C05 Session: Building Organizational Collaborative Relationships

This interactive workshop will explore some of the challenges OD practioners face as they work with social justice advocacy organizations that wish to increase their impact by working collaboratively with other organizations.  Increasingly, individual social justice advocacy organizations recognize that they alone do not have the capacity required to create lasting social change.  They desire more effective ways of working with other organizations (in strategic alliances, partnerships, networks, coalitions, etc.) in order to deepen their impact.  Utilizing an analysis of cases, a review of existing literature, and the experiences of the participants and workshop facilitators, this session will explore what roles OD practioners might play in these situations and the skills and capacity needed to play these roles well.  

The scale and impact of many individual social justice advocacy organizations has not been nearly large enough to keep pace with the growth of the social problems their organizations were designed to address.  Usually no single organization has all the resources, perspectives, legitimacy, or skills needed to affect the change they are working towards.  To increase their impact, many of these organizations have been building a range of multi-organizational systems (collaborations, partnerships, networks, consortia, alliances, etc.).  These multi-organizational systems require an organization to work with others that differ from themselves in numerous and challenging ways, frequently including differences in culture, perspectives, ideology, core mission, strategy and theory of change, nature and amount of resources, political and economic power, geographic focus, stakeholder base, and so on.   Having successful multi-organizational efforts isn’t easy.

More and more organizational development consultants will need to be able to support nonprofit clients in this challenging work.  We'll need to help individual organizations as they determine when and how to work with others as well as assist multi-organizational systems as they convene, grow, and operate effectively.  This workshop will seek to pose and wrestle with some of these questions such as: 

1. What are some of the factors in the environment that might lead more social justice organizations to think more about the need for cross-organizational collaboration?
2. What do social justice and advocacy organizations need to consider when they realize they can't achieve their purpose without working with other organizations?
3. What is distinctive about working with social justice organizations in multi-organizational systems?
4. What roles might OD practioners play in this work?  What skills and capacities will OD practioners need to employ to do this work well?
5. What are some questions and challenges that arise for OD practioners in this work (i.e. Who is the client in a multi-organizational system? What factors are needed for collaborative efforts to be successful?)

At the end of the workshop participants would take away a deeper understanding of: (1) what forces lead social justice organizations to work in multi-organizational systems, (2) what challenges do social justice/advocacy groups in particular face while working in multi-organizational systems (3) what questions an organization might consider when trying to determine if a collaborative effort makes sense, and (4) what will be required of OD practioners who assist in this work.

About the Presenters

Robin Katcher, Management Assistance Group

Robin Katcher has nearly 10 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations, as an activist, trainer, organizer, and board member. Before joining MAG, she spent three years as the Legislative Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence where she advocated for federal policy, developed a national coalition, and supported the development of local organizations. As an adjunct faculty member of the Gill Foundation, Robin has led trainings in fundraising and organizational development for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community groups. Robin also served as a founding board member of Jews United for Justice. At MAG, she has provided assistance to numerous organizations including the Washington National Office of the ACLU, Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County, ProTex, Service-Members Legal Defense Network, Land Trust Alliance, Economic Policy Institute, Nebraska Appleseed Center, and Mental Disabilities Rights International.

Mark Leach, Management Assistance Group

A consultant, researcher and writer with 25 years of experience, Dr. Mark Leach has worked with numerous not-for-profit, for-profit, and governmental organizations in the areas of public health, the environment, international development, and human rights. His main areas of expertise are organization diagnosis and change; strategy, structure and governance of non-profit organizations; inter-organizational relations across cultural differences; and the creation of inclusive organizations and systems. He has significant experience coaching individuals and groups in the resolution of high­stakes strategic questions and in situations of interpersonal and inter-organizational conflict. His formal training includes a Masters in Public and Private Management from Yale University and a Doctorate in Organizational Behavior from Boston University. Mark's writings include: Models of Inter­organizational Collaboration in Development; Keys to Action Learning in Community Based and Non-Governmental Organizations; Organizing Images and the Structuring of Interorganizational Relations; Governance, Structure, and Control in Values-Based Organizations; Sustainable Development, Reformed Faith, and U.S. International Economic Policy: Formulating Strategy and Managing Organization Change guides for facilitators and trainers; and Organization Development for Social Change.

Inca Mohamed, Management Assistance Group

Internationally recognized for her group facilitation and training skills, Inca Mohamed has over 25 years experience of working with and managing nonprofit organizations addressing gender equity, sexual and reproductive health and rights, youth development and diversity. Inca has served as a senior manager, trainer, and service provider at local, national and governmental levels including Planned Parenthood in San Francisco, the Hawaii Department of Health, and The Door youth center in New York City. During her tenure at the YWCA of the USA, Inca provided leadership development and management consultation to YWCA affiliates across the country. Prior to joining MAG, Inca was a program officer at the Ford Foundation, where for 7 years she was responsible for both domestic and international youth development programming. Among the organizations she has assisted are A Better Chance, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, Burns Institute, National Women’s Health Network, DC Agenda, National Community for Latino Leadership, the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Network, Moriah Fund, and The Funders Network for Population and Reproductive Health, and Rights.