I2I’s Heart-2-Heart on IMM 🤝 MEL, Mental Health Month, & I2I’s Roadshow!
Hey there,
Welcome to Intention 2 Impact (I2I’s) Heart 2 Heart (H2H) newsletter - where we share what’s on our minds, in our hearts, and up-our-sleeves. This is an archived newsletter from March 2024. Want to read the newsletter in real time? Click here to subscribe!
This month, we’re playing cupid with MEL and IMM, taking a moment for Mental Health Awareness Month, and announcing I2I’s 2024 Spring Tour schedule (we may be coming to a locale near you)! 😉
On Our Minds
Two “disciplines,” both alike in dignity, In fair “social impact”, where we lay our scene…
You’ve heard of Romeo and Juliet, but have you heard of MEL and IMM? Same goals, two different worldviews. I2I is here to bridge the gap.
Impact Measurement & Management (IMM) includes identifying and considering the positive and negative effects one’s business actions have on people and the planet, and then figuring out ways to mitigate the negative and maximize the positive in alignment with one’s goals (definition from GINN).
Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning (MEL) includes different approaches and practices to measure processes, outcomes, systems, and overall impact of social-sector organizations and their initiatives to facilitate learning, improvement, and decision-making. AKA: I2I's bread & butter.
Both include toolkits to measure progress towards social impact. So, why the Capulet & Montague-like divide?
IMM is typically used in the private sector by actors interested in social and financial returns (i.e., impact investors, ESG investors, social enterprises, venture capital, or businesses with corporate social responsibility). It is shaped by business management and accountability, and stems from a worldview of auditing, profit/loss, and binary answers oriented towards investor needs.
Whereas, MEL is typically used by purpose-driven organizations in the public or nonprofit sectors, such as philanthropic foundations, nonprofits, governments, universities. It hails from social science and often espouses a more constructivist worldview of complexity, multiple perspectives, and mixed methodologies to answer nuanced questions.
Our foundation clients are starting to see the value of blending the two. Foundations are long-time MEL users for grantmaking, but not for investments. However, the field has recently been knee-deep in conversations about how to use their full balance sheets for impact (rather than the bare minimum 5% required by the IRS to use for grantmaking). Measuring impact is an important part of that equation.
I2I is currently working with the Colorado Health Foundation on building a Learning & Evaluation framework for their impact investing portfolio. We recently presented our approach at the Mission Investors Exchange’s annual conference, and discussed the benefits of bridging IMM and MEL: stronger strategic planning, more inclusive engagement across both investees and investors, more sophisticated measurement, and standardization across portfolios. Interested to learn more? You know where to find us.
In Our Hearts
May is Mental Health Awareness Month!
Started in 1949, Mental Health Awareness shines a light on the experiences faced by millions of Americans living with mental health conditions with hopes of eradicating stigma, extending support, fostering public education and advocating for policies that prioritize the well-being of individuals and families affected by mental illness.
We asked I2I core team members to share mental health tips, tidbits, or resources that they apply in their personal lives.
Nina: My tried and true mental health toolkit includes: breathwork, journaling, therapy/coaching, movement, delicious food, romantic comedies, and authentic connection. Lately, this is my favorite song about mental health.
Kathleen: Prioritizing time outside. Nature, sunshine, & movement are the best medicine for me. On that note, I recently found a poem (”This Spring” James Pearson) that has felt like a mental health salve in these times. I pinned the poem on my phone and have been returning to it often these days when I need a pause.
Blake: Sleep and exercise are vitally important to my well-being. Being on a high performing, active team, there is no substitute for taking care of the body to manage stress and the blues. Also, a good laugh and evening with some good friends.
Sahiti: Being outside is my top mental health need - nature always inspires, soothes, calms and revitalizes me. The other tool is connection - intentional, safe connection with my loved ones always regrounds me. Whenever possible, I try to mix them both - playground dates with my toddler, family walks, picnics at the beach etc.
Up Our Sleeves
I2I on the road!
April 29-May 1: Blake and Nina facilitated a series of workshops in Bentonville, Arkansas at the Northwest Arkansas Nonprofit Conference hosted by the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation, Walmart Foundation, and Excelerate Foundation.
May 6-9: Nina, Kathleen, and Courtney in Los Angeles, CA presented with the Colorado Health Foundation at the Mission Investors Exchange, and participated in a breakfast convening about learning and evaluation of social bonds with clients, WK Kellogg Foundation and The California Endowment.
May 20-21: Kathleen in Redwood City, CA to facilitate power mapping at a housing affordability narrative convening sponsored by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
May 22-24: Kathleen, Nina, and Rebecca in Miami, FL at the Elevate Prize Foundation’s Make Good Famous Summit.
June 4: Nina, Kathleen, and Courtney in Denver, CO to facilitate learning sessions with the Colorado Health Foundation.
Where should the I2I team take their traveling show next?! Slide into our DMs with ideas!
Onward and upward, y’all!
You know, heart-2-hearts are supposed to be a 2-way street…
So comment below, what’s on your mind, in your heart, and up your sleeve? Hopefully a lil’ bit of good trouble. 😉
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Until next time,
Intention 2 Impact
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