LIMINAL COLLABORATION’S STORY

Annie and I met in Alamance County, NC in 2008. The organization I worked for, Active Living By Design, was presenting Making Change: Designing Healthy Communities for Healthy Active Families for a group of community leaders, and Annie was co-hosting as a part of a community initiative, Mebane on the Move.

Five years later, Annie was working at Danville Regional Foundation, and people in the region wanted to move the needle on their population-level health outcomes. Annie reached out to Active Living By Design to support a nascent group of leaders who knew no single group could make community wide changes alone.

Little did we know that over the next nine years we would work together to facilitate, convene and guide – sometimes out front and sometimes behind the scenes – what grew into The Health Collaborative (THC). This cross-sector coalition continues to be a thriving group of individuals and organizations that are changing policies, systems, and environments in the Dan River Region (the central region bordering NC and VA). This group of engaged formal leaders and residents is setting the tone for important conversations related to population health and shifting processes and procedures across city, county and state boundaries.

Annie and I cannot take credit for what happened – and is still happening – in the region. And we did not have any idea about the types of changes the residents would pursue over the time we’ve worked with them. And it was certainly not all smooth sailing. But we are proud of the work and that we were a part of a collaborative group that practices building trust, embracing the mess, and sharing power towards a common mission.

As THC continued gaining traction, the two of us examined the pieces and parts that make it work. We nerded out. We interviewed experts who focus on collaboration and coalition building. We read books on the subject. We asked, “What is replicable that others can learn from?” “What is unique to this community’s context?” “What are fundamental elements that lead to a collaborative’s success, regardless of the issue area?”

In early March 2020, just before the US shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we presented early findings at a North Carolina grantmakers conference, A Top 10 List of Essential Ingredients for Successful Collaborations. Six months later we were building Collaboration Lab, a leadership curriculum that helps build collaborative leaders and collaboratives in the Dan River Region. Annie and I were privileged to partner with Liz Weaver, Co-CEO of the Tamarack Institute, who continues to help design the Lab and brings a wealth of experience and additional insight. Collaboration Lab gave us an opportunity to learn from and share with on-the-ground practitioners and national experts who are steeped in collaboration. Along the way, we could test theories, build resources, and create new approaches to collaboration for community leaders.    

We started Liminal Collaboration after those outside the region shared how much this work is needed elsewhere and to help others across the country, mainly in the Southeast US where we live, build their collaborative muscles.

What we need more than ever right now is collaborative leaders in local communities. Collaborative leadership looks different than traditional kinds of leadership. It’s leading in ways that bring people together, keep them together, and help others find their way to an outcome that fits their situation. Our passion comes from working and learning alongside community members to make positive lasting change. Change is not successful if it’s forced, or if it’s directed. Sustainable community transformation happens only through collaboration.

People sometimes ask us how we came up with the name. Liminal spaces are in-between spaces where norms or “business as usual” can be put aside to tinker, take smart risks and learn in order for new possibilities to emerge. Collaboration involves individuals coming together and working in unconventional or boundary-crossing environments that encourage innovation and exploration outside of their usual work allowing them to think and interact in new and different ways.

Annie and I do not have a predetermined outcome for Liminal Collaboration, but we are confident that the community partners we work with, those who are interested in building trust, sharing power and embracing the mess of working collaboratively, will create more resilient communities.