How to Foster Effective Partnerships with Government

Achieving long-term change requires having government—whether local, state, or federal—at the collaborative table as a key partner. However, many collaboratives share that building these partnerships can be challenging, intimidating, or confusing.

To better understand how to build and sustain effective relationships with public sector partners, we talk with Caroline Whistler, CEO and co-founder of Third Sector, a nonprofit technical assistance provider that advises U.S. government agencies on effective ways to reshape policies, systems, and services toward better outcomes for all people no matter their race, background, and circumstances.

This discussion explores the opportunities and challenges collaboratives may face when partnering with government agencies. The conversation highlights:

Shifting mindsets from a compliance-driven approach to an outcomes-focused approach, where government agencies work alongside their collaborative partners to define and measure progress towards shared goals.Why relationship and trust-building are necessary when collaborating with government partners.Why sustaining partnerships with government can help collectives reach better outcomes for everyone, but also needs to be recognized as an “ongoing process,” requiring commitment, patience, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt.

Resources and Footnotes

Third SectorCaroline Whistler on LinkedIn

More on Collective Impact

Infographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective Impact

The Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0.

The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.

Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/

The Collective Impact Forum is here to share resources, tools, and stories to support social change makers working in cross-sector collaboration.

• No. of episodes: 96
• Latest episode: 2025-04-07
• Education Society & Culture

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