Leading with Purpose: A Fellow’s Reflection on Public Private Partnerships with a Social Purpose (P4s)
Elizabeth Spach, MPP February 22, 2021 As part of the Virginia Management Fellows (VMF) Program, I’ve had the opportunity over the past year and a half to work on a Public Private Partnership with a Social Purpose (P4) with the other fellows and community partners. This service project is a new element of the fellowship where fellows “research, design, fund, and implement a public-private partnership with Virginia Tech” to help the broader Richmond community[1] As our project draws to a close this spring, I wanted to take some time to delve into the role of Public Private Partnerships (P3s) in the Commonwealth, how P4s are similar and different to P3s, and my experience working on the VMF P4. What is a Public Private Partnership? P3s are partnerships between the public and private sector where governments leverage private sector expertise to raise capital and private companies distribute risk to deliver services with agreed upon performance measures. These mutually beneficial agreements are often used for long-term, public assets such as roads, power grids and water systems.[2] The Office of Public-Private Partnerships (VAP3) within the Department of Transportation uses P3s to fund large scale transportation projects including the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and I-95 Express Lanes Extension. VAP3 recently broadened their role to include non-transportation projects in solar energy development, cell tower/wireless projects and facility construction. Other state agencies also work with private and nonprofit partners to accomplish their goals. When I rotated with the Housing Division within the Department of Housing and Community Development, nonprofit grantees provided essential services including weatherization, affordable housing development and housing solutions for those experiencing homelessness. P4s and the Importance of Purpose Organizational development research shows that organizational values and purpose define an organization far more than relationships between members. Having a common purpose orients the organization towards the same goals and serves as a North Star for employees (LaRiviere, 2019a). When individual and organizational purpose is aligned, workers demonstrate a higher level of performance and improved communication (LaRiviere, 2019b). P4s build on P3s by combining organizational development theory on purposiveness and public private collaboration to achieve a common goal. P3s are most [...]