Collective Impact - The New Collaboration

Every May, Twin Cities Business Magazine publishes a special magazine supplement about philanthropy, called giving. This year I wrote a longer piece on "The New Collaboration" for Giving. It's about efforts in the Twin Cities to bring the expertise and energy of the private, public, and non-profit sectors together to address challenging problems, like our educational achievement gap, hunger, and diabetes. 

Interview with Jennifer Ford Reedy

My April column is an all-too-short version of an hour-long interview with the Bush Foundation's new President, Jennifer Ford Reedy. One thing that didn't make it into the magazine -- I asked Jen what's she's read recently that is influencing her thinking. The answer? Stephen Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From. Watch his TED talk here. 

What's the role of competition in the nonprofit sector?

My March Twin Cities Business Magazine column is now on-line. This month I wrote about competition in the sector and why it's important. I often get the question, "Why are there so many nonprofits?" which for me is not the question. It's more interesting to ask whether the work of a nonprofit is important and effective. 

Should nonprofits think as much about shutting down as starting up?

My February Twin Cities Business column, Performing Philanthropy, is out in the on-line edition, posted to be timely with the closing of St Paul's College of Visual Arts. In the piece I offer my thoughts on ways the nonprofit sector might think about making mergers, acquisitions, or shut-downs a more widely understood and normal process.