Building a Public-Private Collaborative Structure to Better Connect the Housing Ecosystem of Nashville
Written by Megan O’Roark
In cooperation with a Technical Advisory Committee and Community Ambassadors, Metro Nashville launched the Unified Housing Strategy (UHS), a comprehensive roadmap to address the city's housing challenges through a clear, coordinated, and community-driven approach. In partnership with Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Metro Nashville and Davidson County Government, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee launched the Nashville Unified Housing Leadership Council (UHLC) – a new collaborative effort led by 20 leaders from government, business, nonprofit organizations, and the community – charged with advancing the UHS.
Services
Long-term backbone coaching and support
Collaborative structure co-design
Facilitated the identification of key strategies through design sprints
Committee facilitation and strategy support
Project management
Our Approach
Unified Housing Leadership Council (UHLC) is a multi-faceted, cross-sector initiative focused on promoting the alignment of strategy, leadership, and resources to implement priorities identified in the Unified Housing Strategy (UHS). The UHS detailed that an additional 90,000 homes are needed in Nashville within the next decade to abate the city’s current affordable housing crisis.
The housing ecosystem in Nashville is an extremely disparate and disconnected system with multiple nonprofits, coalitions, government programs, and community organizing groups working to address the critical lack of housing in the city. As with all large-scale collaboratives formed to address a community-level need, system change requires establishment of trusted partnerships, structure, and adaptability.
In collaboration with backbone representatives, UHLC co-chairs, and committee co-chairs, Elevate supports a committee structure and facilitates ongoing meetings to prioritize action items from the UHS. Ongoing committee facilitation creates consistency, accountability, and alignment with implementing the UHS.
By combining collaborative design, strategic support, and ongoing facilitation and project management, Elevate has helped the collaborative stay aligned, responsive, and focused on systems-level impact—laying a strong foundation for continued progress and meaningful change
Collaborative Design
In collaboration with backbone representatives, Elevate helped design a committee structure that organizes the collaborative's work around priority action items from the UHS. Building this structure together ensured it reflected the workflow and necessary feedback loops to carry the work forward. As with most collaborative work, priorities can change and shift in response to changes in environment, resources, and local context. As part of the feedback loop process, it’s important to reflect on the collaborative structure to ensure it's still supporting the collaborative’s strategies and priorities.
Strategic Support
Elevate provides sustained support to the collaborative's backbone organizations, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. This role has allowed us to serve as a steady presence through transitions, helping preserve institutional knowledge and build rapport with UHLC members.
Ongoing Facilitation + Project Management
Elevate facilitates ongoing committee meetings to keep the collaborative moving on UHS action items. This consistent facilitation creates continuity, accountability, and alignment as the collaborative works to implement the UHS.