Lessons from Commonwealth Club's panel on using public-private partnerships to address jobs, education, and economic development

On September 20, 2011, the Commonwealth Club hosted a panel discussion on public-private partnerships and how they can be used to boost jobs, education, and economic development (see names of panelists below). The key points from the panel discussion were:

1. Partnerships are not just a monetary relationship, but a relationship in which the people in a community come together, identify the problems, and bring the necessary people to the table that can help address the problem.
2. Each sector (government, business, etc.) needs to re-think the roles they've played in the past and think about taking on different responsibility in the future.
3. Nonprofits need the government to be their voice and for corporations to invest in them, give them access to markets, and help strengthen their infrastructure (capacity building).
4. Other roles the government can play include getting peoples attention and creating incentives (being a catalyst) for partnerships.
5. To get more collaborations, organizational silos need to be broken down and instead organizations in all sectors need to look at problems with a team approach.
6. There needs to more discussion on shared issues in a community and employees need to hold their organizations accountable and push them to be part of these conversations.
7. Set goals and use this as a catalyst to get together - there's too much time spent on talking about and describing the problem and how hard it is to address.
8. There's a need for more convening across sectors with each organization really investing in the joint effort. 
9. Successful partnerships have real metrics and hold people accountable. There's failure when one sector tries to charge off in their own direction. 
10. How can people get involved? People and corporations can donate, volunteer, make in-kind contributions, and advocate on behalf of the public sector organizations.

The panel discussion brought together knowledgeable people that provided a good discussion on the wonderful uses of public-private partnerships to boost jobs, education, and economic development. With resources low and an elevated need for services, I hope that 2012 brings about more partnerships whether public-private or public-public.


On September 20, 2011, the Commonwealth Club hosted a panel discussion on public-private partnerships and how they can be used to boost jobs, education, and economic development. (Panelists: John Donahoe, CEO, eBay Inc.; Member, White House Council for Community Solutions, John Lee, Executive Director, The Bread Project, Nicole Levine, Executive Director, Women's Initiative for Self Employment for San Francisco and the Bay Area, Sid Espinosa, Director of Corporate Citizenship, Microsoft Corporation; Mayor, City of Palo Alto, Moderator: Sydnie Kohara, Broadcast Journalist) Source: Commonwealth Club of California