Collaborative Innovation: Big Challenges, Bold Solutions

At its founding, greaterthan > undertook the mission to serve as a catalyst for new models of partnership across all sectors. We set out to help organizations benefit from the power of collaboration in addressing complex challenges in our society, and in our world.

Three goals were established for the first greaterthan > conference:

· Promote awareness and understanding of cross-sector collaboration

· Explore approaches that make collaboration and partnerships successful

· Introduce people and organizations to a resourceful community, willing and able to support–or join–collaborative efforts to address specific challenges

The inaugural greaterthan > conference was enormously gratifying and enlightening. A new, 4-minute video has been posted on the greaterthan > conference site: http://www.greaterthanconference.com And there are videos posted for 17 of the presentations from the 2009 conference.

The National Advisory Board of greaterthan > met just before Thanksgiving and will meet again in January. The Board has taken up such key issues as setting goals for the outcomes of the next greaterthan > conference, reviewing the greaterthan > mission, defining the overarching themes for 2010, developing specific recommendations for topics, issues and speakers to engage in with the greaterthan > community, and suggesting venues and formats for programming.

As we look ahead to the work of greaterthan >, we invite you to join in the discussion of big challenges, big ideas and bold solutions. We are focusing on issues that have both global and local implications (e.g. environment, sustainability, food, water, poverty, economic opportunity, social justice). We are also mindful of approaches that make meaningful progress, all the while addressing a topic that was raised at greaterthan > 2009: “Absolutism” vs. “Incrementalism.” And we are inspired by the opportunities that collaboration and partnerships bring to younger or emerging leaders in all organizations. In short, we see great possibilities when organizations work together to produce the benefits of collaborative innovation.

Happy New Year!