New Models in Collaboration: A Convening on
Collaboration, Networks and Shared Services

Thursday, April 14, 2011
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

This is a full-day convening, and lunch is included.

Workshop Presenters and Panelists: Bill Traynor, Strategic Advisor, and Audrey Jordan, Director of Partnerships, Innovation and Evaluation (PIE) at Lawrence CommunityWorks; Jackie Cefola, NonProfit Center Program Manager, Deborah Linnell, Director of Programs, Phillip Davis IV, Grant Coordinator for the Capacity Building Fund, and Jonathan Spack, Executive Director, Third Sector New England; Karen Jeffreys, Associate Director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless; Michelle Brophy, Director, New England Program at the Corporation for Supportive Housing; Charlotte Ryan, Co-Director, Media and Movement Research Action Project 

Workshop Cost: $99

Workshop Description: Join us for this full-day convening for the non-profit community in which we'll explore the possibility of doing work differently.

Come together as we learn from some of our colleagues who are already structuring their work differently in order to deepen the impact they are able to provide for their communities. We’ll focus on networks, shared work, staff and space alliances, and the need for authentic inclusion to create social justice.

Nationally renowned community development expert Bill Traynor will open with a discussion about building networks, including what leaders have to let go of to let them flourish. Following the keynote, we will dig deep in 3 workshops that strengthen our understanding of networks, shared work and staffing, and the need to create greater inclusion in order to achieve maximum community impact. 

Following the keynote, we will dig deep in 3 workshops that strengthen our understanding of why this “new normal” is so important for organizations to consider right now.

Workshops will allow participants to gain insight and develop strategies for:

• Creating effective networks to broaden program impact;
• Teaming together with other organizations to share staffing and work roles; and
• Developing shared office space, conference rooms and other physical resources to build cross-organizational relationships and efficiency.

All workshops will emphasize the need to create greater inclusion in order to achieve maximum community impact.

We’ll follow the workshops with a luncheon panel featuring 4 organizations working on affordable housing that have successfully co-located, share senior staff, fundraise and run legislative campaigns together.

Register now.

Keynote Bio: Bill Traynor is currently a strategic advisor to Lawrence CommunityWorks Inc., where he served as executive director for over 11 years. Bill has 30 years of experience in community development and community organizing, working in urban areas throughout the United States. He is the former executive director of the CBA Inc. in Lowell, Mass., where he led a $20 million redevelopment effort, and was the director of community development for CTAC Inc. of Boston, a national consulting firm. In 1992 Bill created Neighborhood Partners and the Neighborhood Partners Fund, which has assisted more than 200 community development efforts nationwide.

During his more than 11 year tenure with CommunityWorks, he has grown the organization from a staff of one and a financial deficit to a staff of over 40 and an operating budget of over $2.5 million, while leveraging over $40 million in public and private project investments for affordable housing, infrastructure investments, a citywide youth network, and a range of family asset building and community organizing initiative. Through his work at LCW and in communities around the United States, Bill has developed an innovative approach to place-making and community building called the Network-Centric Organizing approach.

In addition to his work at LCW, for the past 15 years, Bill has provided technical assistance in resident engagement and community building to the Annie E. Casey Foundation to its grantees in cities across the United States. Bill is currently a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) in Washington, D.C., as well as an EOS fellow with Boston Rising, a new comprehensive initiative in Boston. Bill is the author of numerous articles and handbooks on community development, community organizing and leadership, including the recent Vertigo and the Intentional Inhabitant: Leadership in a Connected World in The Nonprofit Quarterly.

Read more about presenters and panelists

Next month: Advanced Supervision