Welcome to The Collaboratory, LLC!
We’re a mission-driven consultancy whose thought partnership and practical support helps organizations and communities deliver meaningful impact.
How We Help
It takes a lot to do the incredible work you do. The results you’re aiming toward require you to understand context, set direction and strategy, mobilize people and resources, and guide initiatives to completion and success — often all at the same time. It’s no surprise you may need an occasional assist. Fortunately, help is on the way. These are services in which we excel, tailoring support to what’s most useful for your situation. Think of us as your custom Swiss Army Knife — providing just what you need in the moment. Described below, our services fall into four related categories.
Collaboration & Collective Impact
Your work is part of a larger ecosystem — productive collaboration with key stakeholders is essential. Our well-crafted engagements cultivate shared understanding, workable solutions, and partnerships that are truly greater than the sum of their parts. We've convened hundreds of stakeholders on complex issues, and our thought leadership includes work published in The Journal of Community Development.
Actionable Insight & Strategic Planning
Whether assessing an issue or opportunity, or revisiting vision and strategy, robust information is key. We deliver reconnaissance that provides actionable insight about existing conditions and what's on the horizon. Our strategy processes generate a clear North Star, roadmap forward, and the commitments needed for successful implementation — grounded in decades of experience defining generative questions, delivering actionable insight, and developing visions and strategies that have impact.
Project Stewardship
Bringing strategies to life requires someone who can hold the big picture while managing details. We can help resource your ideas with compelling proposals for investment and innovative funding strategies, or support implementation with thoughtful project design and coordination that keeps work on track. Some extra capacity and capable management might be just what you need to move an initiative forward.
Systems Transformation & Capacity Building
In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, a few more tools in your toolbox make all the difference. Informed by training in transformational learning and systems change, we help build mindsets, skills, and habits that enhance your team's capacity for adaptability, resilience, and impact. We also have deep expertise at the intersection of environmental, social, and economic well-being, including authoring one of Economic Development Quarterly's most-read articles.
You Might Want To Work Together If…
An issue or opportunity is on the horizon — you want grounded reconnaissance to inform decisions.
It's time to revisit vision and strategy — you want the process and outputs to inspire and guide.
An issue you care about can't be solved by your organization alone — you want to engage with stakeholders to align priorities, resources, and action.
You're short on bandwidth to manage a project — you want help coordinating actors, timelines, and deliverables to keep work on track.
An initiative needs funding — you want to craft a compelling proposal for investment or explore innovative finance options.
Fresh approaches to learning, adaptation, and change would strengthen your work — you want a clear place to start.
Learn More & Connect
Discover more about us, including some of our past projects and testimonials about our work.
We look forward to learning about your endeavors and exploring how to support your work! Connect with us here.