Collaboration Lab: Bridging People, Organizations, and Sectors
Collaboration isn’t just a nice idea—it’s becoming essential.
With funding tight, costs rising, and competition for people and volunteers growing, working together can make all the difference. Stronger collaboration means better programs, less duplication, clearer communication, and bigger impact.
It also means leaders don’t have to go it alone.
Join our 3-part Collaboration Lab — an interactive program for non-profit leaders, staff, and partners who want to collaborate more effectively across teams, organizations, and communities. Over three connected sessions, we explore collaboration at every level: from internal teamwork to strategic partnerships and large-scale collective efforts.
Through case studies, hands-on activities, and practical tools, you’ll examine both the successes and the messy realities of working together. You’ll leave with concrete strategies you can apply right away to strengthen collaboration, build stronger relationships, and achieve more — together.
Suggested participants:
- Non-profit Executive Directors or CEOs
- Non-profit Board members, team leads or key leaders of programs of an organization, and
- Other staff and leadership volunteers responsible for building organizational impact.
Lab Outcomes
By the end of the Collaboration Lab: Bridging People, Organizations, and Sectors program, participants will be able to:
- Navigate the spectrum of collaboration, from internal teamwork to cross-organizational partnerships, networks, and collective impact, and determine which approach best suits their goals.
- Assess readiness and fit for collaboration by considering values alignment, resource exchange, power dynamics, and organizational priorities.
- Initiate, strengthen, and sustain collaborations through use of practical tools and strategies for shared accountability, communication practices, and partnership agreements.
- Identify and address common barriers to collaboration at individual, team, and organizational levels.
- Develop concrete action steps to enhance collaboration within their teams, across organizations, and in broader sector or community initiatives.
Registration Details
Registration Deadline: 1 week before the start date
Bursary Application Deadline: 1 week before the start date
Location: Online/Virtual
Cost: $649 Non-Member | $584 Member
Lab Schedule
Session 1: Internal Collaboration
June 23, 2026 | 1pm - 4pm
Session 2: Collaboration and Partnerships Between Organizations
June 30, 2026 | 1pm - 4pm
Session 3: Networks, Coalitions, and Collective Impact
July 7, 2026 | 1pm - 4pm
Lab Benefits
Through Collaboration Lab, you will build confidence, gain skills, and apply tools to:
- Work effectively within teams, across organizations, and in broader networks.
- Build stronger relationships and collaborative partnerships grounded in trust, shared goals, and mutual benefit.
- Overcome collaboration challenges and achieve greater impact.
- Move to concrete action that advances collaboration in your organization and community.
Lab Topics
Topics covered in the 7 half-day learning sessions.
Foundations of Collaboration
Definitions, forms, benefits, trade-offs, and when collaboration is the right approach.
Internal Collaboration
Team dynamics, conflict styles, collaborative mindsets, communication practices, and tools such as RACI and shared decision-making frameworks.
Cross-Organizational Partnerships
Large-Scale Collaborations:
Networks, coalitions, and collective impact; systems thinking; conditions for success; and understanding the roles organizations play in broader ecosystem efforts.