Over the past 15 years, America Forward, New Profit’s policy arm, and the members of the America Forward Coalition have engaged in collective advocacy to support the design and scale-up of creative approaches that center equity and community-driven, proximate innovations.
The passage of the federal Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act (SIPPRA) in 2018 – which created a transformational demonstration program at the Treasury Department that provided $100 million in federal funding to support innovative, pay-for-success approaches to solving urgent social and economic challenges – is a powerful example of collective advocacy in action.
The idea for this legislation was born from the experience and expertise of social entrepreneurs – including America Coalition organizations Third Sector Capital Partners, Social Finance, the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Institute for Child Success (ICS), The Outcomes Fund at Maycomb Capital, and other partners – who recognized the powerful potential of leading with practitioner-driven strategies, creative learning and development, and innovative financing structures that prioritize measurable improvements in people’s lives – from expanding workers’ earnings to reducing child abuse and neglect.
These organizations recognized that the opportunities afforded by these next-generation approaches must be available to all communities. Building and leveraging evidence is essential to advancing equity, and everyone should have access to better ways to do just that.
Over the course of several years of intensive, bipartisan advocacy and engagement – with America Forward’s support and partnership – Third Sector, Social Finance, CSH, ICS, and Maycomb shared with allies and policymakers powerful examples of how outcomes-based funding was reducing equity gaps and fueling economic mobility. This intentional, collective advocacy was instrumental in securing the landmark Federal investment in pay-for-success programs through SIPPRA, which was included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
Now, these groups are at the forefront of efforts to develop and implement the first set of SIPPRA-funded projects, which are driving sustainable solutions in diverse communities across the nation – from rural Oklahoma to New York City – addressing pressing challenges including youth gun violence, substance use disorders, and housing insecurity. And they remain engaged, alongside America Forward, in continually improving SIPPRA and breaking down barriers for proximate leaders and their communities to access critical funding.
As we tackle the challenges we’re facing today – from continued inequity in education and economic mobility to a fraying democracy – there is no “silver bullet”. But committed social entrepreneurs, advocates, and policymakers working together to translate community impact into national change is how we’ll ultimately solve our greatest challenges.
By Jessica Crawford, Field Leadership Partner at America Forward, and Chase Sackett, Policy Director at America Forward.