Consultant outlines collective‑impact steps for Tennessee collaborators

Melissa Umer, a consultant who has worked with FSG and collective‑impact initiatives, gave a practical primer to Commission participants on how to organize cross‑sector work to change systems rather than scale isolated programs.

She defined collective impact as “a network of community members, organizations and institutions that advance equity by learning together, aligning, and integrating actions to achieve population and systems‑level change,” and walked participants through the model’s five core elements: a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication and backbone support. Melissa emphasized backbone neutrality and the importance of investing time to build trust and buy‑in rather than rushing the process.

To illustrate results, she cited case studies: a Staten Island opioid response where a neutral convener aligned public health, schools and law enforcement and achieved a 32% reduction in overdose deaths in three years; and a juvenile justice–education pilot in Omaha that cut school‑based arrests 50% at pilot sites by improving communication among school resource officers, probation officers and school staff. She urged attendees to embed equity and resident voice in design and to focus on measurable, incremental changes in policy, practice and behavior as steps toward population‑level outcomes.

Melissa concluded with practical cautions: do not self‑declare a backbone without neutral credibility, do not skip community engagement or short‑term wins, and build measurement for behavior and practice change rather than waiting for long‑term population changes before reporting progress.