Place
does matter according to this week's blogger, community development pro Beth Nagy. Beth explores the challenges and successes of local community development collaborations in Cincinnati, offers advice for aspiring development professionals to be, and shares the love of her own 'place that matters' in Clifton Heights.
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SoapBlog 2: What are Silos and Why Do They Exist?
Posted By: Beth Nagy
8/26/2009
Let's begin by defining silo behavior as the execution of seemingly interconnected activities being supported by a variety of organizations with little or no collaborative or coordinated alignment. Think about its inefficiency and thus ineffectiveness. Now consider a group of philanthropists, corporate entities, community developers, community-based organizations and resident leaders all saying "we all care about the same thing, why doesn't our business model reflect the collaboration necessary to advance an agenda of asset-based community development?" This is one of the ideas that the Community Building Institute is advancing and I am proud to be a part of that.
An example of a powerful collaboration is that of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) and Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). Just recently, CPS and CRC collaborated in a new and productive way. CRC is in the midst of their facility planning. CRC was using 2000 Census data to plan youth service location capacities, but it is 2009 and the best data source needed is right up the street and probably on speed dial. CPS maintains reliable population data for kids in kindergarten to grade 12 on an annual basis for all kids in the district, no matter what school they attend. This data is crucial for CRC to plan for their facilities just like CPS did with the CPS Facilities Master Plan. A complimentary and new way of collaborating on behalf of the community.
place matters, a comprehensive community initiative in Greater Cincinnati, asks people to change the way "business as usual" is conducted by deliberately introducing levels of collaborative accountability and capacity building assets advancing an agenda of healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities. It makes better sense every time I think about it and wonder how silos can still operate in this era if the complete model of partners, collaborative decision-making structure and leveraged investment model is in place.
As new generations of community and philanthropic leadership flow into the world of community development, we must consciously assert our moral and ethical values toward an end of supporting community endeavors that can be mutually agreed upon, supported and measured to sustain the American Dream for all people and places. I am proud to be a part of that movement.
Do you know of silos that exist and if so, how would you propose breaking them down?