When collaborative partners come together to tackle complex challenges, learning must be part of the work itself and not an afterthought.

In this new podcast episode, we talk with Lauren Gase of Mindful Metrics and Lori Fuller of Fuller Impact about Emergent Learning and how the principles and practices that are part of Emergent Learning can support collaboratives that are navigating uncertainty, complexity, and change.

This discussion offers practical insights for anyone working in collective impact, backbone roles, or cross-sector partnerships, including:

• Why learning is most powerful when it is ongoing, shared, and grounded in real work rather than reports or one-time reflections
• How clearly shared goals and thinking help partners remain aligned while allowing space to test different approaches
• How simple practices like Before and After Action Reviewsand Emergent Learning Tablescan help groups turn experience into insight and action
• How Emergent Learning can help collaboratives work through tensions, adapt to changing conditions, and even recognize when collaboration may not be the right path forward

If you are looking for practical ways to support learning, adaptation, and progress in collaborative work, we invite you to listen to the full episode.

Resources and Footnotes:

• Emergent Learning Community and Resources
• Guide to the Principles of Emergent Learning
• Fuller Impact
• Mindful Metrics

More on Collective Impact

• Infographic: What is Collective Impact?
• Resource List: Getting Started in Collective Impact

The Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.

The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.

Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

What does it look like for a collaborative to shift from nearly sunsetting to achieving a vibrant renewal?

We tackle this challenging question in the 100th episode of our podcast, where we dive into the realities of what it means to rebuild collective work from the ground up.

To explore this topic, we talk with Annie Burke, the executive director of Together Bay Area, a regional coalition focused on climate resilience and equity in the Bay Area of California. Annie details the difficulties the coalition faced when experiencing a near collapse in 2018, the reckoning that followed, and what it looked like to rebuild. This included extensive partner and community engagement, improving governance, rebuilding trust, and developing a sustainable business model for the coalition to move forward.

From those challenges, a vibrant collective was reborn, and has since been championing the social and environmental changes needed for healthy lands, people, and communities.

If you have wondered what it can look like to rebuild a collective through challenging times and to come together for a renewed purpose, this is a great conversation to listen to.

Resources and Footnotes

• Together Bay Area
• The Water of Systems Change

More on Collective Impact

• Infographic: What is Collective Impact?
• Resource List: Getting Started in Collective Impact

The Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.

The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.

Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

What does it look like for a collaborative to balance planned strategies with new and rising needs?

In this new podcast discussion, we talk with Melissa Darnell, Heather Equinoss, and Luzette Jaimes from the organization CoCreative, and learn how they work with collaboratives to blend structured and emergent strategies when doing collective work.

Listen in as we explore:

• How to navigate complex challenges by embracing uncertainty while maintaining clear purpose and shared goals.
• What methods can be used for co-designing solutions, fostering continuous learning, and adapting to shifting contexts.
• Why embracing the messy, unpredictable nature within collaboration is critical to progress.

Resources and Footnotes:

• CoCreative and the organization’s Creative Tools library
• Collaborative Innovation Roadmap
• 6 Patterns in Collaborative Innovation
• 4 Agendas in Collaborative Innovation
• Collaboration Advisor AI Tool

More on Collective Impact

• Infographic: What is Collective Impact?
• Resource List: Getting Started in Collective Impact

The Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.

The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.

Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/