New Release
FOR COMMUNITY WELLBEING
Since the social ills we witness in our communities are the result of systems, the isolated impacts of individual organizations created with their individual goals, will never be enough to eradicate our large and complex societal problems.
The Story Behind the Book:
An Excerpt
Sometimes you learn lessons in books, and sometimes you learn from one line in a movie. That was my experience when watching the 2016 movie, “The Founder.” Ray Kroc, played by Michael Keaton, was determining how to make his hamburger business succeed when B. J. Novak’s character, Sonneborn, helped him see the situation through a different lens. That line was life changing for me in whatever role I have served in since then. I now check in with myself to ask, “What business am I in?” After more than two decades of bringing people together for development, to change systems for the sake of making lives better, I have become clear about the business I am in, and it is to inspire change for community well-being through collaboration.
During the years I spent in public education—whether developing teachers or school leaders—my focus was on how to make the system better so that students in underserved communities could excel. Some of those questions were: Who needs to be at the table? How do we get them there? And, how do we help them commit to staying through the process?
As I write this book, while in my current role as the executive director of the Tampa Bay Healthcare Collaborative (TBHC), my questions are the same, but the answers need to come from people who find themselves in, or who are assisting people in impoverished conditions; those challenged by substance abuse; families without quality healthcare or access to care; the unemployed; people who experience lack of shelter…and others who face difficult challenges in life. Essentially, the answers are meant to aid human beings referred to as being underserved or who are in vulnerablepopulations. Regardless of the social challenge being addressed, the heart of the issue is health equity.
Health (which I also refer to in this book as community health or community well-being) must be strong, stable, and sustainable to create a foundation that improves lives.
In my career experience of providing development to inspire change, here are the truths I’ve discovered:
- No one element within a system can change the system by itself.
- Government is definitely needed to change laws but changed laws alone won’t sustain change within a system because there will be a fight to change back.
- Social sector organizations are absolutely necessary to assist people who need help, but they alone are unable to change the system that created the need.
- Private sector organizations are undeniably needed to have a stake in system changes because they either operate and/or have strong influence within society’s systems.
This book is rooted in those truths.
“Conscious collaboration literally involves mindful and compassionate co-laboring.”
Why Read This Book
None of us is as smart as all of us.
No single organization is responsible for any major social problem, nor can any single organization cure it.
Hence, collaboration is required.
The type of working together matters. To ensure there’s a common understanding between the intent in this book and readers, here is information about the types of collaboration that tend to happen in the social sector spaces.
If you care about maximizing impact when it comes to equity, and co-creating sustainable solutions for community wellbeing, then read this book to reimagine how we take action, together.
Reach community-wide health equity goals.
“Dr. Brown concisely and brilliantly outlines a process to help organizations collaborate to reach community-wide health equity goals. I highly recommend learning this process.” ~R. Schulkowski, President, BayCare Hospital, Wesley Chapel
Immensely practical and useful.
“The Conscious Collaboration Pathway™ is immensely practical and useful. Collaboration is key for creating healthy communities and this approach shows us how to collaborate for impact.” ~B. Berry, Acting Dean of Workforce Development, St. Petersburg College
Change the status quo and create measurable impact.
“This is a must read for any nonprofit leader and the foundation and for-profit funders who support them who are looking to change the status quo and create measurable impact.” ~L. Shenoy, CEO, Embarc Collective Tampa Bay
