March 2025 CWSC Chair Update
CWSC Chair Dr. Will Koon at the 2025 Water Safety Summit
It was truly wonderful to see so many passionate individuals come together at the 2025 California Water Safety Summit. The energy in the room was a testament to the collective dedication to drowning prevention and water safety that bridges professional and geographic silos. I always come away from events like this energized and full of ideas, and am constantly reminded that we are strongest when we learn from one another, share ideas, and work together toward common goals. The conversations, panel sessions and inspiring keynote addresses reinforced a few major themes for reflection as identified by Summit attendees; check out the Summit Recap Statement to read more about the event and those key takeaways.
I am deeply grateful for the incredible work happening across California and beyond. The commitment, expertise, and innovative solutions presented at the Summit highlight the impact we can have when we unite as a community. A special thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event such a success - speakers, organizers, sponsors, and attendees alike.
In the closing session of the Summit, I provided some information on behalf of the CWSC Board of Directors to illustrate where the Coalition is headed in the next few months. For context, here is a high level timeline of the last few years:
2019 – Southern California Water Safety Summit
2020/21 – Coalition exploratory committee and workshop
2022 – Coalition incorporated as a California Non Profit Organization
2023 – California Water Safety Strategy Published
In this time, we’ve managed to come together and have learned a few lessons along the way. Below, I’ve highlighted a few of the big ones and provided a short description of where we’ve been and where we’re headed.
It is time to move forward with collective policy action.
When the Coalition first formed a few years ago, we identified policy as an important tool to make big picture drowning prevention change, but recognized it as a potentially divisive topic that could split the Coalition into factions before it even got off the ground. For that reason, we made a strategic decision to avoid policy and legislation conversations for the first few years. Our first priority was to build a network based on trust, mutual respect, and constant learning: a strong holding environment that could handle differences in opinion and multiple strategies at the same time.
We’ve heard from all parts of the Coalition that it is time for us to cautiously move towards collective policy action, and the Board of Directors agrees. Earlier this month, the Board established a CWSC Policy and Legislative Committee to carefully guide us into this space with systems that will prioritise unifying issues and maintaining coalition cohesion. The committee’s first task is the development of a Policy Framework and Advocacy Protocol, stay tuned for consultation and input opportunities to this process.
Standing working groups were not fit for purpose, we need an alternate model.
After the publication of the California Water Safety Strategy, we transitioned various working groups involved in drafting the Strategy into eight working groups aligned with the eight priority areas of the Strategy. At the time, this made sense - it is the model national groups and other states established and it was the natural progression. In the following 18 months, those workgroups never reached their full potential. We think a few factors for why include:
Little to no capacity for CWSC to provide central coordination and administrative support
A structure with volunteer working group chairs, many who balance extremely demanding job roles and competing responsibilities
Lack of clear communication of goals and objectives
Burnout from previous involvement in strategy drafting and other committee responsibilities
Lack of alignment and/or low interest in the topics other working group members wanted to pursue
In reflection, this experience has been a valuable learning experience and something we are sharing with other States as additional state-based coalitions are getting off the ground. Always ready to evolve, learn, and adapt, in the next few months the CWSC will be moving towards a Project Group model. We will provide additional details and processes on this soon, but briefly, project groups will involve a system where people come together for a temporary project to accomplish a specific task or goal. Project groups will have an end date, be volunteer led, and participants will self-select based on interest and capacity. The CWSC will provide a simple system for high level coordination, opportunities to recruit and seek consultation from the broader network, and highlight and celebrate action. Stay tuned for additional communication on our transition to a Project Group model.
Coalition work done right is time consuming, but worth it. CWSC needs a refined framework to define what it does to maximize limited resources.
One day, I am hopeful that the Coalition will have a small staff to support, coordinate, and cheer on great drowning prevention work across the state. Until then, the CWSC has an active volunteer board and a phenomenal network of supporters to help get stuff done. Managing our CWSC responsibilities on top of our other professional, family and personal roles is important, but challenging.
With this in mind, the Board of Directors has spent the last several months developing an organizational framework to help clarify what the coalition does, where our organizational priorities are, and how we should spend our limited time and energy. In the short term, our plan is to focus on you - the drowning prevention and water safety community. We believe that investing in a connected and collaborative coalition will enhance your individual work and lead to more opportunities for collective action. This means better programs, campaigns, actions, and education interventions, ultimately leading to a reduction in drowning across the state. Before we finalize and publish the CWSC Organizational Framework, we would like your input and feedback. You can click the button below view the draft and share your thoughts.
Briefly, the framework has a few parts. It outlines our staring place - what we agree on, underscores our purpose and vision, and clarifies what we do with a positioning statement. Finally, the framework outlines four strategic pillars for the organizaiton, see below.
If you are interested, here are a few of the resources that have been particularly helpful to me and the Board of Directors over the last few months as we have been thinking through how to best position the Coalition for the greatest impact:
Montgomery, T., Nikekani, R., & Sultani, C. (2025). Supporting society’s bridge builders. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Winter 2025. Available from: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/system-orchestrators
Samurai, D. & Schmitz, P. (2024). Backbone Leadership Is Different: The Skills and Mindset Shifts Needed for Collective Impact. Collective Impact Forum. Available from: https://collectiveimpactforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Backbone-Leadership-is-Different.pdf
Kania, J. & Kramer, M. (2011). Collective Impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Winter 2011. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact#
Uribe, d., Wendel C., & Bockstette, V. (2018) . How to lead collective impact working groups: A comprehensive toolkit. FSG. Available from: https://www.fsg.org/resource/how-to-lead-collective-impact-working-groups/
Hussein, T., Plummer, M., & Breen, B. (2018) How field catalysts galvanize social change. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Winter 2018. Available from: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/field_catalysts
In closing, there is much to do, fantastic people involved, and great momentum for collaborative action. It is an exciting time to be involved in drowning prevention across the globe, and especially in California. Thank you for your dedication to water safety and drowning prevention, and your commitment to working with others to tackle this complex problem. We are looking forward to hosting another fantastic Water Safety Summit in Sacramento in 2026, and sharing more updates on a few of the items above in due time.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Will
William Koon PhD MPH
Chair
California Water Safety Coalition