CollaborateUp

At CollaborateUp, we want to take a moment to #celebrateup and recognize #NelsonMandelaDay. Like Mandela, we too are committed to making an #impact by bringing people together. 

We're #hiring a new Training and Development Specialist in United States. Apply today or share this post with your network.

CollaborateUp had the opportunity to attend the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) Subcontracting Summit in late June. It was great to see Kimberly Ball and Enrique Steiner as well as Marcus Moon there moderating. A key takeaway for us came from Sarah Rose, Senior Advisor for Localization at USAID, who noted that US small businesses have a vital role to play in supporting USAID’s efforts to recognize, respect, include, and fund local partners as part of its work around the world.  What Sarah went on to describe is exactly what CollaborateUp does – create an enabling environment for USAID Missions and local actors to work together. Through capacity building efforts, co-creation processes, collaboration, learning and adaptation (CLA) approaches, and applying best practices in multi-stakeholder engagement, we work to increase agency and decision-making power of local actors to strengthen locally led development with USAID Missions. We teach a course to USAID staff about the power of co-creation for localization and have helped dozens of USAID Missions include local partners in co-creation processes. We also work with local partners and international implementers to succeed in these efforts. You can read more about our work and the lessons we’ve gleaned from these experiences on our website. https://lnkd.in/eGXGggw3

Are you an implementing partner seeking to understand how to best prepare for and engage in USAID's co-creation process? Drawing from the more than 40 co-creations we have designed and facilitated for USAID, CollaborateUp built a training for implementers and partner to make the most of a co-creation process. We recently facilitated this hands-on training workshop for The World Wildlife Fund. Participants learned the fundamentals of navigating a co-creation process including who best to send to a co-creation, what the process might look like, and how to prepare your organization for productive and impactful engagement in the process. Participants also had the opportunity to applying learnings in an interactive case study practicum specific to WWF. Read more about our co-creation course offerings here. https://lnkd.in/e4sAg3Fs

Proactive team building is critical when organizations are moving through a period of change. These events build trust among team members, create space to problem solve and improve communication. CollaborateUp recently held a team building session with USAID's Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security. Our day together prompted reflections on communication, trust and working styles. Critically, we did this while also identifying concrete actions to address day-to-day challenges. Not to mention that we had a lot of fun! A little competitive rock, paper, scissors anyone? Read more about CollaborateUp's facilitation and training offerings here. https://lnkd.in/eAKZ5wgi.

CollaborateUp has been busy around the world! After stops in Armenia and Zambia, we’ve just completed a successful training in Uganda on multi-stakeholder collaboration and facilitating partnerships. While we were lucky that participants were engaged and eager to learn, that’s not always the case. To combat a ‘let’s get this over with’ attitude, our curricula are always guided by adult learning theory – we value experience, capitalize on peer learning, and use real life case studies and scenarios to close the learning application gap, cementing skills and making it practical for immediate application. We also make it fun! #collaborateup #learning #training

Drought. Load shedding. Water rationing. A critical time to explore increasing access to climate finance in Zambia. CollaborateUp helped design a gathering of more than 100 stakeholders in Lusaka from government, financial institutions, donors, and funds, to move beyond lamenting the barriers of access to finance and instead dive into real solutions of climate adaptation for Zambia.

CollaborateUp recently facilitated a co-creation process in Armenia, bringing together stakeholders and partners to collectively define the issue, examine assumptions, and engage in scenario planning. To enable collaboration, we used tools and techniques that put the focus on beneficiaries. For example, we created archetypes of those at the center of the intervention and crafted journey maps to better understand how to best engage beneficiaries at each stage.

CollaborateUp is honored to sponsor the SBAIC (Small Business Association for International Companies) happy hour on May 16, 2024. The event will gather attendees headed to the USAID Small Business Conference on May 17th and aims to promote collaboration and meaningful interaction among participants. This is a perfect fit for CollaborateUp as our mission is to accelerate collaboration among public sector, private sector and civil society as they tackle some of our world’s toughest challenges. We leverage our set of proven, flexible tools and methods that integrate collaboration, learning, and adaptation to drive more effective multi-stakeholder engagement, capacity strengthening, strategic planning, and knowledge sharing. Sponsoring the SBAIC event allows us to demonstrate our commitment to the success of small business and help provide a platform for meaningful connections and collective empowerment. We're proud to contribute to the vitality of the small business community through our sponsorship. Check out this link to learn more. https://lnkd.in/eGP7KGpN

Understanding learner engagement and adult learning theory, notably Malcolm Knowles' andragogy, is essential. At CollaborateUp, we are dedicated to maximizing the impact of training and education, primarily through our professional Development & Training Courses (PDT), which emphasize practical application, enriching thousands of USG employees. To implement key principles effectively, such as promoting cooperative learning and maintaining dynamic strategies, CollaborateUp prioritizes bridging the Learning/Application Gap (LAG). This ensures learners apply training and see measurable improvements. Addressing the Multi-faceted Measurement Challenge, includes generating data for various purposes, including assessment and internal marketing, accommodating qualitative and quantitative needs. Integrating hands-on tasks like RFP writing into CollaborateUp courses enhances learning outcomes, and helps participants gain foundational knowledge that can be applied to real-world contexts. We currently offer these PDT courses on a wide variety of topics such as the fundamentals of co-creation, localization, and project management & execution. To learn more about what our training courses encapsulate, check out our website! https://lnkd.in/gqbJzsUb Link to the article: https://lnkd.in/gny5nFFi