Magnolia Community Initiative: A Network Approach to Population-Level Change

This 2014 case describes how the Los Angeles-based Magnolia Community Initiative (MCI) – a network of 70 government, nonprofit and for-profit organizations from multiple sectors – is trying to create population-level change for 110,000 people in a neighborhood plagued by poverty and low education levels. The case discusses the challenges for such a network and raises questions about 1) how to measure progress and outcomes and 2) what factors contribute to success or failure. The six-year-old initiative had built the large network, linked participating organizations together to better serve clients, and designed a new data-driven system for measuring progress and outcomes. However, MCI had not yet seen any improvements in population-level outcomes or intermediate-level outcomes for the neighborhood. MCI is an example of “Collective Impact,” an approach to solving social problems that involves commitment from many groups around a common agenda – with the specific features of a centralized infrastructure, a dedicated staff, a structured process, shared measurements, continuous communication and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants.