Nonprofit Consortium of St. Croix (USVI)

The Real Work of Collaboration: Nurturing Space and Time for Nonprofits

Over the past several months, St. Croix Foundation’s Nonprofit Consortium (NPC) has continued the real work of collaboration: intentionally strengthening relationships between nonprofits by creating space and making time to convene, learn, grow, organize, and mobilize.

In April, our Nonprofit Consortium participated in St. Croix Foundation’s Inaugural KIDS COUNT USVI Summit, “We are the System and the Solution,” which convened over 60 stakeholders representing government agencies, local nonprofits, and educational institutions. Focused on fostering action, collaboration, and possibilities, the summit engaged participants around one of SCF’s key priorities for its KIDS COUNT stewardship: activating the data through systems-thinking, relationship-building, shared accountability, and collective action. Among many of the 25 members of our Nonprofit Consortium, the Caribbean Center for Boys and Girls of the V.I., which serves 70+ children a day, was in attendance as regular contributors to our local KIDS COUNT data books. And the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts, which provides countless workshops, classes, and mentoring opportunities to our children, was also in attendance, demonstrating the diversity of nonprofits that serve our children – and the need to collaborate across missions and sectors. The two-day Summit brought together key policymakers, service providers, and advocates for children, ultimately providing a space and time for people to come together; and cultivate new relationships- all around a single cause – our young people.

Of course, collaboration takes skill and time. We know this on the surface, but real collaboration is not just a partnership for a single program; it is, as our President Deanna James says, a bit like a marriage. It could be said that a successful marriage is a successful collaboration that is consistent, taking place over time and across a multitude of life events. Just as with a marriage, two organizations might sign a contract or memorandum of understanding, making them partners – but that certainly doesn’t mean that they are collaborating in the truest sense of the word. And much like a marriage, there are skills and tools needed to communicate and navigate the collaboration.

Whether through KIDS COUNT USVI or any of the Foundation’s other programming, including AmeriCorps VISTA and the renovation of the Alexander Theater, we are intentionally making space at the table for our nonprofits to engage with us and each other. At the KIDS COUNT USVI Summit, Nonprofit Consortium members worked with Tuesday Rivera of The Outside and heard from Dr. Ulcca Joshi Hansen, learning about the lifecycle of systems and about taking human-centered approaches to broad issues like education. Since March of this year, the Nonprofit Consortium convened twice during our official meetings – but outside of these, members of our NPC routinely “huddled up” in smaller cohorts on joint programming, funding opportunities, and efforts to advocate for safe water, clean air, and child well-being.

Collaborative work is not a new concept. But authentic, sustainable collaboration is also very vulnerable to politics or money – and it can whither quickly if relationships are not maintained. Collaborative efforts that result in system change are, quite often, forged in consistency, in relationships that extend far beyond the project at hand and are employed for large and small matters, usually around the clock.

St. Croix Foundation is committed to opening up time and opportunities for meaningful interactions in a variety of different circumstances – just like in a marriage – to build the trust and the skills – for St. Croix’s Nonprofit Consortium to further demonstrate the power – and impact – of community rooted collaboration.