Evaluating Collective Impact

With Veggielution

Bronco Environmental Consulting (BEC)

Maxwell Nelson, Lucy Wittmer, Aditya Nagaraj, Mehak Vohra

 500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95050

April 21, 2022

Cayce Hill
Executive Director, Veggielution
647 S King Rd,
San Jose, CA 95116

Dear Cayce and the Veggielution team:

Bronco Environmental Consulting would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to
create a partnership and work with your organization. Our team is eager to help further
Veggielution’s mission of mobilizing the local community to be stewards of the
environment and promote food system equity.

We expect to provide our services to advance the Santa Clara County Urban Growers
Network. This initiative is a response to the need for community-based food and
environmental organizations to better organize themselves in order to shift local
ecosystem power dynamics. Bronco Environmental Consulting will be responsible for
contacting stakeholders of the Santa Clara County Urban Growers Network and
conducting Collective Impact Readiness Assessments.

In reflecting on the beginning of this partnership, Bronco Environmental Consulting feels

confident in its ability to execute this project because of our alignment with
Veggielution’s values. Working to build community and equity through the food system
is a cause about which we are all individually and collectively passionate.

We are eager to get to work, and we hope to bring intentionality and care into the
project we complete. Please feel free to contact us at any time, and thank you for the
opportunity to work with Veggielution.

Best Regards,

Maxwell Nelson, Lucy Wittmer, Aditya Nagaraj, and Mehak Vohra

Bronco Environmental Consulting

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 Table of Contents

Section Page Number

Executive Summary 3

Introduction 4

Project Rationale 5

Deliverables 6

Delivery Schedule 7

Cost Analysis 8

Success Metrics 10

Staffing 11

Appendix 13

Works Cited 20

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 Executive Summary

Our Client: Veggielution

Veggielution is a local non-profit organization based in East San Jose that works
towards mobilizing the local community in promotion of food system equity and
environmental sustainability. The organization uses a unique 6 acre community farm
model to engage volunteers and farmers in the community to aggregate and distribute
produce grown onsite to local residents each year. The SCC Urban Growers Network is
an organization created by Veggielution in order to implement a collaborative network of
environmental and community-based food organizations striving to grow the collective
impact of an efficient local food system.

Our Goal

This proposal will work towards strengthening efficient food system coordination by
engaging the local community and organizing the SCC Urban Growers Network in order
to grow its collective impact.

Our consultancy will meet its goal of helping Veggielution better organize their
company’s specific projects and method of community outreach by conducting a
Collective Impact Readiness Assessment. This assessment will evaluate the potential
effectiveness of the SCC Urban Growers Network and will be presented to stakeholders
for potential funding and engagement. With an evaluative assessment implemented,
Veggielution can partner with reliable volunteers and companies within the local
community that share aligned values to grow their collective impact within the local food
system.

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 Introduction

The Problem of Food Insecurity

According to research conducted by Feed America, the pandemic has been the leading
cause of food insecurity in the United States since 2020. With the onset of COVID-19,
the unemployment rate rose to an all time high since 1948 of 14.7%. This in turn made it
harder for people to afford simple needs such as food and shelter. In 2020, it was
estimated that 45 million people experienced food insecurity and 42 million people in
2021. Although it looks like this number is reducing, compared to pre pandemic levels,
the reduction is insignificant. Additionally, many of the people who experienced food
insecurity due to the pandemic were disproportionately latino and of color. A survey
conducted by San Jose State University found that 39% of people of color were food
insecure after the pandemic compared to 21% of white people. This problem of food
insecurity is very important to recognize as it also exacerbates illnesses and the need
for hospitalization. Diet related health conditions are already prominent in the United
States and again disproportionately affect latinos, indigenous peoples, and people of
color. While programs that target helping those with food insecurity are already
prevalent and in place, the number of people these programs reach is small.

The Aim of Veggielution

Veggielution aims to help the underprivileged in the same way that the smaller
programs are doing, but on a much larger scale. Through the use of their SCC Urban
Growers Network, Veggielution plans to revise and reimagine the current food system in
order to make it more resilient to supply chain problems and therefore more equitable
for future generations. Their vision is to provide affordable, nutritious, and culturally
relevant food for all people, all the while strengthening relationships across the many
organizations and establishing a culture of respect. To this end, Veggielution has
already partnered with a few organizations, those being Guadalupe Coyote River Park
Conservancy, La Mesa Verde (at Sacred Heart), Our City Forest, The Forge Garden (at
Santa Clara University), Taylor Street Farm, and Valley Verde. However, this is only the
initial list of partners. Over time the number of partner organizations will expand, thereby
expanding the number of people Veggielution reaches.

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 Project Rationale

Purpose

With the Santa Clara County Urban Growers Network, Veggielution aims to facilitate
better organization of community-based food and environmental organizations in order
to grow their collective impact.

According to the Collective Impact Forum, collective impact is defined as “a network of

community members, organizations, and institutions, who advance equity by learning
together, aligning, and integrating their actions to achieve population and systems level
change.” The SCC Growers Network aims to address the barriers and opportunities for
collaboration among these local organizations.

In order to guarantee the intended collective impact, it is imperative to evaluate whether

the stakeholders of the SCC Growers Network are aligned with the values of the overall
mission of the initiative. The readiness assessment tool that Bronco Environmental
Consulting will utilize to make these evaluations of the stakeholders is designed to
determine if the conditions for success are in place for the initiative to succeed.

Plan of Action

Bronco Environmental Consulting will receive contact information and briefs of each
potential stakeholder in the SCC Growers Network from the Veggielution team. Then,
BEC will conduct outreach to these organizations in order to collect their responses to
the Collective Impact Readiness Assessments.

Potential Obstacles

In conducting our project, we anticipate that the main potential obstacle could be
delayed returns of the Readiness Assessment from the stakeholders. This could
severely slow the timeline for the launch of the SCC Urban Growers Network. To
mitigate the possibility of this challenge, we will maintain open communication with the
stakeholders we are put in contact with and be very transparent about our anticipated
deadlines for the project.

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 Deliverables
Readiness Assessment
This document is designed for a group or organization to determine if collective impact
is the correct approach in addressing the social issue. It will then be determined to what
extent the group or organization will be able to succeed in combating the addressed
issue. The readiness assessment will be a three step process comprising three main
questions. Is Collective Impact the appropriate approach for pursuing your goals?
Do the pre-conditions for Collective Impact success exist? Are the nuts and bolts
for Collective Impact already in place?

We will conduct outreach to the predetermined stakeholders of the SCC Urban Growers
Network, such as Guadalupe Coyote River Park Conservancy, La Mesa Verde (at
Sacred Heart), Our City Forest, The Forge Garden (at Santa Clara University), Taylor
Street Farm, Valley Verde, and more. The stakeholders will be sent the Collective
Impact Readiness Assessment.

Upon receiving these assessments from stakeholders, each organization or group will
be evaluated to see if it is equipped to be successful as part of the SCC Urban Growers
Network.

**The Collective Impact Readiness Assessment can be found in the Appendix of this
report.

Interview Tool
Create an interview tool based on the Collective Impact forum website. This tool will
need to utilize an understanding of Collective Impact and what it means to
organizations. It will then be used to aid in conducting interviews with stakeholders at
Veggielution.

Stakeholder Interviews
These interviews with the stakeholders will be around 45 minute conversations. In each
interview we will use the newly created interview tool to determine if the stakeholders
have shared consensus, and values. The interviews will also ensure the stakeholders
are positively and actively associated with the network.

Onsite Work
We have planned and executed in-person interaction between BEC and Veggielution at
the Veggielution headquarters and garden. In-person interaction between both
organizations to detail what success will look like and that outcomes dovetail with the
food system work plan.

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 Delivery Schedule

Assigned Team
Weekly Tasks Deliverable
Member

4/25/22 Meeting with Veggielution, on-site Mehak Vohra, Aditya

Nagaraj, Lucy Wittmer

5/6/22 Conduct research, create interview Aditya Nagaraj, Lucy

tool Wittmer, Maxwell Nelson

5/6/22 Contact stakeholders to set up Mehak Vohra

interviews

5/13/22 Facilitate readiness interviews Mehak Vohra, Aditya

Nagaraj

5/20/22 Facilitate readiness interviews Lucy Wittmer, Maxwell

Nelson

5/27/22 Presentation to Veggielution director Mehak Vohra, Aditya

team Nagaraj, Lucy Wittmer,
Maxwell Nelson

6/3/22 Presentation to County Supervisor Mehak Vohra, Aditya

Cindy Chavez (and/or team) Nagaraj, Lucy Wittmer,
Maxwell Nelson

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 Cost Analysis

Description Quantity Cost Total Cost

Labor Hours $/Hour
Mehak (Management/Outreach) 18 $15 $270
Lucy (Writing/Media 18 $15 $270
Aditya (Analysis/Editing) 18 $15 $270
Maxwell (Analysis/Media) 18 $15 $270
Zoom/Conference Meetings 4 $50 $200

Total Labor Cost $1,280

Materials
Transportation $50 $50
Misc. Materials $120 $120

Total Material Cost $170

Total Cost
Labor $1,280

Materials 170

Sum $1,450

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Evaluation
Bronco Environmental Consulting worked through an estimated Cost Analysis of what
work will entail for our organization in completing our deliverables. We determined that
we are providing 18 hours of labor per person over the course of our agreement. This
number entails all management, outreach, analysis, media, and editing. There is also a
section detailing the Zoom/Conference Meetings we have already had and plan on
continuing to have throughout this process. Overall BEC’s cost analysis includes all
aspects of the work it is going to take to complete the deliverables.

Potential Return on Investment

The projected return on investment into Bronco Environmental Consulting surpasses

any incremental costs that were provided in the cost analysis. Veggielution is gaining
experience with an organization backed by Santa Clara University. BEC will be creating
tools and conducting research that Veggielution can continually use in vetting future
stakeholders, as well as finding future stakeholders.

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 Success Metrics

Stakeholder Outreach and Interview

Bronco Environmental Consulting plans to facilitate interviews with seven different

stakeholders of Veggielution. Interviewing the managers at each organization will help
us better understand the values of the business and assess their potential relation to
Veggielution. The measurement for success of the stakeholder outreach stage will be
the completion of each interview by May 27th. Our team aims to connect with and
interview a representative of each stakeholding company by May 27th in time to present
our assessments to the Veggielution Director Team.

Readiness Assessment Analyzation

In distributing the Collective Impact Readiness Assessment to stakeholders, we can

measure the organizations’ values, goals, and levels of commitment in relation to
Veggielution. In order to successfully ensure that the mission of the organization aligns
with Veggielution and is motivated toward growing their collective impact, the Readiness
Assessment proposes 3 main questions:
1. Is Collective Impact the appropriate approach for pursuing your goals?
2. Do the pre-conditions for Collective Impact success exist?
3. Are the nuts and bolts for the collective impact already in place?

Readiness Assessment Presentation

After interviewing and receiving completed Readiness Assessments from each

stakeholder, our team will analyze the responses of each business, defining their values
and potential contributions to Veggielution. We plan to present our assessments to the
Veggielution' team of directors by May 27th. The measurement for success of this
presentation will be dependent on the feedback from the directors, as we will work with
them to create a similar and final presentation of our assessments to present to county
supervisor Cindy Chavez.

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 Staffing

Mehak Vohra
Team Role: Project Manager, Outreach
Major, Minor: Management, Ethnic Studies
Work Experience: Mehak works as a Student
Inclusion Educator for the Office for Multicultural
Learning and will soon be joining PayPal as a
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Intern.
She has worked as a Sales Associate for RowHouse
and Clean Juice in the past, gaining experience in
leadership, marketing, and relationship building.

Lucy Wittmer
Team Role: Writer, Graphic Design Specialist
Major: Management
Work Experience: As a full-time student at Santa Clara
University, Lucy worked at the university broadcasting
station KSCU as Traffic Director. This summer, she will
join Target as an Executive Management Intern. Lucy
has enjoyed spending her past 3 summers working as a
bartender at Interlachen Country Club in her
hometown Minneapolis, MN.

Aditya Nagaraj
Team Role: Writer, Graphic Design Specialist,
Finance Specialist
Major: Accounting & Information Systems
Work Experience: Before the pandemic, Aditya
worked as a sales associate at Skechers. There he
learned communication skills, team management,
and customer service skills. This upcoming
summer, he will be joining PWC as an audit intern.

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Maxwell Nelson
Team Role: Financial Analyst,
Major, Minor: Finance
Work Experience: Maxwell has spent several summers
working in and alongside real estate agents at Timber
Ghost Realty in Minnesota. He also has been doing
freelance work for Mike Padden Law firm, he also has
been working on his community outreach spending the
past summer in Isla Mujeres. He worked with a local
church in creating a fundraising plan as well as
improving spanish communication.

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Appendix (Resumes)

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Appendix (Collective Impact Readiness Assessment)

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 Works Cited

“Our Farm.” Veggielution, https://veggielution.org/our-farm.

“Readiness Assessment.” Collective Impact Forum, FSG,

https://cfgv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/3-Collective-Impact-Readiness-Assessmen
t.pdf.

“The Impact of the Coronavirus on Local Food Insecurity in 2020 & 2021.” Feeding
America, Feeding America, Mar. 2021,
https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/Local%20Projections%20Brie
f_3.31.2021.pdf.

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