Crosswalk of Frameworks for Understanding Systems Change

This resource presents a crosswalk of place-based systems change frameworks to identify their most common elements. It can serve as a guide for funders, practitioners, and other stakeholders to inform their efforts to support, develop, or refine place-based systems change.

The crosswalk distills common elements of systems change, which the review team identified through a literature review and an evaluation of community-led systems change initiatives. It then maps these elements to 13 prominent systems change frameworks. Identified through a search of publicly available sources, the 13 frameworks draw from learning within philanthropic and nonprofit sectors and across multiple content areas, including early childhood, K–12, and postsecondary education; workforce and economic mobility; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.