The Collaboratory for Community Support is a relatively new organization, but we have already provided coaching and consulting services to several communities and presented our research findings and ideas widely throughout the country.

Some of Our Clients and Partners

The following is a selection of community groups and conference gatherings with which we have worked:

• United Way of Cambridge and North Dumfries, Ontario, Canada, together with the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Cambridge Social Planning Council and Cambridge Volunteer Bureau. This 2005-2006 project included facilitating strategic review/revision and community engagement utilizing the "Moving Forward Together" report. Made several community presentations to cross-sector participants regarding research and environment scan of best practices. Designed and facilitated cross-sector dialogue to achieve shared outcomes. Outlined and coached preparation of the Community Business Plan which brought sustainable funding to the effort.
• Local Initiative Support Organization (LISC). Consulted with the Detroit, Michigan office in identifying approaches to work effectively across-sectors with new partners in order to achieve comprehensive outcomes beyond the traditionally LISC-funded "bricks and mortar" efforts. This 2005 project included writing: "LISC Guidebook for Strategic Investment Areas" which is used to frame the initiative for prospective partners by means of a review/environmental scan of best practices.
• WK Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek Community Foundation and the United Way of Battle Creek (MI) and Community Committee on Teenage Pregnancy, as well as, the Partnership for Community Literacy. This 2004 project included a research and environmental scan/analysis on best practices in community literacy (see the "Publications" section of our website) as well as community engagement and implementation facilitation.
• Local Health Integration Networks, Ontario, Canada
• Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) Roundtable on Poverty Reduction. Initiated as a joint effort of the Hamilton Community Foundation and The City of Hamilton, this project is incorporating lessons learned on how communities can "work differently" to achieve meaningful change through broad based cross-sectoral collaboration.
• United Way of Canada - Centraide Canada National Conference. Keynote speech and workshop on research and environment scan of best practices across North America focusing on how nonprofit organizations and communities are achieving lasting solutions through working differently.
• OMSSA, the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association. Keynote and workshop focusing on how provincial and municipal government leaders can better partner with nonprofits to better achieve comprehensive solutions.
• City of Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Edmonton Community Foundation and the United Way of the Alberta Capital Region. Project develops consensus on how the sectors in Edmonton can "work differently" in order to achieve sustainable comprehensive solutions to a range of complex issues.
• Grand Victoria Foundation, Chicago, Illinois. Keynote at their conference for 18 emerging Illinois Community Foundations under their Communityworks initiative.
• United Way of the Lower Mainland, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Assess/analyze strategic approach to community impact. Facilitate community presentations to introduce "working differently."
• National Institute for Literacy, Washington, DC. Charter member: Steering Committee for Community Literacy
• 4Community Impact for the Lilly Endowment, Inc., in Association with the Indiana Association of United Ways
• Tamarack Institute, in Association with the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Canadian Vibrant Communities project.
• The Alliance for Nonprofit Management Conference, Washington, DC
• United Ways of America Crossroads Conference, Columbus, OH
• Nonprofit Centers Network Conference, San Francisco, CA
• Amherst H. Wilder Foundation symposium on multi-sector collaboration
• Omidyar Foundation Community Building Forum: A Dialogue with Intergenerational, Community Building, and Civic Service Advocates
• Southwestern Indiana 4Community Impact in association with Southwestern Indiana United Way; The City of Evansville; Deaconess Hospital; Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation; The Metro Evansville Chamber of Commerce; Spencer County Community Foundation; St. Mary's Medical Center; Vanderburgh County Community Foundation; Vectren Corporation; Warrick County Community Foundation; and The Welborn Foundation
• United Way of Hancock County (Findlay, OH)
• Indiana Association of United Ways
• Indiana Governor's Council on Volunteerism
• Indiana Association of Community Action Agencies
• Seacoast United Way (Portsmouth, NH)
• Good Samaritan Ministries (Holland, MI)
• Independent Sector Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA
• ARNOVA Annual Conference, Arlington, VA and Seattle, WA
• Nonprofit Leadership Institute 2000: Building on Community Assessments, Ft. Worth, TX
• National Association of Planning Councils
• Toledo (OH) City Government, United Way of Greater Toledo, The Alliance to End Homelessness (Toledo Service Providers), and Toledo Collaborative/Governing Body for Homelessness
• Northwest Area Foundation (MN)
• Washtenaw County Government (MI)
• Cincinnati (OH) Task Force for Management Assistance
• Net Impact "Leadership in Action" Conference, San Francisco, CA
• The Alliance Annual Executive Development Forum, Boston, MA and national conference in Washington, DC
• Nonprofit Board Leadership Training, Kidney Foundation of Northwestern Ohio, Mobile Meals of Toledo, Leadership Toledo, AIDS Partnership Michigan, Trinity House Theater (MI), Dispute Resolution Center (MI), Ypsilanti Food Co-op (MI)
• University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Florida State University, University of Syracuse, York Community College, Washtenaw Community College, Kellogg Community College and Northwestern University classroom and workshop settings
• United Way of Greater Toledo Agency CPO meetings
• Nonprofit Enterprise at Work Workshop Series

^ Return to Top of Page

Here is what some of our clients have had to say about our work. First, a series of comments and quotes captured over the last few years, followed by recent letters of recommendation and appreciation, concluding with current news articles.

Comments and Quotes

"MANY THANKS ... for the shot in the arm that Jay has been to Poughkeepsie this week - Building Bridges, Coalition of DC Non-profits, City Youth Advisory Board - thank you United Way for bringing him and lending him to the community, and thank you Jay for being willing to have all your time claimed and to cheerfully provide your feedback on our efforts. ...I believe your visit to Poughkeepsie, sowing ideas, has made a listing impact. I hear people saying things like, 'But what about putting the community first?' Thank you again for making yourself so available to dialogue with various groups."
-Susan Grove, Executive Director, Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Poughkeepsie, New York

"Thanks Jay for all your help, but I really think how you handled cross team and steward team meetings, as well as developing an approach for November, is extremely helpful ... you are always so complimentary of Erie and us but I really believe we would not have come this far without your expertise and support."
-Debra Liebel, an involved citizen, Erie, Pennsylvania

"This was incredibly helpful! Jay made the idea of systems thinking feel manageable and applicable to the work we do."
Bethany Hamilton, Senior Site Coordinator, Planned Parenthood - Mid-Hudson Valley, Poughkeepsie, New York

"I wanted to thank you again for going far beyond the call of duty over the last couple of days. We made a lot of progress, both in term of community engagement and in gaining a greater sense of direction. I really appreciate your hard work, patience and guidance, and I know that Lynne, Arthur, John and all the others do so as well."
-Susan Furgeson, Executive Director, Blue River Community Foundation, Shelbyville, Indiana

"Along with a diverse group of businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and others, United Way has invited the incredible Jay Connor to our community to help us - all of us, even you - to start working differently to make our community better. His proven approach to community collaboration is the next step in propelling the Seacoast's already strong spirit of working together to a higher level in order to accomplish even more."
-Event Announcement, United Way of the Greater Seacoast, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

"We had Strategic Planning at the DeKalb County Community Foundation today! Your name was brought up a few times ... Community Leadership is still a priority for us. Everyone remembered your visit last year ... good stuff!"
-Daniel P. Templin, President, DeKalb County Community Foundation, Sycamore, Illinois

"Thanks again for your work with the Shelby Arts Council Board. A lot of them told me they really enjoyed it and felt like it had really helped them. You are sooooo good!"
-Lynne Ensminger, Program Director, Blue River Community Foundation, Shelbyville, Indiana

"It was a pleasure to connect with all of the 'seekers' in Erie, and to observe your exceptional skill in facilitation. This was the most organized and polished conference call I have ever participated in - nice job!"
-Suprotik Stotz-Ghosh, Kalamazoo Community Foundation to serve as Community Investment Officer for their Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo initiative, Kalamazoo, Michigan

"Truly, I appreciated your insight, thoughts, and strategies today."
-Denise Holland, Aspiration Steering Committee founding member, Social Work Coordinator, Major Hospital, Shelbyville, Indiana

"I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for an excellent Board Retreat yesterday at the Bahai Center. Jay, your presentation was on target. I had two board members who said the retreat was the best they had experienced. ...Jay, you've kicked us off beautifully and we look forward to continued focus on outcomes."
-Sue Suter, CFRE, Executive Director, United Way of the Greater Seacoast, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

"I just felt inclined to touch base and again say how much I appreciate your working with us. For me, the positive relationships built with so many are what keeps me motivated."
-Laura Lewis, Erie Together founding partner, Associate Professor of Social Work/Sociology, Mercyhurst College, and Research Fellow with the Mercyhurst Civic Institute, Erie, Pennsylvania

"We have been frantically running around finishing our work for our event tomorrow, but I wanted to say thanks again for your GREAT WORK at the meetings!"
-Susan Furgeson, Executive Director, Blue River Community Foundation, Shelbyville, Indiana

"Jay, we were thrilled to have you here with us in New Hampshire for the past day and a half and are very excited about the community's response to the forums. Already working on ways to get you out there to other groups during the October visit..."
-Cyndi Peabody Paulin, CCU Director, Carroll County Collaborative, Tamworth, New Hampshire

"...I think Jay would be a great facilitator to get us to the point that we could use our 'content facilitator' to the max. He has done wonders for bringing our disparate education and community groups together."
-Lucy Murphy, President, The Community Foundation of Decatur/Macon County, Decatur, Illinois

"I want to thank you for an excellent session on 'International Collaboration' on Tuesday at the Bunting Collaboration Symposium in Portsmouth, NH. It certainly was stimulating and I learned some things about collaboration and funding streams that I did not consider prior to attending."
-Yvonne Schulze, Seniors Count Project Facilitator, Manchester, New Hampshire

"After Jay Connor made his first presentation in June, organizers reported that the feedback from the 60 community stakeholders who attended was 'overwhelmingly positive.' Connor was invited back to facilitate additional introductory workshops that led to two 'aspiration setting workshops' that were held in August."
-Meeting Document, Blue River Community Foundation, Shelbyville, Indiana

"Just a brief message to say thank you for meeting with the museum studies pro-seminar Monday evening. It was a terrific session. As I mentioned, it stimulated more than the usual amount of buzz in the group. The ideas you presented are quite radical, basically a rethinking of the role that the museum plays in a community. The paradigm seems viable for small, community-focused museums. ...Thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with us. I will certainly keep in touch and let's plan on you participating in the proseminar (if feasible) on a more regular basis!"
-Raymond Silverman, Director of the University of Michigan Museum Studies Program, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"The Collaborative successfully brought a group of diverse people from around the county together for this presentation. There were 9 advisory council members and 27 community members in attendance. The feedback from Jay Connor's presentation was strongly positive with 27 of 28 respondents expressing the opinion that Carroll County would benefit from this type of community development approach."
-Summary of Feedback from "Working Differently" presentation for Carroll County Collaborative Advisory Council, Tamworth, New Hampshire

"It was nice to meet you this week at the Congress on Rural Education. Watching your presentation was very insightful and reaffirming."
-Ron Nowlan, B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed., Community Education Consultant & Policy Analyst, First Nations and Metis Education Branch, Ministry of Education, Regina, SK, Canada

"So, I'm finishing up my third day ... and I feel like I've hit the ground running because of the EdCo and Millikin! I feel like I need to say THANK YOU! I believe I'll be able to do some amazing things to positively impact children in the community if I continue to surround myself with the best people out there (yes, consider yourself included in that group)."
-Julienne Pajer, Extended Learning Coordinator, Professional Development Institute, Decatur Public Schools, Decatur, Illinois

"Thank you for a great day Friday! The message you presented was outstanding, and exactly what we all needed to hear."
-Doug Warnecke, Aspiration Steering Committee founding member, Shelby County Commissioner, Shelbyville, Indiana

"Again thank you for all your help and insight. I truly believe that with your help we are on the right path, to help the Foundation take the necessary steps to be the leader we all want it to be!!"
-Bradley V. Brown, President of the Board, DeKalb County Community Foundation, Sycamore, Illinois and Vice President Retail Banking, The National Bank & Trust Company of Sycamore, Sycamore, Illinois

"I just wanted to tell you how much we appreciated the time you spent with our spring conference attendees. This is exciting times for all of our foundations who are beginning to understand the value of engaging the community around common issues. Your conversation helped to put context around the process and alleviated a lot of fears."
-Cindy Blorstad, Program Associate-GIFT, Indiana Grantmakers Alliance, Indianapolis, Indiana

"A reminder that the first steering committee meeting with our consultant Jay Connor is set... We hope that you will all plan to be there. Feedback from a colleague from the Rochester Planning Department who sat on the Seacoast Steering Committee was that her time on the committee working with Jay was very rewarding - one of the best things she had been involved in for a long time. It gave her a chance to do the kind of thinking - really making her stretch - that she rarely got to do in her formal job. I hope you find it as rewarding as she did!"
-Event Announcement, Carroll County United Steering Committee, Tamworth, New Hampshire

"Thanks for another great round of progress-making sessions. You are the best."
-Lucy Murphy, Executive Director, The Community Foundation of Decatur/Macon County, Decatur, Illinois

"Your presentations have been referenced several times this past week in various meetings and conversations (and not just by me!) so it is heartening to see that people have continued to give your messages much thought, and how we might apply it to our work here."
-Tracey Mann, Director, Community Impact and Investments, United Way of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

"Thank you for your inspirational call yesterday. This is exactly the kind of approach we have been looking for.... Many thanks."
-Joanne Moss, Department of Public Works, Municipality of North Grenville, Kemptville, Ontario, Canada

"Your ears might be ringing these days as we've been bandying about your name as we work.... I have ordered 20 copies of the book [Community Visions, Community Solutions] and plan to distribute for mandatory reading and guided discussion in several different contexts of government! It's a great starting point for our thinking differently in order to plan and work differently - and it confirms some of the notions we had derived from the successes and challenges of the past 8 or 9 years."
-Terry Myers, Executive Director, Regional Services and Human Services Integration Forum, Saskatchewan Learning, Saskatchewan, Canada

"Thank you very much for a great morning. I was excited to see the level of engagement from the people in the room and was pleased with the excellent questions that people asked. The feedback from the community attendees was positive to very positive."
-Cyndi Paulin, CCU Director, Carroll County Collaborative, Tamworth, New Hampshire

"Thank you again for such a positive presentation for our board. They all have given me great feed back and look forward to meeting with you again. We all appreciate your passion and knowledge to get us on the path to 'making the same movie.'"
-Jill Applebee, Community Impact Director, United Way of Decatur & Mid-Illinois, Decatur, Illinois

"An amazing 77 evaluations turned in from the symposium!! I'll send the detailed tabulations shortly - but a quick scan indicated the day was a huge success. They loved you, Jay. And many found the workshops practical and helpful."
-Susan Taylor Simpson, Principal/Owner, ProAct Ideas, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

"Thank you again for your time last week - you were inspirational, thought-provoking and gave us all - me especially - great food for thought. I wish we could clone you! As you know, Community Visions, Community Solutions is our Bible - the book that helped us articulate our vision for United Way/Centraide Ottawa. Your visit, however, has inspired us to move even further - in, and with, our community. I am really excited about our potential to do great things!"
-Eileen Dooley, Vice President, Community Services, United Way/Centraide Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

"Your presentation was terrific.... As someone who's just recovered from an "interesting" non-profit experience, I felt how your presentation touched on all the sensitive issues. Your model makes sense, enormously authentic sense. For further background, I'm reading your book and hope to have the opportunity to share thoughts about this in the future."
-Carol Treat Morton, School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"Thank you very much for enlivening our CIC meeting with ideas and energy!! Your talk set me a-thinking about silos, a considerable problem here at SI, in a new "groove."
-Maurita Peterson Holland, Associate Professor and Assistant to the Dean Director, Academic Outreach, School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"I think you're an amazing speaker."
-Mina Kim, Program Coordinator, Tides Foundation

"What a treat - to see you again in Saint Paul, giving us the inspiration to keep doing it and doing it better. I hope your words stick!"
-Francis J. Schweigert, Ph.D., Research and Evaluation Lead, Northwest Area Foundation, Saint Paul, Minnesota

"The Collaboratory not only helped navigate our community through shark-infested waters, but through barracuda-infested waters!"
-Ken Leslie, Toledo Ad Hoc Committee on Homelessness

"This was the best CPO retreat we've had since I can remember!"
-Holly Hoagland-Fojtik, participant in United Way retreat for "Chief Professional Officers" facilitated by The Collaboratory and based on research we presented

"The Collaboratory creates an environment where agencies can think out of the box and explore collaborative approaches to community problem solving."
-Glen Richter, United Way of Greater Toledo

"Great discussion. I know I learned a few things, and the participants that I have talked with thought the information was both meaningful and helpful to them."
-John D. Anderson, Ann Arbor Jaycees, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"The Collaboratory represents an excellent resource, among a number of good resources available, to bring parties to the table to discuss ways to improve service delivery and community outcomes."
-Jim Ridge, Vice President of Fund Distribution, United Way Community Services of Detroit, Michigan

"[You provided] a terrific mix of macro theories and tools to move forward to new, reinvented vision and structure and activity."
-workshop participant

"You earn 'followers' because you give credibility to what a lot of us know intuitively is the way to work, with community in the center. You have what it takes to give the message to those who need to hear it ... music to our ears."
-Diane Brandon, Coordinator, KEYS Coalition/Community Wellness Coalition, Kittery, Maine

"Thank you for sharing your experiences with our class. I found your ideas regarding addressing the community as a whole, and unifying agencies to work towards a common vision, thought-provoking. I'm interested in reading more."
-Dana Hutton, graduate student, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"The 'New Corporate Roles to Support Community Building' session was very highly ranked by the participants, due to your input and experience. We hope that you will participate in future Net Impact events...."
-Karen Klausner, Net Impact

"I thought we really rocked! Once again, thanks for making such a significant contribution to our new directions."
-Lisa Rutledge, AIDS Partnership of Michigan

"You were, well, fantastic. You really inspired the class - and me!"
-John Tropman, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"Thank you for your follow-up and for permitting us to keep you in the loop regarding our United Way and Community dialogue. As you know your work/research has been the guiding light for much of our transition and your visit served only to bring more 'disciples' to the vision."
-Michael Allen, President Chief Executive Officer, United Way/Centraide Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

"What a day! Thank you for making this process bearable and FUN!!! [Jay Connor] is a terrific and energetic speaker and has many nuggets to share with us about how communities can truly work together and make a difference in the quality of life of its members."
-LaNell Lucius, Director, Resource Development for Community Impact, United Way of Southwestern Indiana, Evansville, Indiana

"It was great to have you spend some time with the Leadership Team this morning…. There was a unanimous sense that the time was very well spent and, indeed, where we need to focus our strategic energies at this time."
-Janet DeYoung, Executive Director, Good Samaritan Ministries, Holland, Michigan

"Thank you for a great class!"
-Kirstin Lieby, graduate student, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

"You bring an important perspective that helps groups understand their experience in a context, and that is both very comforting and empowering."
-Andrea Nagel, Interaction Institute for Social Change, Boston, Massachusetts

"Thanks for yesterday's work session. A lot of light bulbs went off in that room, many of them over my head. You do a great job sizing things up in real time and sharpening our focus too.... We are all in very good hands indeed."
-Laura Coyne, Community Development Program Coordinator, Elkhart County Planning, Elkhart, Indiana

"Again, everyone was quite impressed and motivated by your excellent presentation and your overall approach and philosophy."
-Marianne L. Ehrlich, President and CEO, Healthy Family Initiatives, Houston, Texas

"GOOD JOB today, Jay - I enjoyed the entire experience!"
-Larry J. Busdeker, Superintendent, Hancock County Educational Service Center, Findlay, Ohio

"...and thanks for the nice job you did yesterday afternoon in Findlay. I look forward to working with you as we tie up this visioning process and move forward as a community."
-Douglas S. Peters, President and CEO, The Chamber, Findlay, Ohio

"Thanks for a great call this afternoon! We had a flurry of last minute registrations and it was obvious, by the quality of their questions, that people were engaged with you and the topic. You were great - thanks so much for taking the time to do this."
-Louise Kearney, Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

"Love this work with you.!"
-Paul Born, Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

"Wow!! The guidebook is fabulous!! I am so excited! You did a wonderful job weaving the various components together to make a seamless document! This really captures everything we discussed in our last meeting. Great job."
-Kandis Anderson, Program Officer, Detroit LISC, Detroit, Michigan

"Jay, I am looking forward to connecting with you again as I assume my new position. Good Samaritan Ministries benefited immensely from your visit and have used your input to frame the questions for their strategic planning."
-Janet DeYoung, Executive Director, Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area, Michigan

"I have been so helped by your session in Decatur last Thursday. Your approach was affirming of our work in the community and in schools. Also, your orchestration of the discussion - what do we want to achieve and what are the markers of progress toward that achievement - was specifically helpful.... After the Decatur meeting, I called the E.D. of The Lumpkin Family Foundation and then a colleague who consults for one of the schools I work with and then the chairs of the Regional Alliance for Youth that is currently forming itself, bubbling over with an account of the process you used to start the community development around getting kids ready for their (and our) future. If you can envision a latter day Ancient Mariner, accosting all he meets with his tale, you'll have a little sense of the impact of your session. Jay, the session was very helpful."
-Dr. Mary Eddy, Regional Alliance for Youth, Urbana, Illinois

^Return to Top of Page

Letters of Recommendation and Appreciation

"It is a pleasure to write a letter of reference for Jay Connor. In addition to working extensively with Jay as a presenter, we have also worked with him in his capacity as a steering committee member for The NonprofitCenters Network (NCN), an organization committed to supporting the development and operations of multi-tenant nonprofit centers through education and peer networking.

One of our main vehicles for education on nonprofit centers is national and regional conferences. Since 2001, we have held four conferences. Jay has spoken at every one of them. His sessions consistently garner the highest rates of satisfaction and usefulness from participants. Our most recent conference, Collaborating for Success: Creating Multi-tenant Nonprofit Centers, held May 2005 in San Francisco, was no exception. Jay was one of four plenary speakers on "Strategies for Collaboration," the main theme of this event. His presentation on the significance of intent on any collaborative enterprise was insightful, compelling and extremely well received by a diverse audience representing 29 states and 3 countries.

Jay possesses not only a rare blend of academic, nonprofit and entrepreneurial expertise, but he also has the ability to clearly and succinctly articulate the complex ideas that emerge from this diversity of experience. Furthermore, Jay's speaking style is inspiring. At the end of the plenary presentation an audience member walked up to him, shook his hand and exclaimed, "Your presentation was worth the price of the whole conference!" Needless to say, it came as no surprise when respondents gave the collaboration plenary one of the three highest scores of all the conference sessions.

We consistently recommend Jay whenever constituents and partners request adept speakers with innovative and thoughtful ideas. Thus, we have no hesitation in recommending that you underwrite the costs of his presentation services. His presentations are consistently relevant and valuable to The NonprofitCenters Network and our broad base of constituents.

Please do not hesitate to contact either one of us, China Brotsky, Executive Director (china@tides.org; 415/561-6337), and/or Mina Kim, Manager (mkin@tides.org; 415/561-6311) of you would like to discuss this further. We have both had the pleasure of working with Jay Connor in a variety of speaking capacities."

-China Brotsky, Executive Director and Mina Kim, Manager, The NonprofitCenters, San Francisco, CA

"Healthy Family Initiatives is pleased to write in support of the excellent work of The Collaboratory for Community Support. From the minute I heard you speak at the 2004 annual meeting of the Alliance for Non-profit Management, held in Washington, D.C., I believed that your approach to creating community change was visionary, but practical, and of great relevance to work we were attempting to accomplish in Houston. For some time we had been struggling with an idea, and it was, of course, seeing an answer in your approach that led me to propose to our Joint City/County Commission, appointed by the Mayor of Houston and the County Judge, Harris County, that you present to it and other key stakeholders in our community. The group that convened was interested and involved in the development of a comprehensive community-based plan for children that would address the root causes of poor life outcome from a systemic perspective.

All in attendance at that presentation, and this included approximately 20 in both the morning and the afternoon sessions, agreed that your approach to engagement of the community, and the strategies inherent in causing fundamental change that you proposed were workable, and deserved our further attention. There was definitely a "light bulb" effect among the group as we listened to you. People are still, some one year subsequent to your being with us, speaking of your presentation, and we are trying very hard to find the means to continue our relationship with The Collaboratory in the future.

Quite frankly, while we see the challenge we are attempting to confront as one that will surely take a generation to accomplish, the level of confidence in your consultation was such that The Collaboratory has become a kind of "mantra" amongst those of us continuing to carry the effort for our community's kids. Whenever we hit a barrier, we ask: How would Jay have approached this? There is a true feeling here not only that you have the answer, but that you helped us to form the groundwork to achieve it.

The Collaboratory should be "recommended consultation" for any community interested in innovative, unified and successful approaches to solving the most difficult human challenges facing our society."

-Marianne L. Ehrlich, President & CEO, Healthy Family Initiatives, Houston, TX

"On Oct. 1, 2005, Jay Connor addressed our School's Annual Gathering of the Community Information Corps (see http://cic.si.umich.edu/), an on-going program that prepares information professionals for careers in community and public information work through academic inquiry, practical engagement and professional development. Jay's message was clear and concise: non-profits much engage across sectors and bring together community wisdom and perspective to solve the very problems they've typically shouldered alone. Jay's examples, drawn from his own experience and from many diverse organizations, captured the audience and provided rich material for further discussion amongst a group of academic researchers, graduate students and alumni practitioner "informationalists."

Jay's message speaks directly to the innovation that our School seeks in all of its activities, and especially with the Community Information Corps, which serves as focal point for students, faculty, alumni and community members from across disciplines to explore the changing role of information and technology in civil society.

Jay's work is especially appealing because it brings together pragmatic, tactical actions and strategic thinking into systemic solutions to go to the root of communities' needs. Jay brings an empowering message of fresh perspective for strained community organizations, funding agencies and all people who strive to build stronger communities. The methods are straightforward. The outcomes, documented and powerful.

It's truly a pleasure to hear Jay's energy and enthusiasm; more importantly, it's enormously rewarding to consider, and apply, his methods."

-Maurita P. Holland, Associate Professor and Assistant to the Dean Director, Academic Outreach, School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

"I am writing to acknowledge the terrific job you have done in your presentations at the NonprofitCenter Network's conferences in New York City in 2003, Cleveland in 2004 and in San Francisco, this past May. In both workshop and large, plenary session formats I have been consistently impressed in how you have been able to communicate complex information in a highly accessible and effective manner. This is not only my own opinion since as a member of the program committee I am aware of the positive formal and informal evaluations for your presentations.

In addition to your abilities as a presenter and educator, I have had the opportunity to observe your small group and interpersonal skills as a fellow member of the NonprofitCenters Network Steering Committee. In every case I have been impressed with your ability to facilitate and participate in a way that moves the discussion forward in a positive direction with real outcomes. Please feel free to use me as a reference for your work."

-Tim Wintermute, Executive Director, The Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation, Detroit, MI

"It has been my pleasure to have experienced Jay Connor's leadership abilities in several venues over the last 18 months or so. My first experience with Jay's leadership was as a keynote speaker and workshop leader at a regional training conference for United Way staff. His clear understanding of both the challenges and the viable responses to the challenges of providing solutions for social service needs within communities, combined with his personable and engaging style, made Jay the real highlight of that conference for most of the participants.

Jay also served as a planning retreat leader for a Board retreat for the United Way of Hancock County Board of Trustees. Again, his clear understanding of our organization's challenges, and his propensity for action, kept the Board focused and on task. The result of his skilled guidance was a far more "fleshed out" plan of action than could otherwise have been accomplished in that limited time.

Most recently, I observed Jay assisting a group of community leaders in an effort to consolidate the work of hundreds of community volunteers into a coherent and manageable plan for progress in our community. His facilitation skills and experience enabled him to assist the group in defining a common set of criteria by which the diverse priorities of the many participants could be evaluated and then acted upon.

The bottom line is that I think Jay Connor is an outstanding presenter and facilitator, as well as one of this country's foremost experts on community systems and collaborations."

-Keith G. DuVernay, President & CEO, United Way of Hancock County, Findlay, OH

"We are pleased to offer you this letter of reference. You [Jay Connor] were a great success and helped to move our funders network forward. The work you did is posted on our web site as a three part series and is still being downloaded daily - so all this to say thanks.

Tamarack sponsors a program called Vibrant Communities - the goal of this initiative is to develop community support organizations in 16 cities in Canada that will create multi sector leadership roundtables to reduce poverty for at least 5,000 families. We had asked if you might work with local funders and national funders of this work and help us begin a funders network. Nearly 50 people attended each of the three sessions and the response was fantastic. Thanks so much."

-Paul Born, President, Tamarack, An Institute for Community Engagement, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

"In early November 2005 we had the pleasure of having Jay to our community to assist us with four presentations in the context of our community planning project, Moving Forward Together. Jay provided the following:

1. Participated in a key leaders discussion on working differently;
2. Provided a 60 minute presentation to 110 community leaders on the topic of Community Impact: From Silo's to Systems;
3. Assisted in training facilitators in preparation for the Community Forum;
4. Keynote speaker at our community forum under the title "Community Impact: Working Differently." He also led us through a visioning exercise.

We were very pleased with the efforts of The Collaboratory for Community Support and Jay in particular. His presentations were well prepared, thought provoking and created many "aha" moments with participants. His style is inclusive and always positive, building on the strengths of those he is working with. We had many unsolicited positive comments. Many were appreciative of how he put his talk within the local and Canadian context.

Finally, Jay has been very helpful in helping us to strategically think about the next steps of our community process. He has provided us with a map in our quest for greater community impact. We plan on working more with Jay and The Collaboratory in the action phase of our project. I would be delighted to answer any questions."

-Ron Dowhaniuk, Executive Director, United Way of Cambridge and North Dumfries, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

"It was such a pleasure to meet you at our recent National Conference. You truly inspired and motivated delegates with your thoughts on holistic, community-wide solutions to social problems. As you know, this is a direction in which United Ways - Centraides are moving and your insights will be invaluable to them in their evolution. We too are venturing into "no man's land" and are pleased to know that someone with your insight and skills is there with us.

I hope that we will have the opportunity to work with you in the future. In the meantime, take care - you are a gift to those of us who believe in what you are working towards."

-Al Hatton, President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way Centraide of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

"On behalf of the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association, we would like to thank you for your participation in the 2006 Learning Symposium, 'Sharing Knowledge, Working Together.'

We are most appreciative of your commitment to social services in Ontario, and of your efforts as a speaker to promote discussion on important challenges facing workers in this field.

We thank you for contributing your time and expertise and hope that we may again have the opportunity to benefit from your experience on a future occasion."

-OMSSA, Ontario Municipal Social Services Association, Canada

^ Return to Top of Page

News Articles

The difference between a good movie and a bad movie, according to director Francis Ford Coppola, depends on getting everyone involved to make the same movie. The same is true of communities that want to achieve measurable and sustainable change.

That's the message of Joseph A. "Jay" Connor, founder and chief executive officer of The Collaboratory for Community Support, who's in Decatur at the invitation of the Community Foundation of Decatur/Macon County.

He spoke Thursday to representatives of organizations that fund youth activities and will speak this morning to early childhood educators about how they can more collaborate with one another to improve Decatur's quality of life.

Connor said his research has shown that communities making progress are sharing resources, decision making, accountability and engaging all of its members in solving problems that are identified. On average, however, communities he has studied have 34 funding mechanisms for doing the community's work.

"Too often, we define success by a small activity instead of asking what is the overall outcome we're looking for," he said. As a result, volunteers get burned out and no one even has a sense they're at least getting there when it comes to the community's goals.

Tina Noland, executive director of Partners in Education, said she believes many of Decatur's community agencies are ready to embrace the concepts Connor outlined.

Other organizations represented at Thursday's session were Archer Daniels Midland Co., Caterpillar Inc., the Decatur Public Schools Foundation, the Greater Decatur Chamber of Commerce, Heritage Behavioral Health Center, Project Success, Rotary Club, Tate & Lyle, Youth With a Positive Direction and the Decatur YMCA and YWCA.

Lucy Murphy, the foundation's executive director, said she didn't know Connor could visit until the last minute, but wants to include anyone who is interested in the discussion. "With the community's resources becoming more limited, I like the idea of making our efforts more effective, instead of simply trying to raise more money," Murphy said.

Representatives from nonprofits from across the state recently got a few pointers on ways to improve their community impact and create intentional and meaningful collaborations across sector lines without raising their budgets.

Jay Connor, founder and CEO of The Collaboratory for Community Support, presented his research and experiences with "true collaboration" and outlined a series of steps for nonprofit organizations to move from "silos" to "systems" when he spoke at the McConnell Community Center in Dover on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007. The event was presented by the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits.

Many nonprofits exist as lone silos, Connor said, because of a combination of a lack of resources, understaffed offices and communities with diverse and complicated needs. This silo effect can complicate and limit the work being done by "profoundly dedicated people," he said. Conversely, he told the group of nearly 50 nonprofit employees in attendance, a shift in thinking about collaboration and an expanded definition of community can lead to sustained, measurable and meaningful impact in the areas where nonprofits are working.

Nonprofits work under pressure, Connor said, and sometimes organizations get caught in "what we are trying to do" and lose sight of "what we are trying to accomplish." Through intentional collaborations, working toward common aspirations and outcomes, nonprofit organizations can measure their work and success in community improvement.

The conference also featured a panel of people from organizations involved in a number of different collaborations, some successful and some not so successful.

Bryan Wyatt, executive director of the Housing Partnership, described his experiences with the Workforce Housing Coalition and collaborating with businesses and nonprofits to create affordable housing on the Seacoast. "Opening up to working with others is essential to doing business,"Wyatt said.

Gary Bannon, building administrator for the McConnell Community Center, discussed his experiences collaborating with nonprofits, community members and municipal agencies in the planning and development of the McConnell Center into a central campus for many nonprofit and city agencies. Bannon said that every social service agency was connected to one another in the "bigger picture," and that it's important to remember that connection when collaborating with one another and other agencies. Bannon described his sense of their community as a family, and how connection can "overcome obstacles. We can help ourselves be better and help the people outside, too."

A continued focus on the aspirations and outcomes for any collaboration can engage people from across sector lines, Connor pointed out. Expanding a definition of community can also benefit nonprofits by encouraging involvement and contributions from community members. Connor used the example of considering a school community to be not just the school itself, but the large group of people connected to the school for a variety of reasons. Connor said people are more likely to get involved with an organization where they have a clear idea of what they are working toward and a sense of connection to the project. "Our communities are where the solutions exist, not the problems," he said.

Karen Carpenter, executive director of the New Hampshire Children's Trust Fund, was "charged up" after Connor's presentation. She said she's excited to continue collaborating with other agencies and is "very interested in getting more community involvement." The Children's Trust Fund grants more than $150,000 annually to programs that work to prevent child abuse and neglect. Carpenter said that an expanded definition of community and involvement from community members in addressing problems will lead to measurable change and improvements. "People who are collectively responsible make a community stronger," she said.

Michallene Hooper, Community Director for CityYear New Hampshire, an agency that provides tutoring and mentoring to New Hampshire schools, said Connor's ideas about collaborations has encouraged her to continue working to expand her service and "fill in the puzzle. We are looking to see what is already being done and what is needed and who can help us."

Maria Sillari, special projects director for the Center for Nonprofits, said that while collaborations occur in New Hampshire's nonprofit community consistently, Connor's presentation encouraged "creative thinking" in achieving outcomes and building relationships.

The continued focus on aspirations and outcomes is important, Sillari said, because "it's hard to take a long view when the needs are so great and the resources are so scarce." She said that collaborations can be difficult, but she anticipates sustained collaborations across sector lines in the future and that the work from this will improve the communities these agencies serve. "Nonprofits have been collaborating for a long time within our own sector," Sillari added, "but we can look outside to draw more and different partners in and we can always find new ways to think about our work and new resources to achieve our goals."

The most important thing members of the Decatur Area Education Coalition did Wednesday was spend 30 minutes in the "groan zone."

That's what Jay Connor, chief executive officer of The Collaboratory for Community Support, calls the uncomfortable process of changing the focus of community leaders to results that can be measured.

Perhaps no one felt the discomfort more than Erich Drochner, assigned to lead a group charged with coming up with one or two ways to measure the progress of Macon County students in grades K-12 in mastering grade-level material.

"We've been trying to figure out how we should intervene," Drochner said, "but, at the end of the day, we need to decide what are we going to measure. Without that, we can't do anything."

By contrast, Tia White, Decatur YWCA Wear to Work coordinator, said she led a group that decided the way to produce more high school graduates ready for college and/or jobs is to track performance on college entrance exams and job readiness tests given by employers.

Told later that not all three groups may have completed the assignment - the third group dealing with preparing children for kindergarten - Connor said that wasn't really important.

"Today was the beginning of the learning process," he said. "Once we get people working together and asking concrete questions, those measurements will come."

Connor added that Macon County is in a better position to meet its goals than many of the communities he has seen.

This was the second meeting of the education coalition, which attracted more than 50 people Wednesday to the Madden Arts Center of the Decatur Area Arts Council.

Lucy Murphy, executive director of the Community Foundation of Decatur and Macon County, said the coalition's three education improvement teams would begin meeting in the next 30 days and that fundraising would continue toward a goal of advertising for a project manager by year's end.

Thirteen Decatur leaders and Archer Daniels Midland Co. split the cost of a $2 million endowment fund to match donations 1 to 2. If $10,000 is given, for example, $5,000 would be added.

The audience at Wednesday's Community Collaboration workshop at Maxim Events was an interesting mix of Shelby County government, nonprofit and business leaders - exactly the group that presenter Joseph "Jay" Connor wanted to reach.

Connor is the founder and chief operating officer of The Collaboratory for Community Support, a business that provides coaching and strategic planning to communities wanting to examine and define who they are and what they want.

The crux of Connor's speech was a strong message that community problems and concerns are solved when different groups work together. He referred throughout the seminar to a quote from filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, saying that a successful movie results when "everyone is involved in making the same movie." Connor said that too often different community groups are working on their own projects with little thought about how their work impacts what others in the community are doing.

"We as a community have to make the same movie," Connor said.

Connor said work in many communities is very fragmented, or "in silos." He said organizations are often pitted against each other and unable to understand why they are unsuccessful.

Connor said "turfism" is natural "because of how the game is played, but you can break this."

Susan Furgeson, executive director of the Blue River Community Foundation, heard Connor speak during a recent Indiana Grantmakers Alliance GIFT conference, and she felt his method for approaching community issues and problems was unique and could benefit Shelby County.

Many leaders in Shelby County believe the area is on the cusp of tremendous change. They are convinced the opening of the Indiana Live! Casino and the millions of dollars in additional tax revenue that it will generate, along with the development that is expected to result from the fall opening of the Honda assembly plant in Greensburg, will put the community in the position to tackle some of its most pressing needs.

Connor talks about a community deciding on its "highest aspiration" and then pulling together different segments of the county to achieve it.

Before Connor addressed the crowd, Furgeson amazed and troubled them with a Power Point presentation that did not paint a very flattering picture of Shelby County. Compared to the doughnut counties of Hancock, Johnson, Hamilton, Boone, Hendricks and Morgan counties, Shelby seemed to show up at the bottom or near the bottom in too many categories, even when Bartholomew, Rush and Decatur were added to the mix.

For example, the only county with fewer children age 3 and over attending preschool was Morgan County, and only Decatur, Rush and Bartholomew had more children eligible for free and reduced school lunches. Statistics placed Shelby County as having one of the lowest per capita personal income levels coupled with a high poverty rate. Shelby also has the dubious distinction of a high teen birth rate and a higher number of nonmarital births than any of the comparison counties.

However, out of all the statistics, the crowd seemed most disturbed by the county's extremely high level of child abuse and neglect cases. In 2006, the country also experienced the highest number of CHINS case filings, where the court is asked to provide services for children younger than 18 who are victims of abuse, neglect or endangerment.

Amy Hacker, executive director of Mainstreet Shelbyville, noted that although Shelby County is known for its generosity and contributes thousands of dollars to the Shelby County United Fund For You each year, serious problems continue to plague the community.

Connor said this is not surprising since "throwing money at a problem" doesn't fix it.

John C. DePrez Jr., a Blue River Community Foundation board member, exhorted the gathered Shelby County leaders to "decide as a community what we want to become."

"We need to be involved in the many changes happening in Shelby County," DePrez said.

Connor said the first step in making Shelby County a better place is deciding on a community aspiration, something that different groups in the community can embrace. He told the crowd to ask themselves, "What do we need to be what we want to be? What are you deeply passionate about?" He cautioned the crowd to avoid simply listing activities and programs.

"It is not about what we are presently doing. It is about what we can do," Connor said. "Some programs and activities are only done because we did them 20 years ago."

Furgeson said surveys turned in following the meeting by those who attended the seminar were "overwhelmingly positive."

The BRCF plans to take the lead to facilitating more workshops on Connor's "systems approach" to addressing community problems. She will announce another session within the next month where people who were unable to attend Wednesday's meeting will have a chance to hear Connor speak. She hopes those in attendance will consider asking others who were not present to attend the next outreach session.

"It is very exciting to see how engaged people were," Furgeson said.

^ Return to Top of Page

The Collaboratory for Community Support
7423 Hickory Ridge Drive
Ypsilanti, MI 48197-9487
Phone: 734-904-1459
www.thecollaboratory.us
For more information, email us: jcrubicon@aol.com

Home | About Us | Our Motivation
Services | Current Projects| Publications | Biographies | Contact Us
Our Clients | Links

© 2003 The Collaboratory for Community Support
This web site is maintained on InMotion Hosting