We are pleased to introduce Joseph Allen, PhD, of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)—a CUMU member—as Guest Editor of the next issue of Metropolitan Universities, “Collective Impact Strategies.” Dr. Allen is an Associate Professor in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at UNO, focusing his research on the study of workplace meetings, emotion management, and volunteer management.
Building upon early definitions of collective impact, Issue 28.4 is dedicated to exploring the phenomenon and practice of collective impact to promote social change, specifically from the perspective of institutions and organizations. Dr. Allen is the guest editor for this special issue and uses his expertise as both a researcher of and participant in collective impact initiatives to bring together the special issue here.
Though many organizations are working to accomplish similar goals in tackling social issues, they often compete for already limited resources and limit their capabilities to effectively serve communities and populations. Collective impact, flips the coin to achieve the same goals but through partnerships and resource sharing, eliminating inefficiencies, redundancy, and a further scarcity of resources from unnecessary competition.
“Although a rather new approach to targeting and seeking to improve serious social and economic challenges in communities, collective impact efforts are becoming more and more common, and their effectiveness, when implemented correctly, is undisputed,” states the UNO professor in his introduction to Issue 28.4.
Dr. Allen’s introduction is accompanied by eight other articles from researchers and community organizers across the globe. Metropolitan Universities Issue 28.4, “Collective Impact Strategies,” will be released in November 2017.