Have you ever wondered how public-private partnerships can help solve large-scale social issues? Today’s guest, Kathleen Kelly Janus, shares her experience leading impactful collaborations between government, private companies, and nonprofits to tackle challenges like homelessness and recidivism. Kathleen Kelly explains how these partnerships are vital to scaling innovation and creating sustainable social change.

Rob’s guest, Kathleen Kelly Janus, is the former Senior Advisor on Social Innovation for the State of California. During her time in this role, she led over 50 public-private partnerships that mobilized $4.2 billion in funding and brought resources to address some of California’s most pressing social challenges. One of her most notable achievements is the development of Project Home Key, which provided thousands of housing units for the homeless during the pandemic.

Kathleen Kelly, a social innovation expert, explains the importance of public-private partnerships in creating scalable impact. She highlights how projects like Home Key and Returning Home Well demonstrate the power of collaboration between government, nonprofits, and private businesses. Kathleen Kelly shares valuable lessons learned from these initiatives, including the importance of relationship-building, leadership buy-in, and addressing real problems. She also discusses how these partnerships can serve as models for other states and nonprofits to follow in maximizing their social impact.

Mentioned:

Kathleen’s book: Social Startup Success

Project Home Key: A housing initiative for the homeless

Returning Home Well: Re-entry support for formerly incarcerated individuals

Connect with Kathleen Kelly on LinkedIn

Connect with Kathleen Kelly on Instagram

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Links to Resources

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Summary

Kathleen Kelly Janus discusses the importance of public-private partnerships in addressing social challenges. She shares her experience as California’s first senior advisor on social innovation and highlights the impact of partnerships in addressing issues like affordable housing and reentry programs for formerly incarcerated individuals. Janus emphasizes the need for nonprofits and government agencies to build relationships, have buy-in from leadership, and address real problems in order to create successful partnerships. She also discusses the barriers to effective partnerships, including the lack of infrastructure in government. Overall, Janus advocates for nonprofits to be more purposeful in building bridges with government to maximize their impact.

Takeaways

Public-private partnerships are essential in addressing social challenges and maximizing impact.

Building relationships and having buy-in from leadership are crucial for successful partnerships.

Partnerships should focus on addressing real problems and communicating their impact.

Nonprofits and government agencies need to work together and be proactive in creating partnerships.

The lack of infrastructure in government can be a barrier to effective partnerships

Quotes

“Chipping away at these problems little by little isn’t going to achieve the kind of scale that we want and need.”
“The pandemic forced us to be innovative because we had no choice.”
“We can build housing faster, cheaper, smarter.”

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

04:48 California’s Project Home Key: Converting Properties into Permanent Housing

11:23 Lessons Learned and Effective Partnerships

15:38 Barriers to Effective Partnerships

18:58 How Nonprofits Can Work Better with Government and For-Profit Partners

20:45 Building Infrastructure for Partnerships