Three years ago, while at the Joint Chiefs’ Office, I co-authored a white paper titled “Sea of Goodwill” with Major John Copeland. In it, we posited that the return of a service member to civilian society would be enhanced by the more than 400,000 resource organizations operating to bridge the gaps and improve the outcomes of soldiers drawing down from Afghanistan and transitioning to civilian lives.
The Sea of Goodwill, however, has reached a tipping point. The groundswell of support for our troops has led to an overabundance of veterans groups, which in turn is leading to a chilling effect. With redundant efforts, groups compete for the same resources and donors who are becoming skeptical that the cause they support is really having any impact at all. This is compounded by the fact that the American people know what our military is; but they may not know us. This disconnect will be compounded over the next year by the fact that our military will no longer be considered at war, after the draw down in Afghanistan. At a time when the need will be greatest, the interest will diminish due to lack of awareness.
My mission is to challenge the status quo, improve the delivery of services by moving from collaboration to local collective impact initiatives because sustaining the current landscape is simply not realistic. The question we have to ask ourselves is not what’s changed, but rather what will change. These organizations must face the sometimes painful but ultimately beneficial consolidation that private corporations have undergone for years. The Sea of Goodwill must become leaner, smarter and more consumer-friendly through virtual and literal mergers and acquisitions. We need like-minded and complementary organizations that deliver “wrap-around” services to veterans – education, employment, health care, and housing – all in one place. The organization itself must become organized in order to serve these heroes and their families.
Great resources exist for our veterans. Let’s create collective impact and put them to good use by doing the unthinkable – consolidating. Building public awareness, encouraging community involvement, and promoting community based services is not enough. Creating impact by bringing innovative solutions and delivering to the unique needs of the individuals will enable them to achieve their life goals. Communities can create systemic changes by recognizing the great work being done by groups like the Points of Light Community Blueprint as a point of departure for the discussion, but moving to collective impact initiatives will create results. John Kania & Mark Kramer’s ideas for Collective Impact in the “Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), Winter 2011” lay out the elements of success that enable impact within communities. Organizations have attempted to solve social problems by collaboration for decades without producing sustained results. SSIR describes collective impact to achieve sustained alignment of efforts requires five conditions: a common agenda; shared measurement systems; mutually reinforcing activities; continuous communications; and a backbone support organization. I would add a collective impact engine that provides the resources to achieve the common goals. This must be done locally with systemic change that focuses on the unique needs of the our veterans and their families.
