International SIG
Topic: How do you partner for sustainable impact?
Facilitators: Frank Page
Frank Page has over 25 years of international development experience in Africa and Asia. For almost 20 years, as an independent consultant in Southeast Asia, Mr. Page worked with donor projects and NGOs conducting organizational assessments, project evaluations, strategic planning, and staff training in community engagement and organization capacity building. In 2013, Mr. Page established Cooperative Capacity Partners, a consulting firm that provides metrics and feedback systems to help well-intentioned international development actors strengthen their partnerships and achieve sustainable impacts. Mr. Page has Master Degrees in International Agricultural Development and Organization Development.
Program Description:
There is a general recognition that strong partnerships are critical for achieving sustainable impact from development projects. Both donors, such as USAID and the World Bank, and NGOs, officially recognize the importance of building viable partnerships as a key part of the development process.
However, there are difficulties in developing effective partnerships between outside agencies and client (host) country stakeholders. The challenges range from low capacity in partnering on both sides to systemic challenges which include not taking into account the system of relationships in which partners are embedded, short project duration (in relation to impacts hoped for) and donor demands for immediate results.
If sustainable project impact is the goal, there is a strong need for mapping partnership systems and applying metrics to measure partnership effectiveness. Mapping partnerships and clear metrics for measuring partnerships are needed to allow programs and donors to:
• Identify the relationships within the partnership system that are holding back the targeted program partnership
• Set goals and track progress in developing partnerships
• Justify the time, effort, and resources necessary for partnership development
• Hold implementers accountable for developing partnerships, and
• Measure the extent that permanent local stakeholders have taken ownership of implementing project processes and the continued achievement of project results.
In this session, we will discuss a simple Partnership Map and explore five collaborative states that are leading indicators of project and partnership effectiveness. As leading indicators, the five collaborative states tell us effectiveness of partnerships and can be used to set a baseline for planning and monitoring. Combining the Partnership Map with the five states, we can identify the partnerships holding back a program and create capacity building strategies that will strengthen the partnership system and increase the likelihood of sustainable impact.
The goal of the session is to show how mapping partnership systems and assessing collaboration can be used to measure and plan for strengthening partnership systems. We will discuss the:
• A simple Partnership Map
• Definitions of each of the five cooperative states that measure partnerships (for an introduction to the five states as they relate to partnerships, please see the web page, http://www.cooperativecapacity.com/#!partnership/c177q)
• Simple rules to help develop partnership development strategies
- 6:30 to 7:00 Networking and Sign In
- 7:00 to 9:00 Presentation and Discussion
Location:
1625 Massachusetts Ave NW, Room 208
Washington, DC 20036
JHU Carey School of Business – Near DuPont Circle
Attendance policies: Please register so we know how many will attend. After you have registered for the SIG meeting, if you won’t be able to attend, please contact Margarita and Priscilla at
CBODNinternationalSIG@gmail.com to let them know.
