Section 3. Developing Multisector Task Forces or Action Committees for the Initiative

Creating a task force or an action committee can be an effective way for your initiative to focus on a specific problem, opportunity, or organizational need. Such a group should have a clearly defined purpose and should involve people, communities, organizations, and sectors whose experiences, responsibilities, knowledge, or resources are relevant to the issue. In this section, we'll discuss what task forces and action committees might look like, what they do, and how to put them together and use them to strengthen your initiative.

What is a multisector task force or action committee?

A task force or action committee (also sometimes called an ad hoc committee, from the Latin meaning "for this purpose") is a group assembled to address a specific problem or accomplish a specific goal. That problem or goal can take at least two different forms:

• It might be related to a specific community issue -- affordable housing, child maltreatment prevention, early detection and treatment of breast cancer, or another community priority.
• It might stem from a need of the larger group. A coalition might need a smaller group to focus on advocacy, for instance, or to draft a set of bylaws.

A multisector task force or action committee includes people from different parts of the community whose perspectives, responsibilities, experiences, or resources are relevant to the problem or goal that is the group's focus. In an initiative addressing adolescent prescription-drug misuse, for instance, that might include young people, families, health professionals, behavioral-health and recovery organizations, schools, public-health agencies, community organizations, pharmacists, and public-safety partners where relevant.

Task forces and action committees, as their names suggest, are action-oriented. Their specific purpose is to accomplish something. Depending on the issue they address, their initial goals may be very specific -- find temporary shelter options for at least 15 families experiencing homelessness or draft a timeline for a community economic-development effort -- or broader, such as developing and implementing a strategy to reduce youth violence. In either case, the group should be clear about the results it is trying to achieve.

In general, these groups are formed for a defined purpose rather than simply to exist indefinitely. They may disband when their work is complete, transition into another kind of group, or transfer continuing responsibilities to an organization or program. A task force might help launch a new community intervention, for example. That intervention could continue the work in a different form, with a different membership and structure.

A task force or action committee is often part of a larger initiative -- a community coalition, nonprofit organization, public agency, government committee, or other partnership. It may be one of several groups created by the larger initiative, each focused on a different issue or goal. Its authority should be clearly defined: some task forces may act within delegated authority, while others may need approval from the larger group for particular decisions or commitments.

The North Quabbin Community Coalition, in north central Massachusetts, has maintained task forces focused on specific community issues. Historical examples have included Information and Referral, Child Sexual Assault, Homelessness, and Youth-Community Relations.

Why would you form a multisector task force or action committee?

There are really two questions here, each of which we'll consider separately:

• Why would you form a task force or action committee?
• Why might a task force or action committee benefit from multisector participation?

Why form a task force or action committee?

There are a number of reasons why you might want to form a task force or action committee rather than addressing the issue entirely within the larger group.

• Task forces or action committees can make it possible for their parent groups to concentrate additional attention on issues that are especially urgent or complex while continuing to address their other responsibilities.
• A task force or action committee can maintain a focused scope rather than being pulled in the many directions the larger group may need to address.
• A smaller group can sometimes coordinate detailed work more efficiently than a large membership body, as long as its authority and accountability are clear.
• Task forces and action committees give people an opportunity to concentrate on areas where their interests, responsibilities, expertise, or lived experience are especially relevant.
• Task forces and action committees can involve people who don't want or aren't able to participate in every part of the larger initiative but who are willing to contribute to a particular issue or project.

Why should a task force or action committee be multisector?

Community issues are often shaped by several systems, environments, organizations, and groups of people. Bringing together relevant perspectives can therefore improve both understanding and action. Multisector does not necessarily mean including every possible sector. The goal is to include the people and organizations needed to understand the issue, make appropriate decisions, carry out the work, and account for how different groups may be affected.

Advantages of a multisector task force or action committee

• Community action often benefits from the participation of people directly affected by the issue as well as organizations and institutions with relevant responsibilities, knowledge, resources, or decision-making authority.

"Stakeholders" is a term used throughout the Tool Box. It refers to people, groups, organizations, institutions, or communities that are affected by an issue, have responsibilities related to it, or have a significant interest in its outcome. In a discussion of housing discrimination, for example, stakeholders may include people who have experienced discrimination, fair-housing and civil-rights organizations, housing providers, public housing authorities, enforcement agencies, legal services, local government, neighborhood organizations, and others whose work or rights are directly connected with the issue.

• Meaningful involvement can strengthen trust and shared ownership when participants have real opportunities to influence planning and implementation. Simply placing people on a committee does not guarantee ownership; their participation has to matter.
• Participation from different sectors and communities can bring additional information, experience, and perspectives into the work. That can help the group identify barriers, assets, tradeoffs, and possible consequences that a narrower group might miss.
• Community members and organizations often bring different kinds of historical and practical knowledge. Local residents may understand relationships, previous efforts, and everyday conditions that institutions do not see, while professionals or public agencies may contribute technical, policy, legal, or service-system knowledge. These perspectives can complement one another.
• Meaningful multisector involvement can strengthen cooperation and increase the likelihood that implementation reflects the realities of the people and organizations expected to participate.
• Multisector participation can also create relationships among individuals and organizations that might otherwise have little contact. Working together can help people better understand one another's responsibilities, experiences, constraints, and priorities and may build trust over time.
• Finally, people should have meaningful opportunities to influence decisions that substantially affect their lives and communities. Their participation can make plans more relevant, identify unintended consequences, and improve understanding of community needs and strengths.

Possible challenges of a multisector group

Although there are compelling reasons for forming multisector groups, they can also face challenges. Different participants may enter the group with different histories, levels of authority, organizational constraints, priorities, resources, and experiences with one another.

• There may be mistrust or conflict among groups that have had limited contact, experienced discrimination or exclusion, competed for resources, or disagreed about community priorities. Differences in institutional power can also shape who feels comfortable speaking and whose ideas receive attention. These dynamics should be acknowledged rather than treated simply as personality conflicts.
• There may be substantial disagreement about how to understand or address an issue. A substance-use initiative, for example, might include perspectives from people with lived experience, prevention programs, harm-reduction organizations, treatment and recovery providers, health professionals, schools, families, public-health agencies, housing and social services, and public-safety partners. Participants may differ on priorities, but a strong process can help the group identify evidence, responsibilities, areas of agreement, unresolved differences, and a workable scope.

Complex problems often require more than one type of response, but that does not mean one task force can or should do everything. Trying to address prevention, treatment, housing, economic conditions, mental health, public safety, policy, and every other related issue at once can scatter resources and weaken focus.

The group should identify which parts of the issue it is equipped and authorized to address, which require collaboration with other organizations, and which fall outside its scope. Clear goals and realistic responsibilities are usually more useful than trying to solve every related problem at the same time.

Participants may continue to disagree about some questions. Good facilitation can help people understand those differences, make decisions through an agreed-upon process, and continue working together where common ground exists without pretending that consensus has been reached when it has not.

• Different individuals and organizations may have different amounts of time, authority, funding, or staff capacity available for task-force work. Be realistic about responsibilities and avoid relying on a small number of people to carry an unsustainable share of the work.
• Participants may also have different levels of familiarity with a particular organization's meeting procedures, professional language, technology, or decision-making practices. Make expectations and processes understandable for everyone and provide orientation, mentoring, interpretation, accessibility support, or training when useful rather than assuming that unfamiliarity reflects lower ability or education.

Differences in experience can become an opportunity for mutual learning and leadership development when meetings are designed so that people can participate meaningfully. Shared orientation and clearly explained procedures can help prevent newcomers from being expected to learn unwritten rules on their own.

When would you form a multisector task force or action committee?

Some issues can be addressed within the larger initiative or through existing organizations and services. A focused task force or action committee may be particularly useful in situations such as these:

• When the initiative identifies a specific issue within its broader mission that requires concentrated work. This might be a community problem such as substance-related harm or an internal need such as advocacy, governance, communications, or expanding participation. The issue is important, but too specific for the entire group to address in detail.
• When new information identifies an important concern, gap, or opportunity that requires focused attention.

For example, if local data reveal an unexpectedly high rate of child sexual abuse reports or identify gaps in prevention and response, a coalition might establish a focused task force. Relevant participants could include survivors or survivor advocates, families, schools, health professionals, child-advocacy organizations, behavioral-health providers, child-protection agencies, legal and public-safety partners, and other community organizations with relevant responsibilities or expertise.

• When an existing task force or action committee identifies a related issue that requires additional expertise or a separate body of work.

For example, a child-safety task force might identify caregiver substance use as one of several factors affecting some families. Rather than expanding its own scope indefinitely, it might partner with or recommend forming another group focused on substance-use prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery support, and family services.

• When a policy decision, funding change, emergency, or action by an outside organization suddenly makes focused attention more urgent. If a state reduces important health funding, for example, an initiative might form an advocacy task force to assess the effects, inform the community, develop alternatives, and engage appropriate decision-makers.
• When participants in the larger initiative identify an issue that they believe deserves concentrated attention and are prepared to contribute to the work.

Before creating a new task force, make sure the issue fits the larger initiative's mission and merits the resources it will require. If several participants care strongly about an issue that falls outside the initiative's priorities, the larger group can discuss whether the work should be incorporated, referred to another organization, pursued independently, or postponed.

Who might be part of a multisector task force or action committee?

Many different people may contribute to a multisector task force or action committee. Membership should be guided by the issue, the group's responsibilities, and the perspectives and capabilities needed to do the work.

Include people beyond the membership of the larger initiative when useful. A task force can create an opportunity for people who are not part of the larger organization to contribute to a specific issue. Invite people because their experiences, responsibilities, skills, relationships, or perspectives are relevant -- not simply to increase the size of the group.

Look for stakeholders and other relevant participants. These might include:

• People directly affected by the issue
• Communities experiencing significant effects from the issue or proposed response
• People who provide services, support, advocacy, or other assistance related to the issue
• People and organizations with relevant responsibilities for prevention, services, policy, implementation, regulation, or response. In a substance-use initiative, for example, this might include people with lived experience, public health, treatment and recovery organizations, harm-reduction programs, health care, schools, social services, and public safety when relevant.
• People affected indirectly. Employers, for example, may be affected by barriers to literacy or workforce training because those conditions can affect recruitment, retention, and advancement.
• Community members who may not have a formal role but have useful knowledge, concern, or experience related to the issue

Look for people whose participation can strengthen the effort. This might include people who can contribute relevant expertise, trusted relationships, decision-making authority, resources, communication networks, community knowledge, or connections with people directly affected by the issue.

Some possibilities:

• Business owners, employers, labor representatives, or other economic partners when relevant
• Faith leaders and members of faith communities or religious organizations
• Local, tribal, state, or other relevant public officials and agency representatives
• People who are trusted because of their community relationships, service, experience, or integrity, whether or not they hold a formal title
• People or organizations that can contribute relevant financial, technical, material, or other resources
• People with relevant decision-making responsibility or authority
• People and organizations with trusted relationships in communities directly affected by the issue

Look to engage people from different sectors. Depending on the issue, examples might include:

• Young people
• Older adults
• Businesses, employers, and labor organizations
• Media and community-information networks
• Schools and other educational institutions
• Youth-led and youth-serving organizations
• Public-safety and justice-system agencies when their responsibilities are relevant to the issue
• Faith communities and religious organizations
• Civic, mutual-aid, neighborhood, and volunteer organizations
• Health and behavioral-health professionals and organizations
• State, local, tribal, or other relevant governmental agencies
• Community-based organizations, advocacy groups, cultural organizations, and other local networks

A task force that includes relevant perspectives can improve understanding, build relationships, and make implementation more realistic. No single member should automatically be expected to represent an entire demographic group, neighborhood, profession, or community. Where a broad community perspective is important, involve multiple people and organizations.

How do you develop a multisector task force or action committee?

If you decide that a task force or action committee would strengthen your initiative, there are several steps you can take to put the group together and help it begin its work. These steps are similar to those a larger organization might take in defining its goals and actions.

Define the relationship of your task force or action committee to the larger group

How will the task force operate within the larger initiative? The answer may range from substantial delegated authority to a requirement that particular decisions receive approval from the parent organization.

Three common models:

• The task force or action committee has substantial delegated authority. The larger group authorizes it to make defined decisions about the issue. The task force reports on its work and may request resources or assistance, but it can act independently within the limits of its delegation.
• The task force operates with delegated authority but reports regularly to the larger group. It can make routine decisions within its scope but cannot commit the larger initiative to major financial, legal, policy, or public positions without appropriate approval.
• The task force primarily develops recommendations or an implementation plan for approval. Once approved, it may be authorized to carry out the plan and return to the larger group only when significant changes or decisions arise.

Decide beforehand what the task force can decide on its own, which actions require approval, what resources it can commit, whether it can speak publicly on behalf of the larger initiative, and who has authority to provide approval when it is needed.

The same basic framework may be useful for multiple task forces, but don't assume every task force requires exactly the same authority. A short-term bylaws committee, an emergency-response group, and a public-policy task force may reasonably need different arrangements.

A task force needs enough authority to carry out its assigned work without unnecessary delay, but independence is not automatically better. The appropriate balance depends on risk, legal and financial responsibility, urgency, organizational policy, and the significance of the decisions involved. Clear reporting and communication help the larger initiative remain informed and able to provide support.

Find the right people to lead or facilitate your task force or action committee

Leadership may be provided by one person, co-chairs, a small leadership team, rotating facilitators, or the group as a whole. Useful qualities include:

• The ability to build trust across the communities and organizations relevant to the work, act with integrity, and recognize differences in authority and perspective
• The ability to facilitate inclusive discussion, manage conflict, clarify decisions, and keep the group focused without suppressing legitimate disagreement

Potential leadership arrangements might include:

• The coalition or initiative coordinator
• Someone with strong knowledge of the issue and trusted relationships with relevant communities
• Someone who can clearly describe the task, organize work, and help participants move from discussion to action
• Co-chairs or a leadership team bringing different perspectives or organizational relationships
• Collaborative or rotating leadership, with facilitation responsibilities shared among members

Identify individuals or groups whose participation is particularly important

Questions to consider include:

• Who is directly affected by this issue or by the decisions the task force may make?
• Who has relevant decision-making authority, legal responsibility, resources, or organizational responsibility?
• Who will actually carry out the programs, policies, practices, or other changes the task force recommends?
• Whose knowledge or perspective is likely to be missed if they are not included?

Make a working list of individuals, organizations, and communities that should be considered. Ask participants and trusted community contacts who else should be involved and whose perspectives may be missing.

Some participants may be essential because they are directly affected, hold specific responsibilities, or will implement the work. Others may strengthen the task force through additional knowledge, relationships, resources, or perspectives. Be clear about why you are inviting each person or organization.

Invite participants to your task force or action committee

Use the contact list and relationships you've developed to invite people. Avoid assuming that one individual is the "best representative" of an entire group or community. When a community perspective is important, seek multiple participants or organizations, and clarify whether anyone is formally authorized to represent an organization or constituency.

Use a contact method appropriate to the person, relationship, accessibility needs, and importance of the request. A personal introduction or conversation may be helpful for a significant role, while email, phone, video, written invitations, or other channels may work better in other circumstances. Explain the group's purpose, expected commitment, decision-making role, accessibility supports, and why you believe the person's participation may be relevant. Respect a decision not to participate.

Gather the group and define its purpose

The broad issue may already be identified, but the task force still needs to determine the part of the issue it will address, the results it hopes to achieve, and the authority it has to act. Some task forces are formed primarily to study an issue and recommend action, others coordinate implementation, and still others are empowered to take direct action within a defined scope.

The process below assumes that someone facilitates the discussion and that the group has a broad community issue to address -- youth violence, homelessness, housing access, or another concern. A committee with a narrow assignment, such as drafting bylaws, may need a much simpler process.

• Define the problem, opportunity, or task clearly, including who is affected and what information is already known.
• Describe the desired outcomes or conditions the group hopes to help create.
• Work backward from those outcomes. What changes would need to occur to move from current conditions toward the desired results?
• Identify milestones or indicators of progress along the way.
• Develop strategies and action steps for reaching those milestones and contributing to the larger goal.
• Identify related issues, organizations, approvals, or partners that may affect the plan and determine what coordination is needed.
• Identify the resources, skills, authority, data, partnerships, and support required and compare them with what is realistically available.
• Draft an action plan identifying responsibilities, timelines, resources, risks or barriers, communication needs, and measures of progress.

A plan is a guide, not a guarantee. Timelines and assumptions may change as new information, community feedback, resources, policy decisions, or unexpected circumstances emerge. Build in opportunities to review progress and revise the plan rather than treating changes as failures.

• Share the plan with the larger initiative according to the authority and reporting process established earlier. Feedback from the parent group can identify conflicts, needed resources, duplication, or opportunities for collaboration, and regular communication helps everyone understand what is underway.

At this point, the task force or action committee has been formed and has developed a direction. The work now shifts into implementation, learning, and follow-through.

Implement your plan

Carry out the agreed-upon actions, monitor responsibilities and timelines, and maintain communication with participants and the larger initiative.

Evaluate and adjust your plan and your actions

No plan will anticipate every development. Review both the results and the process regularly. Evaluation can help determine what is working, what needs to change, whether some assumptions were inaccurate, whether participation remains meaningful, and whether the task force is contributing to the outcomes it intended to influence.

Use what you learn to adjust strategies, responsibilities, timelines, or the group's scope when necessary.

Recognize progress along the way

Recognizing milestones can help participants see how their work contributes to larger goals. Appreciation might include a direct thank-you, a progress update, private or public recognition when participants want it, a community gathering, compensation or reimbursement where appropriate, or another form of acknowledgement meaningful to the people involved.

Communicate accomplishments accurately. Share what changed, what the task force contributed, what remains unfinished, and what was learned rather than presenting every milestone as proof that the entire issue has been solved.

Plan for sustainability, transition, or responsible closure

Task forces and action committees are often temporary, but the conditions they address may require continuing attention after the group itself ends. Before disbanding, decide what work needs to continue, who will be responsible for it, how progress will be monitored, and what records, relationships, resources, or responsibilities need to be transferred.

There are several ways continuing work might be handled:

• The task force's work may develop into a new program, organization, or ongoing collaborative effort.

For example, a child-safety task force might help establish an ongoing organization or program that provides family support, child and youth activities, prevention education, caregiver resources, and other services. The continuing program would have its own structure and responsibilities even if it grew out of the task force's work.

• An existing organization may assume responsibility for implementing particular strategies, services, or policies developed through the task force.
• The larger initiative may incorporate continuing responsibilities into its own committees, staff work, partnerships, monitoring, or action plan.
• Some work may be completed without requiring a permanent structure. In that case, document what was accomplished, identify any remaining risks or follow-up needs, and close the group intentionally.

Sustainability does not always require creating a new institution. The appropriate goal may be continued services, a lasting policy or practice change, ongoing monitoring, stronger community capacity, transfer of responsibility to an existing organization, or responsible completion of a time-limited task.

In Summary

Your initiative may develop multisector task forces or action committees when a specific community issue or organizational need requires focused attention. A task force or action committee is created to accomplish defined work; multisector means that the group draws on relevant people, organizations, communities, and systems rather than relying on one narrow perspective.

Task forces and action committees can help larger initiatives focus on complex or urgent work, involve people with relevant experience and responsibility, and translate planning into action. Multisector participation can strengthen understanding, relationships, and implementation, but it does not automatically create community ownership or support. That depends on whether people have meaningful opportunities to influence decisions, whether differences in power are addressed, and whether the group follows through on what participants contribute.

A multisector task force may be especially useful when new information identifies an important issue, a policy or funding change requires a coordinated response, a larger initiative needs concentrated work on one part of its mission, or a group of participants identifies a priority that fits the initiative's purpose. Membership should include people directly affected by the issue as well as others with relevant responsibilities, knowledge, relationships, resources, or decision-making authority.

Developing a multisector task force or action committee generally includes:

• Defining its relationship, authority, and accountability within the larger initiative
• Establishing appropriate leadership or facilitation
• Identifying the people, organizations, and perspectives needed for the work
• Inviting participants respectfully and clearly
• Convening the group and defining its purpose, scope, and desired outcomes

Once the groundwork is complete, the task force's work includes:

• Implementing its action plan
• Evaluating progress and adjusting the plan and the work
• Recognizing progress and participants' contributions
• Planning for sustainability, transition, transfer of responsibility, or responsible closure before the task force disbands

A successful task force is one that fulfills its defined purpose, learns and adapts as circumstances change, involves relevant people meaningfully, and leaves the work in an appropriate condition for whatever should happen next.