The Calgary Foundation's System Thinking Approach to Mental Health
The Calgary Foundation is a 360 degree funding foundation dedicated to building healthy and vibrant communities where everyone belongs.
We sat down virtually with Allison Schulz, Vice President of Capacity Building at the Calgary Foundation to gain insight on their recent Mental Health Systems Mapping Project with the Studio, and to get a sense of why it’s important for the Foundation to seek new ways of thinking about and approaching their work.
Allison shared that the journey started about 8 years ago when the Foundation did “a very extensive community consultation process that engaged donors, community leaders, and charities to figure out which areas are important to Calgarians, and to find ways to start measuring the impact of the grants and funding, and how it’s contributing to change”.
The result of this process led the Calgary Foundation to identify their 5 Vital Priority areas.
With Mental Health as one of the Foundation’s vital priorities, the Foundation wanted to develop a tool that would help them understand the mental health system better, in order to be more effective and have more impact in its funding.
To begin the work, the Foundation engaged the Trico Changemakers Studio.
Allison says, “We had the experience of working with the Studio in the past. With the relationship we already have with Trico Studio, from other projects and engagements, it was only natural that we went back to the Studio and said ‘here is the next thing that we want to do, are you interested in working with us because of your expertise and your understanding of who we are’.”
Mental Health System Mapping
When the Calgary Foundation and the Trico Changemakers Studio launched the project, they brought together a core group of community leaders that were working in the mental health space. For example, the Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Calgary Foundation board and committee members, and those with experience in the mental health sector and education. This group helped drive and navigate the project.
At the first meeting, Allison explained that, “we wanted to develop a tool [the system map] that is going to help the mental health system, but the core group very quickly pointed out that it’s not possible to develop a tool that can help everyone because you can’t meet the needs and priorities of every organization and individual.”
In light of this, the Foundation decided to approach the project in a way that would deepen their understanding of the mental health system in Calgary and identify areas where the Calgary Foundation can play a role in transforming the system.
Allison describes that the Calgary Foundation doesn’t provide services, they “provide funding to organizations that then work with individuals. So, [the Foundation’s] impact and spheres of influence are really with the organization.”
With this perspective the Foundation worked with the Trico Changemakers Studio’s Social Impact Facilitation team to develop a guiding question for the project:
“How might the Calgary Foundation use our assets and resources to help transform Calgary’s mental health system so that all Calgarians experience greater well-being?”
“We relied on the [Social Impact Facilitation team] to help us figure things out,” Alison describes. “They didn’t give us the answers, they gave us the process to think differently and that is where it’s really inspiring. It’s not just about the project but it’s about us and developing us… and it’s a by-product of the process but it’s also core to the process.”
The systems map that was developed gave the Foundation “a lay of the land at a specific point in time”, says Allison. She elaborates, “We have to remember that the map is a guide for us to look at where the gaps are, where are the things that we are aware of, and what is our role in that.”
Outcomes of the Project
Allison says, “When our team saw the results, they were looking for answers. But it was a great reminder and opportunity to talk again about system change as a shift in how we think and act. It’s not about finding the right answers. It’s about the process. So our job is to look at the gaps and figure out where are the opportunities for us to leverage our resources and relationships to facilitate and influence change.
Next Steps
Recognizing that change doesn't happen overnight, the next step for the Foundation is to utilize the mental health systems map as a tool to inform their work for different types of long term outcomes. This includes: looking at the information emerging from the map, looking at how various teams and departments in the organization are interpreting the map and the process of systems thinking into their work, identifying how to utilize the information to share the stories of organizations or the experiences of people to donors, and finding more unique opportunities for collaborations.
Allison’s hope is that this information will impact the focus and direction of what the Calgary Foundation is doing, so that “in a couple of years time we can look back and say this is the point where we started, and here is where and how we have shifted our way of being, knowing, and doing. Have we reduced barriers? Have we made life a little bit better? Have we seen different changes?”