The Partnership Brokers Association

in the Business Innovation Facility portfolio. Take a look at the blog by Tom Harrison and the new publication.

The Partnership Brokers Association is proud to bring you the first issue of ‘Betwixt & Between: the journal of partnership brokering’. The journal is the platform for stories from partnership brokers everywhere – bringing together insights into practice, thought leadership and critical analysis.

This first issue sees contributions from graduates of PBA’s international training programme, and those beyond.  Covering themes as diverse as partnership brokering in: local content partnerships in conflicted areas; adding value to social inclusion; and collective impact in the water sector, to the importance of carefully chosen language, intermediary mechanisms and their role in collaborative action between the humanitarian and private sectors, and how being an introvert or extrovert has an influence on a partnership brokers approach to their work.

We hope you find something in this journal that matters to your partnership brokering practice. And if so, that you will be compelled to add your own voice – the next issue, and the partnership brokering community, awaits it.

https://partnershipbrokers.org/w/journal/

Thursday, March 21st from 12h00 to 13h00 EST (1hour)

Partnership Brokers Network Canada is pleased to announce that Tim Draimin of the Social Innovation Generation has agreed to lead a short discussion, followed by questions and comments. Tim will explain how he sees the broader brokering landscape from a social innovation perspective. Where do innovation and brokering processes intersect, support each other, and provide catalyzing potential? What are linkages to the role of the partnership broker? What are some Canadian examples of this intersection?

Due to the special nature of this webinar, we have decided to invite both PBN members and non-members who are interested in partnership brokering or actively engaged in the development of collaborations and/or partnerships. We encourage everyone to distribute this message to friends and colleagues who may wish to join us.

Tim is the Executive Director of the Social Innovation Generation (SiG). He supports SiG’s growing network of academics, practitioners, social entrepreneurs, allied institutions and partnerships in expanding Canada’s Social Innovation ecosystem. Tim is also the author of Canada’s first national study of social entrepreneurship and a frequent advisor to government, non-profit associations and business. For more information on Tim or his thoughts on social innovation, please visit the SiG site.

A brief introduction will raise key issues and pose some challenging questions – we welcome an active discussion and the opportunity to share a variety of perspectives on this topic. The instructions for connecting on the day of the webinar can be found at the end of this message. You can either log-in via the website for dial-in by phone using WEBEX.

About PBN Canada:

For those new to us, the Partnership Brokers Network (PBN) – Canada provides a forum where we can actively engage in discussions involving the brokering and support of multi-sector collaborations and partnerships. There are more than 60 Canadians who have completed various levels of Partnership Brokers Association (PBA) training and we believe there is significant value in us sharing our respective insights and experience. PBN-Canada provides opportunities for us to connect, in the form of email/LinkedIn updates, webinars and in-person events. The network is 100% driven by its members, and there is no charge to join our conversation.

Meeting Number: 825 222 876

Meeting Password: partnership

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To start this meeting via your computer

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1. Go to https://wvi.webex.com/wvi/j.php?J=825222876&PW=NMmJjYzY4Yjhi

2. Log in to your account.

3. Click “Start Now”.

4. Follow the instructions that appear on your screen to join the teleconference.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This WebEx service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the session to be recorded. By joining this session, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, discuss your concerns with the meeting host prior to the start of the recording or do not join the session. Please note that any such recordings may be subject to discovery in the event of litigation.

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To join the conference by telephone

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Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 1-877-668-4493

Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-650-479-3208

Global call-in numbers: https://wvi.webex.com/wvi/globalcallin.php?serviceType=MC&ED=180292172&tollFree=1

Toll-free dialing restrictions:http://www.webex.com/pdf/tollfree_restrictions.pdf

Access code:825 222 876

http://www.webex.com

Many of us are unsure of how Social Innovation happens or why we need it. Here’s a quick overview of social innovation, as developed by Social Innovation Generation. For years SiG has been exploring the various qualities and elements that support successful social innovation – including partnership.

Over the last few years Microsoft has invested significantly in partnering capacity building. It chose to specifically focus on partnership brokering due to the fact that those fronting Microsoft partnerships were very often taking on the dual role of Microsoft representative to the partnership whilst also driving the partnering process forward to help it to add value to all parties.

“We believe the results are significant—for our employees,our partnerships, our business and wider society—but we wanted to be sure…hence this enquiry.”

The Partnership Brokers Association has completed an enquiry piece to look at the value the training has brought to the company. We hope you find the report useful, stimulating, and above all valuable, to building the picture of  the value of partnership brokering to an organisations partnering approach.

Download the report here

In collaboration with Microsoft, PBA has run Partnership Brokers Training in Malta. Bringing together 18 practitioners from business, academia, government, NGO and inter-govenmental sectors, lead Trainer Greg Butler says “The skills these leaders are developing can be directly applied to advance partnerships aimed at improving support for teachers and students’ education and learning.”

Click here for the news from the Times of Malta. Download the news article here.

PBA has just completed its first year as an independent organisation.

A significant milestone and now time to focus on growth and impact. Our newly established Communities of Practice (carrying responsibility for our Learning, Training & Transforming agendas) are becoming established and we expect to build our research and advocacy activities to match the success of our training programme. Watch this space!

November saw the completion of a Level 1 training in Toronto – our first in the city, and our first time working with the Social Innovation Generation. 24 participants, from a diverse array of brokering contexts, proved that partnership brokering in Canada is thriving, and that many individuals in many different types of organisation are working hard to meet the needs of complex partnerships at home and abroad.

Organisations represented included: Canadian Co-operative Association, Cuso International, Environment Canada, MaRS, Natural Step, Plan International Canada, Public Safety Canada, Rural Secretariat of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, University of Waterloo, World Vision International.

In their feedback, participants confirmed that the training had helped them significantly to understand the partnering needs of their organisations and partnerships and how their improved brokering skills could make a significant difference to their partnerships’ efficiency, effectiveness and impact.

We would like to thank Social Innovation Generation for their work in building awareness of the importance of partnership brokering for effective collaboration, and their support in helping us provide this training. We would also like to warmly thank the Rural Secretariat of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for their support by ‘lending’ us one of their planning team (a graduate of the programme) to take on the role of co-trainer alongside Ros Tennyson, the Association’s Development Director. Thanks too to Nick Luff – another graduate – who joined the team for a day as a third co-trainer.

This training in partnership brokering will be returning to Canada in 2013 – we are currently looking at opportunities in Toronto (mid-April), Calgary (late-Sep) and Vancouver. If you would like to register your interest please email us.

The September / October edition of EG Magazine – published by the Global to Local Foundation is now available online. This edition is focussed on Partnering Effectively, Education for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Procurement.

For more information on the magazine, and to download the latest issue click here

Global to Local Foundation is committed to:

• Educating individuals and organisations in the principles and application of sustainable development.
• Assisting local, national and international authorities, industries, companies, communities, groups and individuals to deliver locally appropriate sustainable policies and solutions.

For more information on the foundation click here

The Partnership Brokers Canada Network is running a webinar at 1300 EST – those who are interested in learning and contributing to discussions on the Canadian context are invited to join.

This webinar will explore how to make a convincing case for partnership within organisations – looking at both financial and non-financial value. It will also consider the role of a partnership ‘broker’ (whether operating informally or formally) in helping key players to make the case by drawing on successful partnering experiences from elsewhere.’

A brief introduction will raise key issues and pose some suggestions – we welcome an active discussion and the opportunity to share different views on this critical topic. Ros Tennyson has agreed to give a short presentation, followed by questions and comments. If time permits, we’ll also be inviting a representative from the Rural Secretariat (RS) of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to discuss the developmental evaluation process for their core lines of business, which has a particular focus on the collaboration stream. It will be a ‘encore’ summary of their webinar from this past June.

The first Partnership Brokers training Level 1 took place in the Netherlands in June 2012, hosted by NCDO.

17 Participants completed this 4-day  training. The course took place in a wonderful space – very much appreciated by all the participants! – in the city centre of Amsterdam. As one of the participants commented ‘although it is right in the heart of Amsterdam it feels like a quiet and perfect place to learn and reflect’.

This first Dutch group had a mixed back ground with people from government, businesses, NGO’s and  some social entrepeneurs. Most participants expected to learn more on structuring and understanding partnerships and to gain tools on how to build and manage partnerships. Throughout the week people commented that it was a ‘rich and high quality course’ and gave them ‘lots of food for thought’. People also felt that this course was ‘exactly what they needed’, and was ‘a great mix of theory, practice and reflection’.

The group has established a LinkedIn group to keep sharing experiences and knowledge (partnership brokers).

The next Amsterdam Partnership Brokers Training Level 1 will take place on 26, 27, 29, 30 November 2012, with plans developing for May 2013 and November 2013. More information is on the Level 1 page: https://partnershipbrokers.org/w/training/level-1/

NCDO is a Dutch expertise and advisory centre for global citizenship and international cooperation. NCDO carries out research, provides information and advice, stimulates public debate and is actively involved in the field of training and education.

New Level 1 training courses are being planned in:

• USA (Seattle)
• Canada (Toronto)
• Europe (Amsterdam)

Contact us of you would like details when information becomes available.

A second partnership brokers training course has just taken place in Ghana – commissioned by Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd for their community development staff and some of their key NGO and regional government partners.

To date ‘in-house’ partnership brokers training has been commissioned by Microsoft (in USA, Europe, Middle East and SE Asia), AusAid (in Fiji), GTZ (in India) and the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador (Canada). If your organisation is interested in an in-house version of this course please contact us for more details.

To coincide with the launch of the Association, we have published a comprehensive report into the role of partnership brokers in multi-stakeholder collaborations. This brings together the practical experiences of 250 accredited partnership brokers and seeks to help both partnership brokers and the wider partnering community to better understand the partnership broker’s role in building and maintaining effective, efficient and innovative partnerships.

The enquiry finds that partnership brokers can make a difference to partnerships in two key ways:

1.  By helping partners address typical partnering challenges
2. By improving a partnership’s efficiency, effectiveness and innovation

‘What do Partnership Brokers do?’ uses brokers’ personal reflections on their practical experiences of partnership brokering to draw out what the most common roles they play are, and what challenges they face.

Some of the key findings are that brokers:

• Spend considerable time on relationship-building and relationship management.
• Exercise a range of specific skills that also demonstrate approaches that partners can adopt and use themselves.
• Assist partnerships by pulling partners together when they fall out with each other and by pushing them to achieve more.
• See real value in becoming more ‘reflective’ in the way they approach their work.
• Have a need to balance effective, valuable input and potential dependency on them.

This research starts the ball rolling in assisting a greater understanding of the role of a Partnership Broker. The vignettes from brokers in their own words convey a real need for effective brokering – if partnerships truly are to achieve their ambitious goals. There is more work to be done, and we invite brokers to share their experiences with the partnering community to continue the quest for learning.

Download the enquiry here

By Carmel Vandermolen

Carmel Vandermolen

This is a story of two people who live over 2000 kilometres from each other, but despite the distance have become very important ‘critical friends’ in both a personal manner and as Partnership Brokers.  These two critical friends have both had to deal with the challenges of post PBAS – the Partnership Brokers Accreditation Scheme which is the Level 2 option for practitioners seeking accreditation

This journey starts in September of 2010 when these two critical friends meet for the first time while attending the Level 1 training, and like many before them had a whole new world open up to them.  Now for everyone who has been lucky enough to participate in the Level 1 training you will know that part of the program is to set you up with a critical friend to support you in reviewing your action plans developed during the training for implementation upon return to your work.  While neither of these critical friends was purposefully set up in the training, the connection that was made meant that it happened anyway.

These critical friends have since completed PBAS Level 2 training, one at the end of 2010, and the other at the start of 2011.  The PBAS Level 2 training comes with a very knowledgeable and supportive mentor who helps you question and improve your skills in the area of partnership broking.  Over the three month period of PBAS the connection made with the mentor and the support that is provided goes a long way to improving both your skills and confidence.  And then comes that black hole at the end of the three months when the training finishes and you no longer have access to the wonderful mentor and the big question of “how do I keep up the important practices that I have developed and implemented in the last three months?”

One of these important practices is the development and use of a log book that helps you to identify patterns and supports you to evaluate your own skills.  What is improving?, where could I improve?, what went wrong that time?  All the important reflective practice skills put into a format that can help you to expand your brokering skills.  After getting used to having to write up and submit a log book, now you have no need to for a training purpose, but for a growth purpose and to continually learn and improve there is every need.  But life gets busy, you skip a week, you have more meetings this week than you can handle, you skip another week of the log book.  Soon you realise that you have not used it for over a month, and then it is so much harder to get back into it even though you know how beneficial it is for both yourself and the partnership(s) that you are involved with.

Roxanne Hodda

Then comes another important teleconference with your critical friend, and a discussion that is focused on the same issue, how to deal with the challenge of maintaining your reflective practice after completing PBAS!  In the discussion between the critical friends an idea forms, and then the idea turns into action.  The idea is in the form of reporting to each other at the end of each month, in just one page, of the challenges and successes faced in that month.  The information should come from your log book that you have kept over that month.  No longer do you have your mentor from the Level 2 training, but you do have each other and a commitment to each other to be the best you can be.  And to be that important someone in another’s partnership life that can be that support for both the good and bad times, for the frustrations and the highlights when it all goes right.

The role of a critical friend can never be overlooked, and in meeting the challenges of post PBAS Level 2 it can be essential in making sure you get the best out of the training you have just completed.

Carmel says thank goodness I have Roxanne as Roxanne says thank goodness I have Carmel.

To be continued….