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An accelerated interest in community coalitions has taken place over the past two decades that has significantly changed the landscape of our communities. In my own experience with more than 30 years of community voluntary work, community coalitions have provided the most invigorating, inspiring, and significant volunteer experiences I have had. Community coalitions come about when loosely connected local groupings form in an attempt to make significant social change. Some of these coalitions are highly successful in altering the social landscape. What is puzzling, however, is that others with similar characteristics, structures, and support have been confusing failures. Each of these diverse community alliances from my own experience held a vision of social change for the greater good. All were made up of individuals who cared deeply about their community and their particular cause. All had resources, both human and financial, that could help move the coalition's goals forward. It was never obvious why some succeeded and others failed. A myriad of complex interdependent and independent elements seemed to be in play preventing any clear analysis of cause and effect. If we can understand the dynamics of these complex community change systems, then we may be able to design community coalitions that have more productive processes and are more effective in meeting their objectives.

The one constant in all of my own community coalition experiences were the individuals (agents) who acted to advance a cause. Without these networks of "agents" the community coalitions could neither fail nor succeed. Agents brought the skills, innovation, cachet, guidance, and action needed to move social change projects forward. It is important, therefore, to understand the dynamics that take place through these rich webs of volunteers and how they influence the course of community coalitions. How richly connected are these agents within the coalition and within the community? How do they interpret and convey the coalition's vision and intent? How do they deal with differences identified in their perceptions, stories and schema?

Stream: Change, Communication, Networks

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Simmons is the Founding Chair and Executive Director of the Sudbury Community Foundation in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and a retired professor of English and Sociology at Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology, Sudbury, Ontario. While at Cambrian College she also managed community-based ESL programs, and helped develop a distance education program as a program coordinator and instructional designer. Simmons has extensive experience in voluntary leadership both at a local and a national level. She served on two national boards: YWCA of/du Canada and Community Foundations of Canada and has served on numerous boards at a local level. She has been a teacher trainer and workshop presenter at local, national, and international practitioner and academic conferences.