NetLab

We have been excited by and committed to exploring networks as a vehicle for creating powerful positive social change in NYC because we believe that they represent a powerful approach to addressing the City’s most complex, entrenched social problems—problems like the growing income and wealth gap, and the reduction in pathways to economic mobility. Networks are a unique form of collaboration. They reflect a way of working together that emphasizes the ability to understand both the root causes and the system- level implications of social problems, to work across difference, and to elevate the power and capacity of others over one’s own.

NetLab built on our interest in networks as a model for systems change. Our aim was to create an intentional space for exploration and experimentation about networks. The people and organizations in NetLab were free to ask questions, connect with their peers, and learn about and test the model as it applied to their own issues and work. By providing a space for exploration and experimentation and shared learning – a laboratory – we also learned things about networks that could serve as lessons for other people and institutions outside of New York.

Process for Exploration

NetLab participants received a $20,000 general operating grants and joined a 2-year, cohort-based learning community of individuals and organizations that were exploring impact networks as a model for engaging in social and systems-level change work. Through NetLab, the Foundation sought to provide space for emerging networks to explore the model, and to meet and learn from peers who are also exploring the power of networks to address society’s most complicated problems.

Key Partners

• NetLab Participants

  • Ahead of the Curve

  • Angry Asian Women

  • Arab American Family Services Center

  • BIPOC Leaders

  • Black Executive Directors

  • Brooklyn Roots

  • Bronx Community Development Inc.

  • CEANYC

  • Community Food Advocates

  • Equity Now

  • Literacy Assistance Center

  • The ED Elders Initiative

  • Women’s Leadership Circle

  • Women’s Organizing Network 

• Brooke Richie-Babbage

Now What?

The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation remains committed to championing the role of networks in advancing complex systems change but no longer supports new networks as a separate category or community of practice. Instead we continue to share our learnings about supporting networks with the field and have folded this funding into our general portfolio of funding Leadership for Equity.