Activating place-based partnerships
A playbook for anchor collaboratives
Guest blog by Kate Gallagher, Senior Manager, Place-based Investing & Policy Initiatives; and David Zuckerman, President & Founder, Healthcare Anchor Network, US
The Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN) is a national US-based network that catalyses health systems to leverage their hiring, purchasing, investing, and other key assets to build inclusive local economies to address economic and racial inequities in community conditions that create poor health.
In May 2024, HAN released ‘Activating Place-based Partnerships for Equitable Economic Development: A Playbook for Anchor Collaboratives’. The playbook details how groups of anchor institutions are building effective place-based partnerships together with community partners to improve individual and family wellbeing and build equitable local economies. Anchor collaboratives represent an emerging approach to equitable economic development. HAN’s intent in publishing this playbook is to share what it believes is the most comprehensive set of learnings from this growing body of work and showcase the power and opportunity behind this collective strategy.
About the playbook
The playbook was designed for anchor collaboratives in the US, but offers a flexible framework that applies more broadly, and can be used by members of the Health Anchors Learning Network (HALN) UK who are looking to build or strengthen anchor collaboratives in their regions. The playbook highlights seven success factors critical for the effectiveness of place-based partnerships and viewed through an anchor mission lens.
While specific practices and tactics may vary by country, the fundamental and strategic elements needed to establish and maintain place-based anchor collaborative partnerships should be similar across locations. For instance, we found that every anchor collaborative will need a dedicated and committed ‘backbone’, a function to provide coordination, management, and other essential support and processes that will keep members of the collaborative organised and moving forward. In the UK, the organisations providing these functions may differ from the US, but regardless of country, there is a need for this to be underpinned by trust and dedicated capability to provide these necessary functions, which are detailed in the playbook.
We hope that the framework for action, practical tips, and real-world examples presented in the playbook will prove useful to UK anchor organisations who seek to collaborate and maximise their positive impact on community health and wellbeing.
