Highlights of Our Work

The Interaction Institute for Social Change has had the privilege of working with a diverse array of clients on a range of issues and challenges. The following paragraphs provide a small yet varied sampling of our work in the world and the many different ways we engage with our clients.

The Alliance

With LISC-Boston serving as the lead agency, teams from eight organizations (CDCs and intermediaries) have come together on an eighteen month peer learning project to equip themselves to facilitate dialogue within their organizations on issues of race and racism. The learning network spent time in dialogue deepening their understanding of race and racism and tackling the typical challenges associated with dialogue around these issues. The group also learned meeting design and facilitation techniques and practiced designing their own dialogues around the issues. IISC co-designed each session with members of the learning network, served as session facilitator and coach to participant-designer/facilitators, and offered selected training modules on facilitation skills and issues related to race and racism. The network is part of a larger effort to advance community development by confronting racism.

Barr Foundation Fellows Program

The Barr Fellows Program honors the contributions of the most gifted and experienced leaders in the Boston area. Over a three-year period that includes a sabbatical, international travel, a series of retreats, and peer learning, these distinguished leaders have an important opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of their organizations and find the inspiration to attain even higher levels of effectiveness, creativity, and innovation. IISC is partnering with the Barr Foundation on designing and delivering the learning components of the fellowship program.

Massachusetts Institute for Community Health Leadership

(Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts) The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation created the Massachusetts Institute for Community Health Leadership to develop the next generation of leadership in health care organizations in the Commonwealth that serve the needs of low-income and uninsured residents. The participants are community health leaders from a range of disciplines, all seeking to develop their leadership capacities and skills. As a core member of the Leadership Institute’s faculty, IISC designed and delivered five of the eight curriculum modules. These modules engaged participants in reflecting on their leadership roles and on identifying the impact they want to have individually and collectively in the field, and guided participants in their efforts to build their collaborative skills to achieve that impact.

CARE International

In partnership with CARE International and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Reflective Community Practice, the Institute worked with the community leaders of local projects in several Latin American countries to make explicit and chronicle the indigenous wisdom, knowledge, and expertise to inform the development of strategies to end chronic poverty.

Center for Collaborative Education

The Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) promotes purposeful learning and small, caring communities in K-12 public schools. CCE is deeply concerned about educational equity and provides coaching, professional development, advocacy, and research toward the development of schools that nurture every student. IISC worked with CCE staff to design and facilitate a process to gather broad stakeholder input and ultimately craft a reorganized collaborative team structure and decision-making model to better align with the shifting nature of its work as defined by revenue streams and new approaches to partnering with schools. In addition, IISC modeled and trained staff in collaborative leadership techniques.

Cherish Every Child Springfield

The Davis Foundation posed a powerful question: “What will it take for the whole city of Springfield, Massachusetts to come together around improving the lives of children?” What resulted was, according to Springfield Chamber of Commerce President Russ Denver, “The most carefully planned and well thought-out initiative around a social issue I’ve ever seen in Springfield.” IISC designed and facilitated a process involving nearly 1,000 people, causing a ripple effect of momentum and commitment among the city’s business and community organizations to focus on helping young children thrive. Throughout the process, IISC not only facilitated but trained local leaders to develop their capacity to sustain the effort.

College Summit

College Summit works in partnership with schools, school districts and colleges to develop a sustainable model for raising college enrollment rates community-wide. Trained student influencers build college-going culture, while teachers and counselors use a managed curriculum and technology tools to help all students create postsecondary plans and apply to college. IISC delivered Managing with Impact™ to develop the collaborative and leadership capacity of twenty managers at College Summit. Managing with Impact™ provides the skills and tools needed to set up new managers for immediate and lasting success with a focus on bringing out the best in the members of their teams.

The Florida Department of Health

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) is the second largest department of health in the United States. The DOH strives to promote and protect the health and safety of all people in the state through the delivery of quality public health services and the promotion of health care standards. Over the past five years, IISC has trained close to 1,000 DOH employees in Facilitative Leadership® to help develop internal collaborative capacity as well as enhance the Department’s work in underserved communities.

Ford Foundation

In an effort to generate new thinking in foreign policy and to connect people across disciplines within the foreign policy field, the Ford Foundation convened their grantees for three two-day learning events called the “Laboratory for New Thinking on Foreign Policy.” The first focused on foreign policy and democracy, the second on foreign policy and justice, and the third on foreign policy and legitimacy. In all cases, IISC designed and facilitated the laboratories, which involved Ford grantees working on foreign policy issues from a variety of perspectives. In addition to establishing connections across disciplines, the events provided opportunities for participants to explore the issues through different learning styles and new ways of using technology to foster dialogue.

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) is a coalition of more than 500 grantmakers committed to building strong and effective nonprofit organizations. GEO is partnering with IISC to develop and pilot a customized training for GEO members that focuses on strategies funders can embrace in becoming more inclusive of grantees and other stakeholders when setting goals, determining priorities, and making funding decisions. GEO also partnered with IISC on The Change Agent Project, a national initiative that gathered information about the barriers that prevent grantmakers from optimizing support of their grantees as well as identified grantee-centric innovators in the field of philanthropy.

The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund

The William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund works to improve education for Connecticut’s children by supporting school change, informing the public debate on educational issues, and strengthening the involvement of parents and the community in education. Through its Discovery Initiative, the Memorial Fund is partnering with over 50 communities across the state to improve the lives of young children, from birth through age eight. IISC has been engaged as a capacity builder for Discovery grantees by providing Facilitative Leadership® training and follow-up consulting services to strengthen collaborative skills and momentum for change.

New Leaders for New Schools

The mission of New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS) is to ensure high academic achievement for every student by attracting and preparing outstanding leaders and supporting the performance of the urban public schools they lead. IISC delivered Facilitative Leadership® to members of the NLNS staff to build their capacity to transfer the skills of collaboration to the educational leaders with whom they are working.

North Carolina Network

The North Carolina Network was established to develop systemic strategies for schools and school districts across the state to implement school-based management. The Network’s membership includes twenty-seven school districts, a university, and other nonprofit partners. Through a licensing arrangement, IISC trains NC Network trainers to offer Facilitative Leadership® to its members with the ultimate aim of creating collaborative school cultures for increased student performance.

The Peace and Security Initiative

Over 50 activist organizations, scholars, and funders were convened by the Ploughshares Fund in the face of the sobering national security environment following September 11th and the significant reduction in foundation support for nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament work. IISC designed and facilitated a collaborative planning process that involved over 650 people in developing a shared vision, strategies, and tactics to reframe peace and security issues and regain lost political relevance and effectiveness. The plan is now in the implementation phase and IISC continues to serve as the lead facilitator.

Pine Street Inn

The Pine Street Inn is Boston’s largest shelter for homeless men, women, and children. In its efforts to meet basic needs and fight to end homelessness, Pine Street provides comprehensive services to its guests, including temporary shelter, transitional housing, health care, outreach, as well as job and literacy training. IISC supported the efforts of Pine Street’s kitchen and housekeeping staff to create more effective and unified teams by facilitating dialogue and providing Facilitative Leadership® and cultural competency training.

Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM)

Over the course of a year long planning process, IISC staff worked with PPLM board members and senior management to create a five-year strategic plan that incorporated input from all staff. In addition, IISC provided training in collaborative leadership skills and coaching techniques to over half of the organization’s personnel. The result, in the words of Executive Director Dianne Luby, was “transformational.” The process of strategizing together facilitated teamwork and understanding across departments and sites as well as between board and staff. The leadership and coaching trainings developed skills that led to more focused planning, organization, and teamwork. And with its strategic plan, PPLM developed a unified vision and concrete steps for making the organization a mainstream player around reproductive rights.

Public Schools of Brookline

The Public Schools of Brookline (PSB) is a respected urban/suburban school system in the greater Boston area. PSB worked in partnership with IISC to 1) build district and school staff confidence and competence in collaboration and 2) design and facilitate a collaborative system-wide initiative to secure educational equity by working to eliminate PSB’s racial achievement gap. IISC has now been engaged to design and facilitate a strategic planning process for The Public Schools of Brookline.

Rochester Children’s Zone

The Rochester Children’s Zone (RCZ) is a community planning initiative designed to develop a comprehensive and holistic approach to improving educational outcomes for children in the Northeast neighborhood of Rochester, New York. IISC is designing and facilitating a process with a broad and diverse group of stakeholders who are seeking to share knowledge and expertise as they work to identify strategies and solutions for improving conditions – from economics and housing to health and education – for children and their families. This collaborative and inclusive process was inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City and is being catalyzed by the Rochester City School District.

Sisterhood for Peace: Transforming Sudan

IISC is working in partnership with My Sister’s Keeper, with funding from Humanity United, to mobilize African American, Sudanese, and Muslim Women in support of ending genocide in Sudan and beyond. IISC is designing and facilitating a process to build the leadership and collaborative capacity of these change agents and to amplify and weave their voices into the larger network of policy analysts, nongovernmental organizations, influential individuals, grassroots organizations and activists, students, thereby strengthening the movement for change in Sudan. Visit the Sisterhood for Peace website for more information.

Union of Concerned Scientists

The Union of Concerned Scientists – an independent alliance of more than 100,000 citizens and scientists dedicated to building a safer, healthier and more sustainable world – engaged board and staff in a year-long effort to articulate a positive vision for the future and craft a set of ambitious goals to move them in that direction. IISC designed and facilitated a process that provided opportunities for board and staff to reach agreement through active participation in the development of a visionary goal, five-year goals, and strategies. The result was a blueprint and the scaffolding needed to ensure that UCS effectively leverages its skills and resources.

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