Lifting As We Climb: Community wealth-building as collaborative solutioning, a journey of transformation for systemic impact in a social change organization

Abstract

In an era where policymaking has become increasingly gridlocked, social change organizations, like nonprofits and school systems, must take on a more dynamic role—not just as advocates, but as architects of tangible solutions. The mid-20th-century policies that once undergirded widespread economic mobility and social progress emerged from a political climate willing to confront systemic challenges head-on. Today, however, the tools of large-scale governmental intervention have weakened, leaving many of society’s most persistent and perplexing problems—wealth inequality, educational disparities, housing instability—unresolved or even worsening. In this vacuum, collaborative solutioning becomes an imperative: the process of actively designing and implementing bold, innovative strategies to reshape societal possibilities from the ground up through public-private partnerships that are community-driven, unlocking the resources necessary to fix problems quickly. Rather than waiting for legislation that may never materialize, organizations committed to social change must reimagine what is possible, mobilize strategic partnerships, unlock resources, and activate community-driven change that demonstrate alternative futures in real time. This capstone illustrates the journey of my 10-month residency at the Chicago Urban League (CUL), examining how a prestigious, social change organization can transform its strategic direction and operating model to drive systemic impact. Through collaborating with a core team to conduct a strategic planning process and leading an internal CUL center to demonstrate a case study for reimagining what is possible, I explore how leading organizational change and transformation efforts require adaptive leadership, innovative approaches, and change management. By adapting CUL’s mission from solely economic empowerment to include an aspirational vision for building generational wealth, my strategic project developed a framework for wealth-building as a form of collaborative solutioning, designing and implementing a bold vision of economic prosperity for all through public-private partnerships. My strategic project and learning experiences at CUL have significant implications for my own practice of exercising leadership, CUL as an organization, and the nonprofit and education sectors as components of the broader social change ecosystem, stressing the need for collaborative solutioning as a liberatory framework to co-create and implement our bold visions of futures where everyone can thrive. This capstone offers those interested in a more just world, where everyone has access to the financial security they need to live fully and be well, a possible pathway towards that transformation.