The Intersector

Overcoming shared global challenges requires cross-sector innovation.

Humanity is living amidst global uncertainty: The international community seeks to bounce back economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, while, at the same time, authoritarianism, data privacy, climate change and social unrest demand complex solutions. Recovery requires new modes of collaboration across the private, nonprofit and public sectors. Cross-collaboration is an innovative process deploying resources in new ways to solve problems in the public interest. Organizations across sectors must share or link capabilities, information and activities to accomplish something together they can’t achieve alone. For example, to reduce veteran homelessness, health organizations, housing groups and veterans’ groups must work together to create interconnected solutions.

The consultancy group GSG coined the phrase “collective impact” to refer to a cross-sector partnership model, in which groups agree to a shared agenda and goal measurement system. This collaborative governance requires connecting in collective forums to engage in deliberate, ...