Greg Bloom

community organizer, cooperative developer, commons facilitator

Work history

Currently

Senior Director of Strategy and Partnerships, Inform USA

Oversee development of strategic partnerships, government relations, and support for state affiliates of Inform USA, the industry association representing information-and-referral (I&R) providers across government and nonprofit human service sectors. Formerly known as the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS), Inform USA is the professional membership association for Information and Referral (I&R) providers that connect people and communities to information about resources. The members of Inform USA are the driving force behind the delivery of quality I&R services and the sole source for standards, program accreditation and practitioner certification for the I&R sector.

Founder and Lead, the Open Referral Initiative

Launched and lead the global Open Referral community of practice. Facilitated development of the Human Service Data Specifications, which are open protocols for exchanging data about the health, human, and social services available to people in need. Sponsored by Code for America in 2014, and endorsed by the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems in 2018, Open Referral’s protocols are now industry standards in the US, UK, and Canada. Through Open Referral, civic leaders and institutions find tools, guidance, implementation support, and a community of practice promoting the establishment of community resource directory data as a public good.

2024

Facilitator, Miami-Dade Property Insurance Strategy Forum, Miami-Dade Office of Innovation and Economic Development

In collaboration with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, designed and facilitated this two-day convening of stakeholders from across the insurance industry, along with state and local government officials, academics and researchers, green financiers, real-estate developers and affordable housing advocates. The Strategy Forum addressed the emerging crisis of property insurance unaffordability in South Florida and beyond, through 40+ small group, peer-facilitated discussions that focused on moving from analysis to action. The resulting report offers dozens of recommendations for state and local government, universities, insurance industry institutions, and more.

2023

Co-facilitator, Community Information Exchange Task Force, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Co-designed and facilitated the Michigan Community Information Exchange (CIE) Task Force, in partnership with the Michigan Public Health Institute. Over the course of 10 months, the Task Force reviewed available research and analysis about Community Information Exchange initiatives in Michigan and around the country, and analyzed the challenges and opportunities for development of statewide infrastructure in support of CIE activities. The Task Force reached concordance around 33 recommendations that were submitted to the state government and published in a Final Report.

Co-facilitator of ONC’s “Social Determinants of Health Information Exchange” Technical Expert Panel and Learning Forum, EMI Advisors

Co-facilitated a Technical Expert Panel, and subsequent Learning Forums, on the topic of information exchange to address social needs and improve health outcomes. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the Technical Expert Panel included stakeholders from across the health, human, and social service sectors, and synthesized findings into a toolkit for information exchange initiatives.

2022

Workgroup member, Alternative Hotlines, Transform911.

Supported workgroup research, deliberation, and recommendation upon the relationship between 911 and other hotlines such as 211, 311, 988, etc. Transform911 convened a wide array of experts and community stakeholders, resulting in evidence-informed and actionable proposals and recommendations for local, state, and federal lawmakers and create blueprints to initiate systemic change of the nation’s emergency response system.

2020

Strategic Advisor, Community Resources and Engagement, Gravity Project.

Advise on the Gravity Project’s strategic design and governance process; co-facilitated the participatory process of drafting the project’s foundational Statement of Principles. Facilitating stakeholder engagement among social service sectors in standards development processes. The Gravity Project is aligning and extending standardized vocabularies for clinical care to support cross-domain care coordination, as well as implementation guidance for use of HL7’s FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) for development of interoperability among systems that facilitate delivery of health, human, and social services.

Product Manager, Florida.EvictionProtection.org. Code for Miami. Miami, Florida.

In partnership with the Community Justice Project, formed and managed the team that developed the Florida Eviction Protection website, which helped tens of thousands of Florida tenants learn about their rights during the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying economic crisis.

2019 Visiting Scholar, Ostrom Workshop on the Commons. Indiana University, Bloomington

In the Ostrom Workshop’s Program on Data Governance, conducting research and analysis of the field of ‘information-and-referral’ as a tragic anti-commons. Co-facilitating Ostrom Workshop’s data governance workgroup. Advised New America’s Future of Property Rights program in development of their report, “A Commons Approach to Smart City Governance”. Authored “Averting Tragedy of the Resource Directory Anti-Commons,” a chapter in The Cambridge Handbook of Commons Research Innovations: https://bit.ly/CUPChapter

2017 Instigator, lead organizer, Irma Response Network. Miami, Florida

Formed and facilitated a network of ‘digital responders’ to prepare for Hurricane Irma. The network grew to include almost a thousand volunteers, and deployed a range of useful tools including the Irma Shelter application, as featured in The New Tropic. Afterward, facilitated the drafting of the Principles of Equitable and Effective Crisis Response through dialogue with dozens of community organizers across multiple events and international settings.

2017 Strategic Advisor, Benetech. Palo Alto, California

Co-designed Benetech’s strategy for the Service Net Initiative, which is prototyping a platform for multi-lateral community resource data management. Co-convened the Bay Area Service Net pilot, which promotes cooperation among a network of referral providers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

2016 Civic Imagination Fellow, Civic Hall. New York City

Designed Civic Hall Labs’ ReferNYC initiative. Advised the NYC Mayor’s Office of Opportunity in their process of standardizing and publishing their citywide dataset of health, human, and social service contractors. Advised members of the Civic Hall community, among other local initiatives.

2013 Research Fellow, Provisions Library. DC

Conducted research on emerging opportunities for community technology development, including a report on DC’s municipal fiber-optic network, a proposal for a cooperative community broadband initiative, and a white paper about interoperability among local ‘information-and-referral’ systems.

2010-2013 Project Lead, Broadband Bridge. DC

Launched this organizing initiative to bridge the digital divide in DC. Organized ‘Discovering Technology Fairs’ (DisCotechs). Facilitated development of community wifi networks; coordinated policy advocacy around expanding access to broadband in the District.

2009-2011 Instigator, steering committee, Save Our Safety Net Campaign. DC

Launched municipal budget campaign to prevent cuts in safety net funding. SOS mobilized thousands of residents and ultimately won a tax increase on the wealthiest 3% of DC taxpayers.

2008-2012 Communications Guy, Bread for the City. DC

Responsible for all print and electronic communications, including media relations and daily blogging. Increased online giving by approx. 100% each year; increased email subscribers by approx. 400% overall. Conducted comprehensive update of organizational brand. Organized community events and facilitated internal project management.

2007-2008 Development Manager, Equal Justice USA. Hyattsville, MD

Responsible for major donor development, direct mail, email, tele-fundraising, grantwriting, blog outreach, stakeholder reporting, and social media campaign development.

2004-2006 Community Coordinator, MediaBistro. New York City

Responsible for membership administration, event planning, tech support, email marketing, website development, editorial contributor. Research, reporting, and copy-editing of mb’s book, Get a Freelance Life. Assistant to the educational department and the Chief Executive Officer.

Publications

2021 “Averting Tragedy of the Resource Directory Anti-Commons,” in Foster, S., & Swiney, C. (Eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Commons Research Innovations. Georgetown University Press. https://bit.ly/CUPChapter

“Tackling Data Dilemmas in Social Care Coordination,” a whitepaper co-authored with Paul Sorenson of the University of Missouri-St Louis, commissioned by Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

2014 “With and Of and By and For,” Civic Quarterly #2. https://civicquarterly.com/article/with-and-of-and-by-and-for/

2013 “Towards a Community Data Commons,” Beyond Transparency. Code for America. https://beyondtransparency.org/part-5/towards-a-community-data-commons/

Education

1999-2003 Duke University, Trinity

2001 King’s College, London