Coalition and Community Building for Collective Impact / Webinar Recap

Thanks to everyone who joined the third webinar in our Navigating Chaos series. We hope you learned something and have a few new ideas for creating thriving communities and coalitions.

We were joined by Kellen Moody of Alluvium Gatherings for a thoughtful conversation. If you missed it, here's the replay. Read on below for highlights and links to resources from our presenters.

Key Takeaways from Our Conversation

Trust is fundamental to community success, and shared values create common ground.

But, building trust takes time and cannot be done overnight. Storytelling and vulnerability build empathy and can be key to building a strong community.

Relationship-building is the real work.

Building human connections isn't secondary to a community's goals. It’s critical. Giving time for chit-chat and opportunities to know one another serves a crucial purpose. Intentional gatherings - both in person and digital - build stronger communities, making it important to deliberately create space for personal connection. While communities may have urgent work to do, urgency can undermine inclusion. Rushing to complete tasks often leads to setting aside important relationship-building that ultimately makes a community stronger.

Honoring different experiences builds inclusion.

It is important to acknowledge and respect diverse lived experiences, even when they differ from our own.

Structure is liberating, not limiting. Co-creation of structure is essential.

Without structure, participation can become challenging and even intimidating. Clear expectations ("what we're asking of you" and "what you can expect from us") create safety for community members to participate. Successful community work involves understanding your specific strengths and contributions while trusting that others are doing their part in different areas.

Small groups often work more effectively. Large communities often function through smaller sub-groups.

Small actions connected to larger actions can create a significant cumulative impact, even when individual small groups might not seem to have an enormous influence on their own. For new coalitions, it is helpful to start narrow and expand the scope gradually, as trust grows.

Rest is revolutionary.

Taking time to recharge is essential and not a sign of weakness. In a trusting community, members can step back when needed, knowing others will continue the work.

Clear expectations and accountability matter.

Establishing clear behavioral guidelines and accountability structures creates safe, inclusive spaces.

Balance quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure progress.

Data-driven key performance indicators (KPIs) can be helpful to show impact but considering qualitative goals such as trust and empathy are also important. Communities and coalitions rarely follow a straightforward trajectory, and ebbs and flows are natural.