One of the major partners in the coalition, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, says the lessons learned from the Fund’s first seven years can help inform similar efforts.
The Knight Foundation’s Director of Strategy and Assessment, Jonathan Sotsky, says one important task is for funders of regional collaborations to staff up and do more research and analysis of regional economies. He says another is that philanthropic organizations need to support activities that generate a “mandate for change.”
“Not just efforts that have big institutions in the area sit in a room to determine strategy," says Sotsky, "But really bring residents in the region into the conversation to identify what are pressing needs in the region that residents see. Ways that residents can help to advocate for important changes.”
Knight says the Fund has been in the forefront of stimulating that type of community engagement. One such initiative evolved into the Civic Commons, which recently joined ideastream.
(Article by ideastream's Brian Bull)