When Health and Social Justice Intersect

Complex problems require collaborative solutions—often involving multiple partners, each with its own perspective and priorities. They also require the expertise of experienced professionals who can identify and engage appropriate stakeholders and design an integrated strategic approach. As the landscape evolves over time, staying with the project at every stage and participating directly in its implementation and evaluation enables constant micro-tuning to adapt, remain relevant, and accelerate impact.

A case in point: TCC Group’s work with a company [1] looking to address socio-economic and racially-based inequities in healthcare access and outcomes.

“There are several distinct initiatives working to support community-specific solutions for youth, women of color, Black and Latino gay men, and the Southern region. These integrated initiatives collectively drew on our experience in both healthcare and social justice, as well as advocacy and strategic communication,” says Susan Wolfson, Director of Integrated Initiatives at TCC Group. “We began by applying stakeholder mapping techniques to help the company identify and prioritize potential partners, including foundations, corporate funders, community leaders, healthcare providers, and influencers internal to the company.”

A crucial component of this effort is connecting people and ideas across the initiatives in a way that amplifies effort and refuels people by connecting passion to progress. Louie Ortiz-Fonseca, Director of LGBTQ Health and Rights at Advocates for Youth, is involved in several of the company’s initiatives that intersect with his expertise and experience, and notes that TCC Group “has been great at including all the partners, and because of that, I trust them in a way that I’ve never trusted other consultants, researchers, or evaluators.”

As TCC’s role with the client evolved and expanded, TCC began providing ongoing management, tracking results iteratively, troubleshooting problems, and overseeing a multi-front communications effort.

“Strategic communication can have a make-or-break effect on high-stakes projects—especially those focused on social change,” says Wolfson. “We understand the power of words and ideas to build relationships, mobilize people, and share knowledge—both internally and externally. Any communication plan should identify your messages, messengers, audiences, and media.”

While each partner brought institutional resources to bear, the most important work in such efforts invariably takes place on the human level. “Personal relationships are essential for a project to have maximum impact,” says Wolfson. “At TCC, we place a high value on listening to people for deeper understanding, building trust among partners and identifying the triggers, touch points, and structure for creating ongoing, productive partnerships.”

A collaborator since the beginning, Kevin Jones, Senior Associate at Morino Ventures, LLC, is deeply engaged in multi-sector partnerships that fuel sustainable, community-led solutions. His experience highlights the impact of TCC Group’s approach to collaborative solutions:

They bring together people who have conflicting ideas and lay out a process by which everyone can work together, despite our differences.

The firm’s “measurement for learning” approach to evaluation figured importantly in the project. “The idea is to assess the effectiveness of initiatives iteratively and make necessary mid-course changes and corrections,” Wolfson says. Ultimately, this strategic mix, grounded in our humanness, is the fuel to bring about change. In the words of Jones, “[TCC’s approach] inspires innovative program design and animated collaborative implementation. They are a true partner in the pursuit of rigorous evaluation for responsive, sustainable community change that works.”

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[1] Our client prefers to remain anonymous.