Introduction
Field Building is an essential aspect of our approach at The Kelsey. Solving the current housing crisis will require input, cross-sector leadership and expertise from a wide array of relevant stakeholders. We recognize that this is far too big a problem for any organization to solve on its own. The goal is to show how our work does not happen without field building. If you are fuzzy about the details of field building, this piece is for you. This article will introduce and define the concepts of field building and collective impact, explain how they are central to our approach and end with ways to stay engaged with The Kelsey and our work.
The Kelsey advocates for housing that is affordable, accessible and truly inclusive for people with and without disabilities. Our organization accomplishes this in two important ways. First, we build actual housing that demonstrates what is possible regarding disability-forward housing development. Secondly, we advocate for systems and policy change that decrease barriers to the creation of inclusive housing. Bridging the gap between the two dual missions is Field Building. Field Building is a fancy way of summarizing the fact that we seek to make disability-forward housing advocates out of everyone we encounter.
Bridgespan defines Field Building in two segments. First of all, a “field” is a set of individuals and organizations working to address a common social issue or problem, in our case, housing for people with and without disabilities. The second part of the definition states that “field building” includes all activities or investments that drive a field’s progress toward impact at scale. At The Kelsey, we seek to build the field by growing the number of advocates and seeking to achieve large scale impact.
This brings us to another important definition that is foundational to our approach to Field Building: Collective Impact. According to BridgeSpan, Collective Impact is the creation of formal cross-sector partnerships and working together to address a common goal. In The Kelsey universe, that common goal is around affordable, accessible and truly inclusive disability-forward housing. Check out this short video that explains more.
Despite The Kelsey’s achievements and successes, we know this is way too complex of a problem to solve on our own. Our “field” only progresses when advocates speak with a shared vision. This means coordinating together to ensure we are weaving the same narrative and asking for the same things of policy makers and key partners. We envision impact at scale that is going to require coordinated action from many different stakeholders, including disabled and nondisabled leaders in housing, architecture, design, public policy, philanthropy, academia while constantly involving the people most impacted by the crisis.
There are three programmatic pillars under our umbrella of Field Building at The Kelsey. We actively participate in Field Building through Inclusive Design Standards, our website’s Learn Center and Industry Groups which we facilitate and convene.
The Inclusive Design Standards are an impressive set of over 300+ elements specifically for disability-forward housing development. The standards are a remarkable tool that goes beyond code to support cross-disability access and inclusion. The standards were born out of a collaboration between The Kelsey, Erick Mikiten of Mikiten Architecture and a group of disabled consultants known as the Inclusive Design Council. Erick Mikiten is a wheelchair rider and hearing aide user who brings tremendous lived experience to this work. Feel free to download the free and open-soured Inclusive Design Standards now.
The Learn Center is an educational hub on our website and serves as our virtual resource library! We share tool kits, case studies and best practices for making communities more inclusive. Everything here is open-sourced, transparent and free-of-charge. All that’s required to download is your name, email, and zip code. We invite you to use, share and reference all our work, but please credit us when you do. Contact us to suggest a new topic, explore an existing topic more deeply or explore co-creating content to advance disability-forward housing.
The Kelsey convenes the following Industry Groups as a part of our overall Field Building effort. These groups aim to capture cross-section representation as well as driving the “field” forward toward our collective impact goals.
- Inclusive Houser Network (16 organizations): Organizations either developing or operating inclusive housing for individuals with and without disabilities across the United States.
- Disability-Forward Housers & Designers (80+ individuals): an industry group for disabled leaders and allies. These leaders include those in housing development, finance, policy, and designers who share lived experiences with disability. In addition to professional networking, this group is an opportunity to share knowledge, collaborate on joint initiatives, and collectively bring a vision of disability-forward housing and design to the forefront of their field.
- Committed Firms (18 organizations): These firms champion the Inclusive Design Standards by actively using them and sharing them. They drive access and inclusion forward in their work and communities and include designers, developers, research institutions, advocates, funders, and community organizations.
- Disability & Housing Narrative Change Cohort (11 disabled leaders): A year-long virtual cohort amplifying housing stories and insights from disabled leaders nationwide to elevate the need for disability-forward housing solutions. Members receive education and training on strategic storytelling for changing policies and shifting public perception through media.
There are many ways to engage with The Kelsey and stay abreast of our work. Here are the top five:
- Become a Committed Firm: Is your firm or organization committed to the use of the Inclusive Design Standards and to the creation of disability-forward housing that advances accessibility and inclusion? Email us to become committed and to be featured on our website.
- Join an Industry Group: Do you fit the profile of any of our groups? Want to join one of these groups to build the field and move our collective goals forward? Email us to join and / or learn more today.
- Download, Use and Share our Resources: including the Inclusive Design Standards and articles from the Learn Center.
- Give Feedback: Our resources get stronger when you give us your honest feedback. We are always looking to hear directly from our users. Email us to provide feedback or to answer questions.
- Field Notes: Join our community and sign up to receive our monthly newsletter.
Closing
The Kelsey aims for you to start and maintain your involvement, stay knowledgeable about our work and help us move the needle forward through field building and collective impact. This piece should have taught you how to accomplish each of those necessary steps. The Kelsey thrives on feedback. We highly encourage usage of our resources. Honest feedback is one key method that keeps our resources relevant, fresh and useful. Still have questions, concerns or feedback – please email us. We can’t wait to hear from you.