The Partnership Brokers Association

What do we know?

Multi-stakeholder collaboration (aka ‘partnerships’) are increasingly seen as the approach most likely to achieve ambitious sustainable development goals. But partnering is not easy and there is, as yet, only limited research on whether the aims for this paradigm are realisable or not.

The experience of those many individuals connected to the Partnership Brokers Association is that partnerships fall short (and, all too often, fail) because the partnering process is not well understood or managed. Management of the process is the role undertaken by partnership brokers (formally or informally) and there is evidence that suggests where there is effective brokering, there is a significant difference in the quality and impact of partnering activity. Until recently, this evidence has been largely anecdotal but this is changing.

In January 2012, the Association produced a report based on the close examination of the 250 ‘log books’ compiled by those undertaking professional accreditation as partnership brokers. These individuals come from all sectors (business, government, civil society, academia, donor organisations & international agencies) and from many different contexts (Africa, Americas, Australasia, Europe, Russia, S & SE Asia).  ­This is a unique and a rich sample from which to make some useful deductions about what partnership brokers do, how they do it and what impact it has.

What do Partnership Brokers Do?

Partnering Challenges: Brokering Solutions

Challenges	Notes
Limited understanding of what it takes to partner successfully – too few players thinking it through coherently and continuously	a situation brokers themselves are particularly well placed to rectify if their expertise and insights are properly articulated and valued
Organisations that are un-fit for partnering – many failing to recognise how their culture and behaviour need to adapt in order to partner effectively	an area where brokers can, and increasingly do, make a critical contribution
Failure in terms of legislation and policy-making – to create an enabling environment for partnering	brokers can be encouraged to build a collective voice to address this on behalf of partnerships everywhere
Donor practice undermining partnerships ­– by funding them inappropriately	brokers are beginning to work with donors to change this
Lack of recognition of the critical role brokers play ­– meaning that they are unable to help maximise partnership potential	all partnership stakeholders need compelling evidence that demonstrates why, when and how good brokering makes a difference

How we are learning more

The Association is committed to continuous enquiry into the role partnership brokers play in supporting effective, dynamic and impactful partnerships. We see our work in this field as a virtuous circle of proof of concept and continuous improvement in the professional practice of partnership brokering.

How you can be involved

The Association seeks to promote action enquiry and to disseminate findings. Our Learning approach is designed to generate practice-based insight and knowledge about the role of partnership brokers. To achieve our learning goals, we are reliant on you whether you are:

• a partnership broker yourself;
• from an organisation operating in partnership;
• a donor funding partnerships;
• involved in researching the role of partnership brokers or
• a policy-maker who sees partnerships as a critical delivery mechanism.

Contact us if you are interested in:

• Conducting further enquiry into partnership brokering
• Sharing results of your own enquiry into partnership brokering – whether in the form of a case study, action research, a partnership brokering story, evaluation of a partnership broker
• Commissioning a formal evaluation of the work of a partnership broker where in return for a thorough review we can extract generic lessons on brokering for  wider dissemination
• Joining a peer-review process to help ensure the quality of enquiry results
• Hosting an event or symposium in your region where lessons about partnership brokers can be explored and shared
• Sponsoring our action research work