Laying the foundation for a collective impact approach to save mothers’ and children’s lives

Beginning in 1912, Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), a faith-based organization, has supported global health care initiatives for the world’s poor by building healthy, sustainable communities through partnerships and community engagement. As part of CMMB’s commitment to saving the lives of children and mothers throughout Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, the organization recently launched the Children And Mothers Partnerships (CHAMPS) program. CHAMPS brings national structures, communities, providers, and materials together to provide necessary clinical healthcare services for mothers and children. In order to create CHAMPS, CMMB adopted a collective impact approach, bringing together key partners and community stakeholders. The Capstone team was engaged to conduct a literature review on collective impact best practices, and to provide guidelines for the development of a revised global monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework. Through research and interviews with project staff, the Capstone team offered recommendations for maximizing its collective impact approach, and strengthening its M&E framework to assess fulfillment of programmatic impact.