WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP IN BEGINNING A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS?
Find out about agencies in your community. The National Collaboration for Youth (1990), in highlighting lessons learned from over 350 Town Summit Meetings across the country, said that respondents consistently reported how little they knew about what was going on in their own communities. Many were surprised to discover other groups and organizations that were concerned about or working on the same problems. HOW ARE PARTICIPANTS SELECTED, AND HOW SHOULD THEY BE APPROACHED? Most experts suggest meeting one-on-one, initially, with individuals from different agencies. How do you select the players? Make a list of agencies that you can envision interacting with your school, then invite one person from each agency to coffee. Some schools select people for public spiritedness or the ability to ‘give and take.’ Others choose heads of agencies since it is useful to work with a person who has decision-making authority. Communicate positively. You might say, “What would you think if we did this?
