Coalition is a group of individuals, organizations or communities who come together around common goals or problems and work cooperatively to achieve them. Typically, Coalitions are formed to address a specific issue such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, gang violence or community health and safety issues. The Coalition members usually include community agencies (government, law enforcement, schools, youth or business organizations), local businesses, school officials, health professionals, community members and people directly affected by the issue being addressed by the Coalition.
Maintaining a sense of urgency and momentum is critical to keeping Coalition members motivated to work collaboratively. This can be accomplished by recognizing individual or organizational strengths, creating opportunities to build relationships and establishing clear lines of communication. It is also important to regularly evaluate the coalition’s vision and progress and to identify and address any emerging challenges or problems.
Inevitably, in the long term, there will be times when Coalition members must take difficult, ‘crunch’ decisions that may require them to make trade-offs. Foreseeing these possible issues and planning how to address them can help to avoid a breakdown of the Coalition. It is important to foster respect and trust among Coalition leaders so they can keep all of the members involved through difficult times. In addition, it is often wise to develop a leadership team for the Coalition, rather than relying on a single leader. This allows for the sharing of responsibilities, the development of a wide range of skills and expertise and helps to prevent a leader becoming ‘burnt out’ by the demands of the job.