Action Teams
When Healthy Richmond’s Action Team comes together, “collaborative efficiency” is our secret sauce. Bringing together all partners and sectors that work on addressing the social determinants of health and forging the kind of relationships needed for them to work together to improve quality of life.
Action teams are at the core of Healthy Richmond’s work. Monthly meetings are meant to be a space for resident leaders (adults and youth), organizational partners, and systems partners to discuss, strategize, and execute different campaigns. Each action team focuses on a specific priority area for the hub, and generally focuses on one system in their advocacy work. Every month, we hold collective tables that bring together three key groups (Residents, Partner Organizations, and Governing System( for each of the 3 policy areas (Economy, Education, and Health). With systems and foundations at the table, it allows for a unique process to leverage resources, of public and private funds, to support the change we want to create.
Action teams meet monthly as a large group. These meetings are where updates are given about the various ongoing issues and activities. Healthy Richmond staff coordinate a working discussion, group activities, or presentations for each meeting and are scheduled to help move the work of that team along. Action teams are also the first place where grant-funded projects in the hub are voted on. Each action team also has unique roles in Collaborative work, as we learned in our early days, is a wonderful thing.
We can get so much more done! It is so rewarding to work well with others! Team-work! It is all true. Human beings have a tremendous capacity to solve complex problems when they work together. Human beings are also creatures of habit and can have a tremendous capacity to be stuck in our ways and not work particularly well with each other. Making room for each other means addressing all these points. It means recognizing each other’s strengths and allowing each organization to do the work that they do best, with a common goal/agenda. In our action teams, our “common agenda” can evolve into a campaign, and can take many forms. Whether it be a parent-led video as part of a narrative strategy or a government task force that is defined by community leadership, campaigns are what align each entity at the table and keeps our Action Team grounded.
About CAMPAIGNS
Collaborative work is very complex. We have to make room for each other, as individuals and as organizations. In order to work well together, we all need to remember that each organization at the table is there for its own organizational reason, has not only it’s own area of expertise, but also it’s own mission, vision, culture, and capacity.
When each organization has clarity as to its role and responsibilities, and when that role lifts up the organization’s strength and expertise, the organization has “a lane” to stick to, and the work flows efficiently. When organizations lack clarity as to roles and responsibilities, and/or are asked to take on roles that are not within its area of expertise, then organizations have no “lane”, congestion and frustration ensue, and the work does not flow and the campaigns associated with it.
Healthy Richmond Action Teams guide the collective efforts between the Hub Steering Committee and Hub Partners to turn the priorities for our community into a reality through a number of small and large scale “campaigns”. Action Teams provide a space for Healthy Richmond Hub partners to band together to achieve common goals. Other key strategies include creating strategic alliances, moving on immediate systems or policy initiatives, building capacity to use data-driven demands, creating pathways for resident participation and leadership, and strengthening the network of Healthy Richmond Hub partners. Campaigns are grounded in three key concepts: Resident Leadership, Narrative Control, and Policy Advocacy: Click on CAMPAIGN to learn more Click Here to learn more about
- How do partners agree to show up to the collaborative?
- How and why do partners agree to prioritize resident engagement and leadership development?
- How do partners agree to communicate and share information?
- How does the group ensure partner accountability?
- How does the group agree to gather certain data, and how will the data be used?
