Here are some answers to questions that we often hear at IMPACT. This document will be updated and expanded as more questions come forward.
At its core, the IMPACT Initiative is a provincial collective impact initiative whose purpose is to define a common understanding of the issue of domestic and sexual violence and then to eradicate it. We will, as a collective, create a movement to achieve our goal, capitalizing on the strength of existing networks and using the resources, ideas, and influence of our collective membership to instigate systemic change in provincial perspectives, practices, policies, and legislation.
Collective impact is a framework created to address complex social issues, and create deep, sustainable change. Unlike a ‘collaborative’, a ‘collective’ focuses on high impact opportunities for change (i.e., populations vs. individuals).
We understand that this is a lofty goal. We do not expect to find a simple solution that will happen overnight. Luckily, we are in this for the long haul. We believe that violence is preventable. Through identifying what drives and contributes to violence, we can stop it before it begins. We focus our efforts far upstream of violent events to better understand and interrupt the patterns that eventually lead to sexual and domestic violence. In parallel, our members continue to provide expert intervention services when violence occurs.
Ours is a high-impact initiative that relies on a collective infrastructure, consisting of the input, values, research, and resources from its several entities, as well as the support of a backbone organization that stewards the collective vision, strategy, decision-making and distribution of funds. Sagesse serves as the backbone organization for IMPACT. Sagesse is an agency that has been working with individuals, organizations and communities to disrupt the structures of violence for over 30 years.
IMPACT recognizes the value of having leaders from the domestic and sexual violence sector together thinking about how to eradicate violence. From time to time we will leverage the group to discuss initiatives we can engage in as a sector. Some examples of this include feedback to the province around Clare’s Law, awareness campaigns or scaling up of the work of our members. As a collective impact initiative, the goal of these leveraging opportunity is to amplify the work of our members, provide opportunities for members to have additional resources to access and to support our sector having a voice at decision making tables.
Sagesse serves as the backbone organization for IMPACT. Sagesse is an agency that has been working with individuals, organizations and communities to disrupt the structures of violence for over 30 years.
Direction is set by a combination of co-chairs, stewards, mobilizers and members, depending on the nature of the decision. Every 3-5 years we have a community Summit where a mandate is given to the Working Group and Mobilizers. Decisions about articulating and implementing the mandate is made by the Mobilizers and Stewards. As much as possible, we strive to have a full consensus on issues, but when needed Working Groups can decide based on the majority votes from participants.
Sagesse serves as the backbone organization for IMPACT. Sagesse is an agency that has been working with individuals, organizations and communities to disrupt the structures of violence for over 30 years.
Our membership includes representatives from various levels of governments in our province. We work closely with politicians and public servants to provide evidence-based guidance to on how to strategically prevent violence before it begins
Entities (organizations, business, systems) that are actively working on domestic and sexual violence issues in Alberta can apply for membership to IMPACT. Each entity decides who their representative is at IMPACT.
If your entity is interested in joining IMPACT, you can fill out our membership application here. If you would like to learn more, contact our IMPACT team at impact@sagesse.org.
General Members share the vision, common understanding of the issues and work closely with other members to eradicate violence in Alberta. Our General Members share their institutional knowledge, ideas, and energy to guide the overall work of IMPACT. In addition to having access to our member only resources, educational modules, seminars, and conferences, general members also can share resources with sector experts, researchers and leaders in the sector. It is a great opportunity to network, learn, and influence the discussions about domestic and sexual violence in the province. It is an opportunity to be part of a movement to eradicate domestic and sexual violence across Alberta.