Congratulations on completing Phase One of the Growing Impact program with BC Healthy Communities!

In 2016, BCHC welcomed four collaborative groups from change-ready communities into the first cohort of the program. Offered as part of the Healthy Communities’ Capacity Building Fund, Phase One provided an integrated suite of supports that included a two-day applied learning session, coaching, participation in the provincial Community Of Learning and Practice and grants of up to $15,000.

Together we have adapted, learned and evolved, and the result is Phase Two of the Growing Impact program, beginning early in 2017! We know that the impact-focused systems change work you are undertaking is often a long-term process, so this year, you are invited to apply for Phase Two Growing Impact supports. 

This will allow you to continue exploring and applying a range of innovative tools, mindsets and practices to deepen the impact of your collaborative initiative. Market value for these supports is $20,000, and will again include applied learning sessions, coaching, and the provincial Growing Impact Community of Learning and Practice. Grants issued in Phase One may continue to be used to support this work through the fall of 2017 (please note: no additional funds will be issued in Phase Two).

Overview of Phase Two

Phase Two will support approved collaborative leadership teams to continue developing core capacities for systems thinking, adaptive learning and action, transformational leadership, multi-sectoral collaboration and, ultimately, growing your impact. Along with this application package, you have also received the Growing Impact Capacity Assessment Checklist. We encourage you to review or complete this as a way to reflect on your group’s relative strengths and areas for improvement around these capacities, and as preparation for completing this application form. 

Based on our adaptive learning and action this past year, we have identified a number of key focus areas for learning and practice in Phase Two. Each group is at a different place in relation to each of these focus areas, and so the supports this year, as in the past, will be customized and co-defined by the group and their coach(es). Wherever you are in the process, Phase Two of Growing Impact will support you in defining goals for your focus areas, and in taking your learning and practice to the next level. 

Next Learning Edge

Specifically, we are asking groups to consider their next learning or action edge around the following: 

• Focus on Long-term Impact e.g., a written statement of the intended impact of your work together in the long-term (the change you want to make), with an explanation of how your approach will contribute to the desired changes (e.g., an impact statement, theory of change, etc).
• Tracking impact e.g., defining specific measures and developing an infrastructure to track impact and learn by doing.
• Culture of adaptive action & learning e.g., a ‘Learning Agenda’ to guide ongoing practice and culture of learning, reflection and action, including the use of prototypes and experiments.
• Building collaborative culture, practice and structures e.g., clear articulation of governance arrangements and/or collaborative structures to enable greater impact and systems change.

Relatedly, and depending on where your group is at, BC Healthy Communities can also support you to deepen your learning and practice of a variety of Growing Impact tools and capacities, for example: 

• Creative community and stakeholder engagement for systems change
• Developmental Evaluation
• Transformational Systems Leadership
• Social labs
• Others…

These customized supports will be provided to groups through a combination of:

Applied Learning Session: One intensive applied learning session (for up to two days) on site;

Personalized Coaching: up to 25 hours in-person and/or by phone or videoconference of personalized and project-specific coaching to support learning, planning, prototyping, and evaluation; and 

Community of Learning and Practice: facilitated participation in a provincial Community of Learning and Practice (COLP). To build on your COLP engagement in Phase Two, we will look to groups to provide input into the focus and format of these sessions, so that this space can best support your work. 

Apply for Phase Two

In order to find out if your collaborative will qualify for Phase Two supports, please complete a brief application form. The link to the application is here.

The information provided in response to these questions will help us to confirm if your needs are a fit with the program, and to gain a sense of your intentions and focus for the coming year.

For more information please contact us:

Phone: (250) 590-8432​​
Email: grants@bchealthycommunities.ca

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