ABSTRACT
After more than 15 years of dedicated embedded philanthropy, Price Charities and the Jacobs Family Foundation have helped deliver change in two under-served communities in San Diego in ways that have considerably impacted the local fabric. Their work is not yet done, but with significant progress already completed, a comparison of these two efforts offers lessons on the complexity of comprehensive community change and the value of applying systems theory to both analyze and implement these multilayered efforts. Their experiences are representative of other foundations’ involvement with CCIs and serve as instructive examples. As explained in Chapter 5, systems theory provides the framework for better understanding the intricate web of systems and their relationships with one another at the neighborhood, regional, state, and federal level. Systems theory accounts for the diversity between and among internal participants, such as residents and local nonprofits, along with external ones, including foundations and public sector agencies, and analyzes the processes through which they interact. It enables us to use a holistic lens to better understand the ways different stakeholders interpret community challenges and, more importantly, places context at the forefront of the analysis.
