at Mathematica.

Our Partners in Progress

Meg Long

President, Equal Measure

Kimberly Braxton Director, Equal Measure

Matthew Closter Senior Consultant, Equal Measure

Wanda Casillas

Senior Director, Equal Measure

James Liou Senior Director, Equal Measure

Wei Laiyi Consultant, Equal Measure

Key Terms in Our Tools and Resources

Community: the place that is the locus of a systems change effort and the population in that place, which a collective effort or initiative is seeking to serve

 

Backbone organization: a coordinating body that facilitates and organizes the work of partners

 

Partnership: a place-based, multi-stakeholder effort or initiative working to improve outcomes in a community

 

Partner: an individual, organization, or institution that is a member of a partnership

 

Place-based: geographically specific, as defined by the partnership; the unit may be a neighborhood, a city or town, or a state or region, depending on the partnership

 

Co-design: a collaborative process in which local stakeholders play a leading role in engaging and consulting with funders and other partners to design solutions to problems that local stakeholders have identified and prioritized

 

Systems change: shifting the conditions—including structures, practices, policies, resource flows, power dynamics, and mindsets—that produce societal problems and hold them in place; typically involves cross-sector collaboration among stakeholders from public, nonprofit, philanthropic, and/or private institutions, as well as community constituents