Together
we are solving problems in new ways
Our Story
As designers, non-profit executives, and activist in our communities, we observed a reoccurring issue within the framework of solving social injustices. Individuals would often gather to discuss novel and bold ideas to address a critical community issue. Though crafted with intention, these conversations often would lack the representation of the very communities they aimed to serve and a deeper understanding of the challenge, specifically the "why".
The challenges of our time are complex, often influenced my multiple contributing factors, and weighed down by a history of oppression and ineffective solutions often far removed from the communities they aim to serve.
To build true equity, efforts must center around human behavior and the unique experiences of those experiencing disparities. This requires building empathy with a community member understanding their concerns, their environment, their day-to-day experiences, and any factors within their context that contribute to disparities.
To bridge the gap between the community and problem solvers, CoAct was formed as a Collective Action Network to create participatory processes that give those effected by disparities a platform to share insights, inspiration, and ideas. We center our actions around the challenge we aim to address and the distinct behavior of the communities affected to co-create solutions alongside them to address the complex injustices and challenges we face as a society.
Through our work, we help our partners reframe the problems they aim to solve, build empathy with the communities they aim to serve, and design solutions aligned to the needs of the communities most effected by disparities.
Our Mission
CoAct brings together people, inspiration, and ideas to amplify communities with lasting, self-sufficient solutions.
Our Vision
Together, we can establish a stable foundation that fosters thriving, resilient communities.
Our Objective
Through our work, we aim to align our efforts to create maximum impact towards the communities most effected by disparities. Our work is considered successful when we create a clear definition of the challenge, discover ideas to address key unmet needs, and design a solution that can provide lasting impact without CoAct's continued intervention.
Our Values
Align with Community: We align ourselves to the unique challenges our communities face. By better understanding the challenges we aim to solve, we can design better solutions.
Explore New Potential: We take creative risk to test new ideas and build solutions better aligned to the communities we aim to serve. The lessons we derive aid in accelerating impact.
Create Shared Impact: We share insights and build off the collective and diverse expertise of our teams. We recognize impact is not a solo journey and build solutions with the intent of community ownership.
Theory of Change
CoAct defines Collective Action as the process and byproduct of bringing a diverse group of people together to solve a problem. Through our work, we equip communities to become effective contributors towards the problems we aim to solve. To achieve this, CoAct uses a project based approach to build self-sustaining solutions. We utilize human centered design, systems thinking, and participatory research as creative problem-solving processes to turn bold insights and ideas into long term impact. These methodologies provide us the means to identify key gaps and develop the appropriate solutions needed to respond to the unique challenges communities face.
Building Collective Action
CoAct facilitates change in 3 phases to achieve sustained impact. The process may not always be linear. As things change, we build on lessons learned and make the shifts needed to achieve the project objectives. We revisit items as new insights emerge and the narrative evolves.
Exploration: The exploration phase is about understanding the challenge, the people it impacts, the way it impacts people, and the contributing factors. During this phase, we help our partners create a clear definition of the challenge they aim to solve.
Discovery: The discovery phase about turning insights into ideas. It is an opportunity to reflect on the research, generate ideas, and hone our approach. During this phase we help our partners explore ideas and tether alignments to the challenges we aim to solve.
Deployment: The deployment phase about turning ideas into action. During this phase we help our partners develop, execute, and scale effective solutions.
