I just had a baby!

Now, new motherhood is a known period of transition, so I anticipated most of the ways my day to day life would be completely different. I am writing this with my son strapped to my chest, calculating how long it will be before he wakes up hungry. Rather than reading up on new policy recommendations for systems change, I now spend a lot of my time researching infant milestones… When will he be able to sit up by himself? What’s the difference between his hunger cries and his gas cries? Can he see color yet?

What I didn’t anticipate was how quickly and drastically my focus would shift.

I have always been committed to building a new world, one where systems support our collective thriving instead of getting in the way of it.

That commitment is still there, but what I am willing to do in service of that commitment has transformed. To be blunt, I am deeply unwilling to do anything with my professional time and energy other than the actual work of systems change.

Playing Games

Systems change is a long game. In fact, it is an infinite game– ongoing, adaptive, and ever evolving.

I invested the first couple decades of my adult life committed to playing that long game and building a career driven by idealism, by the belief that systems change is possible. I was lucky enough to find mission-driven work that satisfied that internal drive, that provided opportunities for me to contribute meaningfully to change, and that paid me well enough to sustain a good life.

But that all came at a cost.

Because in every workplace, mission-driven or no, there is another game afoot.

This game involves learning the bounds of your colleagues’ egos and making sure you don’t step on them. Calculating the exact balance of authenticity and performance to bring into spaces wholly unprepared to receive your “full self”. Formulating the right words to push back on well-intentioned approaches that range from ineffective to straight up problematic. Rejecting performative activity and refocusing your efforts on substantive action.

And that’s to say nothing of navigating toxic bosses, boards, and organizational cultures.

If you’re not careful, this other game will drain far too much time and energy. And you may find yourself among the scores of mission-driven leaders who feel too exhausted and overwhelmed to sustain themselves through the long game they’d originally signed up for.

After playing both of these games for long enough, I developed and refined the skills I need to sustain myself. I know how to pace myself, allocate my resources appropriately, and stay pointed in the right direction. I know how to navigate uncertainty and stay clear and focused on an impactful goal. I know what best serves and drains my energy. And now, with my son’s arrival, I know more about what my commitment to the long game truly requires.

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Clarity, Honesty, and Commitment

I used to think that mission-driven work required a commitment to sacrifice. We don’t do what we do for the money, after all. This work seemed to require exceptional stamina, exceptional capacity for the grind, exceptional resilience and grit. The payoff was supposed to be the internal satisfaction and fulfillment from having made a real difference.

Becoming a mother helped me come clean on what I’ve known deep down all along– I actually sacrificed a ton of my time and energy on a game not worth playing. And, now that I have a whole other life to pour into beside my own, I refuse to do any labor that takes my focus away from the long game.

When I got honest about that, I got clear– I am committed to impact. I am committed to embodying and coaching others on mission-driven leadership that is grounded and clear. I am committed to moving from a place of strategy, not mere survival. I am committed to playing the long game.

And in the short term, I am committed to cuddling my son, reveling in his peaceful little sleep-smiles, and investing my energy in keeping us both healthy and safe.

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Some Clarifying Questions

You don’t have to have a baby to land squarely in a season of clarifying your own commitments. Maybe it was a health scare, a layoff, the death of a loved one. Or maybe you’re looking around at the world we’re in today and just know it doesn’t have to be like this.

No matter what brought you to this inflection point, here are a few questions that have been helping me sort my thoughts out–

• Where have I invested the majority of my time and energy these past two weeks?

• What makes my current commitments “worth it”?

• How can I give myself what I need to keep my most important commitments?

It is more important than ever for mission-driven leaders to play the long game on purpose and with clear-eyes. What game are you playing? What are you actually committed to?

***

Let’s move from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

If you’re a systems-change leader, I have a strong hunch that if asked what your theory of change is, you’d have an answer.

Maybe it would look like a logic model on a PowerPoint slide, maybe it would be your org’s carefully workshopped mission and vision statement, maybe it would be a clear and compelling Story of Self/Us/Now.

But what if I asked you what your practice of change is? Would you be able to describe the day-to-day actions you take intentionally to live into your theory? Would you share a clear and specific standard that guides your everyday decision making? Or would you struggle to articulate how you apply your guiding theory to your real-life practice?

Collaboration is a practice

In the past few essays, this Substack has outlined the theory behind why collaboration is THE necessary skill and strategy for systems-change in our era. The world can change. But no one can change the world alone.

But, like any skill or strategy, “collaboration for systems change” is just a theory until it’s put into practice.

Collaboration is a lifelong practice, a skill and strategy that requires intentional action to exist in the real world. It is not a box you can check, one-and-done. It is not a certificate you can complete or a finite game you can win. Rather, it is an ongoing, adaptive, sustained set of actions and principles.

To be fair, there is not a ton of incentive to sustain this work. Leaders are operating in an era where time, energy, and attention feel like scarce resources for which they are forced to compete. Rejecting this paradigm of competition to practice a hard skill takes a different type of leadership.

Such leadership is necessary, however. And such leadership only comes with practice.

Collaboration is a skill and a strategy, and it can be practiced… as an individual, as a team, as an organization.

Individual Collaboration

Society is an ecosystem– it is an interdependent group of systems forming a unified whole.

Too often, however, systems-change leaders approach the work from the outside, as though disconnected from the systems they’re trying to change.

But you are not separate from the ecosystem. You are a part of it and, by definition, what you do and how you lead matters.

So, let’s say that you’re leading a team through extraordinary change and uncertainty (lol, just for example). You have every intention of charting a proactive course, but you just don’t know what you don’t know.

Practicing the skill and strategy of collaboration could look like setting up a recurring meeting with a colleague that can help you “see the whole elephant”. If you’re leading the policy and advocacy team, for example, making sure you have regular touch points with a counterpart on the data and comms teams. Your chances of successfully adapting to uncertain terrain will increase with the clarity and vision these conversations help you develop.

Team Collaboration

Mission driven spaces exist to bring people together on purpose, for a purpose.

Maybe you work in a “matrixed” organization or sit on a cross-functional project team. Or, as a senior leader, maybe you regularly align with the full leadership team to make sure your team works toward the org’s best interest.

No matter the context, collaboration is the practice that expands your team’s capacity to get to a goal together. It brings together different skillsets, different approaches, different expertise… which, put together, make a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Practicing collaboration as a team includes clarifying that shared vision and cultivating a culture that prioritizes the resilience, accountability, and commitment necessary for meaningful impact. When done well, this practice shows up in clear strategic planning, intentionally establishing a sense of psychological safety amongst team members, and non-performative commitment to equity and inclusion.

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Organizational Collaboration

Collaboration focuses collective energy where it makes the biggest difference. It coordinates various pieces of the ecosystem to cooperate with intention.

At an organizational level, the practice of collaboration usually takes the form of a coalition or task force. However, well-intentioned collaborations often go wrong. Most systems-change leaders can share horror stories of coalitions overcome with less than subtle one-upmanship, performative virtue-signaling, and disorganized inefficiency. These attempts at collaboration just go in circles.

But we are in an era of increasing complexity, rapid transformation, and escalating uncertainty. We don’t have time to go in circles.

There is so much power in the coordinated action of multiple organizations. Practicing collaboration at this level includes developing some infrastructure to support the sustainability and evolution of the joint effort. Folks familiar with the collective impact model may push for a backbone organization, while others may be satisfied with a clear cadence and structure for shared governance. No matter the approach, the practice of collaboration (and the rejection of competition) must remain the driving force.

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Nothing to it but to do it.

Collaboration is a simple concept, but it is not an easy practice. It takes quite a bit of self-awareness, humility, curiosity, and imagination to act on, no matter how it shows up in your day-to-day work.

The only option IS to practice, however. Collaboration only exists through action, not theory.

In other words, don’t just talk about it, be about it. Nothing to it but to do it.

As with any skill or strategy, collaboration gets stronger with practice. As systems-change leaders, consider how collaboration shows up in your individual, team, and organizational practices.

The world can change. But no one can change the world alone.

What could you change with collaboration?

Let’s move from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

I asked Chat GPT “what are the top AI-proof professional skills for now and the foreseeable future?”

Nearly all the skills listed were “soft”, non-technical skills. And “leadership” ranked at #5.

The list affirmed something important to the conversation on AI and its effect on everything from the workforce to our daily lives– “soft” skills are the most durable skills.

Collaboration is a (“soft”) skill.

Collaboration is a skill. It is an ability that can be taught, practiced, and strengthened.

In the context of systems change leadership, the ability to come together on purpose, for a purpose, is often dismissed as a “soft” skill, with the implication that it doesn’t take a lot of technical expertise to grasp nor a lot of nuance to apply.

While there may not be a specific degree or certification on collaboration as a leadership skill (yet), there is a clear expectation that leaders be able to bring groups together, focus their collective energy on impact, and adapt their approach as necessary to sustain the change effort. This absolutely requires the “human judgment”, “empathy”, and “original vision” that comes from something more than just technical expertise. These interpersonal skills, people skills, human skills, are foundational to leadership. And while they may seem simple, they are most certainly not easy.

“Soft” skills are actually quite hard.*

*There’s a completely different soapbox I could go on about the cultural, racialized, and gendered underpinnings of *why* soft skills are so readily dismissed, but that’s for a different conversation.

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“Soft” skills are hard and hardy

First of all, anyone who has done… anything, ever… can attest to how difficult soft skills are. It’s hard work to develop self-awareness. To confidently make decisions with incomplete information. To communicate the vision in your own head to others. To navigate change and uncertainty. To engage in healthy conflict and disagreement. To truly listen to and hear others. These days, to truly listen to and hear ourselves.

Like any skill, collaboration cannot exist in theory alone– it must be made real through practice.

Second, soft skills are resilient and enduring. For the foreseeable future, AI cannot manufacture the trust that humans can develop with each other. It cannot replace the creativity of the human mind, nor can it supplant the deeply held intelligence of a person’s lived experience.

Soft skills are aptly being rebranded as “durable” skills. They are highly transferable across industries, including the ones that exist today and those that will be prevalent in the future. Soft, human skills are as adaptable as humans themselves; they will continue to evolve to meet the moments we find ourselves in as people and societies.

Collaboration is more essential now than ever before

The challenges that mission-driven leaders face today are complex, interconnected, and constantly evolving. No one person, organization, or sector can solve them alone. And 92% of US executives agree that people skills are more important than ever.

2025 has been *a lot*. Leaders are doing more with even less. You’re leading teams through unprecedented uncertainty. You’re trying to pace yourself and find a sustainable way to do your work. You’re grappling with how to be more proactive in exceptionally reactive times.

Turns out, there’s a term for the overlapping and accelerating socio-political challenges we’re all experiencing: polycrisis.

The leadership skill and strategy of coming together on purpose, for a purpose– collaboration– creates a clear path through the polycrisis. It’s how leaders can pool resources, focus teams, sustain energy over the long-term, and direct efforts toward the highest impact.

• Collaboration makes it more likely to grasp the interconnected totality of the full social impact ecosystem. It brings together multiple perspectives to “see the full elephant,” breaks down silos, and results in more inclusive and comprehensive solutions.

• Collaboration is a practice that expands a team’s capacity to get to a goal together. It brings together different skillsets, different approaches, different expertise… which, put together, makes a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

• Collaboration is adaptive and dynamic. Collaborative leaders can be responsive and creative, rather than unendingly reactive to changes in the ecosystem and needs in society. It allows systems change leaders to play an infinite game on an ecosystemic scale.

• Collaboration focuses collective energy where it makes the biggest difference. It coordinates various pieces of the ecosystem to cooperate with intention.

Collaboration is the essential skill and strategy for systems change, now more than ever.

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It’s High Time to Invest in Collaboration

The world can change, but no one can change the world alone.

In fact, the world is actively, rapidly changing. As systems change leaders, collaboration is the “soft” skill that will keep up with that evolution– be it a shifting economy, advancements in tech like AI, or some other unpredictable circumstance.

Developing leaders who can collaborate effectively is not optional– it’s mission-critical. And so it’s time to stop dismissing this “soft” skill and start developing it intentionally.

Whether that means investing in team trainings on systems thinking and collective impact frameworks, executive coaching on team building and development, or strategically cultivating cross-sector partnerships, the complexity and deep significance of systems change work demands collaboration. It’s how mission-driven leaders will create the world we hope to see.

Let’s move from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

As an impact-driven leader, I’ve heard versions of “I won’t see that in my lifetime” throughout my entire career. When I was more junior, I appreciated it as a way to acknowledge that the systems-change work my colleagues and I had dedicated ourselves to was a complex, long game. It took me a few years to realize that it limited our work to a game– something that could be “won” and had an end.

But systems change has no end. It is ongoing, adaptive, and ever evolving.

Systems change is *ecosystemic*.

Society is an ecosystem– it is an interdependent group of systems forming a unified whole. And yet, so many of us working in social impact approach systems change as though our work is disconnected and siloed.

Audre Lorde was right, though; “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single issue-lives.”

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Systems, By Definition

At Root + Bloom Strategies, a “system” means process + people.

There is the process, the written rules and standard practices that structure the system. The law. The employee handbook. The code of conduct.

And then there are the people, those who enforce, engage in, and experience the process at any given moment.

No social system exists without both. Therefore, no systemic change can succeed without addressing both process and people.

The challenge is, people– humans– are not static entities. We, like the nature we are a part of, are constantly growing, evolving, changing. Truly, the only constant is change. Which makes our current approach of trying to “win the game” of systems change doomed to fail, by definition.

There Is No One Answer

Now, let’s be real– that’s hella overwhelming. We rightly approach a massive project like creating impact in the societal ecosystem by breaking it down into smaller component parts. There is only so much any one leader, organization, even community can manage. And just like in a natural ecosystem, one small change can have a significant effect on everything else. Impact doesn’t have to be huge and flashy– just ask the dinosaurs about the asteroid.

Impact, however, is never isolated. It does not happen in a single silo. It is not and will never be one genius initiative, one static solution, one “silver bullet.” Many leaders working toward systems change operate as though we’re going to find THE Answer™. But there is no one answer. There are many and they will continue to evolve as the questions continue to change.

Real Impact Isn’t Static, It’s Dynamic

If you work in any type of systems change, “impact” is a word you hear all the time, but rarely define clearly. Like “collaboration,” impact has become a bit of a buzzword that can mean everything and nothing at all. Maybe there’s a data point or two attached to it, maybe a vision statement paints a hazy picture of it... but impact is very rarely understood as ongoing. Rather, it is a static end.

This makes demonstrating impact a common struggle among many systems change leaders. Often, it shows up as a dataset meant to validate an organization’s theory of change. It might look like a jumble of outputs and outcomes– how many students served? How many attendees participated? What percentage increase from pre-survey to post-survey? How many bills introduced? How much stronger employment rates? Sometimes impact is neatly packaged into a report that captures “key insights” and “best practices.”

At Root + Bloom Strategies, we define “impact” as an enduring shift in standard practice and lived experience. Impact is not about one snapshot, but rather a moving picture. For impact to be meaningful, it must be dynamic.

This Game Has No End

If it is a game at all, systems change is much more infinite than finite. In The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek argues that business isn’t about “winning” but about sustaining healthy organizations.

What if systems change was less about winning a game and more about creating a healthy and sustainable ecosystem?

Again, there is no one answer. This game has no end. Instead, systems will endlessly evolve as society continues to change. Technological advancements will continue to emerge, political realities will continue to shift, nature itself will continue to bring factors we could not predict. As humans, we will do what we have always done– adapt.

If our systems are adaptive, our approach to impacting them must be too.

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Okay, But How?

Cool, cool. So then how are impact-driven leaders actually supposed to change systems?

We practice bringing the components parts of the ecosystem together. We collaborate.

The world can change, but no one can change the world alone. Rather than working in silos to develop the genius initiative that will solve {insert social/systemic ill here}, we can come together on purpose, for a purpose.

Collaboration is adaptive, dynamic. It is a practice that expands a team’s capacity to get to a goal together. It brings together multiple perspectives to “see the whole elephant.” It focuses collective energy where it makes the biggest difference. It allows systems change leaders to play an infinite game on an ecosystemic scale. Together.

Collaboration is the defining skill and strategy of our time. It allows us to move beyond winning individually to thriving collectively. It allows us to adapt to the ever-changing ecosystem of society. It makes real impact possible.

In future essays, I’ll share the collaboration framework I use with my clients. But even without the framework, impact-driven leaders can start collaborating for systems change by asking yourselves–

• How am I trying to “win” this game?

• What would my goal be if I accepted that this game has no end?

Let’s move from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

Quick two-question poll for you–

I posed these questions at the top of a webinar on collaboration last December. Over 50% of the respondents said they collaborated every day and another ~24% responded that they collaborated weekly. However over 90% responded that collaborating is effective but sometimes feels like it’s going in circles.

Collaboration is ever present in the work of systems change. And it is hard.

A 2024 Zoom roundup shared that, on average, 42% of office workers spend most of their time collaborating with others. A Gartner survey of 18,000 employees in early 2024 revealed that only 29% of them were satisfied with their collaboration at work.

If you’re a mission-driven leader, you’ve likely used this word before– you’ve written job descriptions calling for a colleague who can “actively partner and collaborate” with other leaders; you’ve coached your “matrixed” team on cross-org collaboration to meet this grant cycle’s impact goals; you’ve asked for collaboration from another org in that bimonthly coalition meeting.

Mission-driven spaces are filled with well-intentioned leaders who fervently want to make the world a better place. We believe the world can change. But we know that no one can change the world alone. And so, we come together in teams, organizations, coalitions, communities in order to do something that could not be done solo. We gather committed hearts and brilliant minds with every intention of creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts. And we quickly learn that collaboration requires more than good intention when faced with the hard work of systems change.

So What Is “Collaboration”?

Collaboration may be widely practiced in mission-driven spaces, but it is not very clearly defined.

The Oxford dictionary defines collaboration as “the act of working with another person or group of people to create or produce something.”

At Root + Bloom Strategies, we define collaboration for systems change as “coming together on purpose, for a purpose.”

Like the concept it describes, this definition is deceptively simple. Coming together “on purpose” is about gathering intentionally, yes, but it is also about being thoughtful about who is in the room, why they’re there, and the type of infrastructure that supports their consistent presence.

Coming together “for a purpose” is about the why, the overarching goal, the guiding vision that everyone is working to make real. But it is also about the what, about the active contributions that make participation meaningful. Each collaborator is in the room because they have a part to play that is important and purposeful.

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Skill and Strategy

Collaboration is a necessary skill and strategy for impactful systems change. In theory, collaboration is as simple as the kindergarten-level act of “playing well with others.” In practice, however, it is an advanced and complex leadership competency that can make the difference between doing actual good or just… doing stuff.

Let’s break it down.

First, collaboration is a skill. It is an ability that can be taught, practiced, and strengthened. It is often dismissed as a “soft” skill, with the implication that it doesn’t take a lot of technical expertise to grasp nor a lot of nuance to apply. There’s a whole other essay on that coming. For now, I’ll say to this audience of professionals that anyone who has done this work knows that the “soft” skills are the hard skills.

Further, collaboration is a strategy. It is a lens through which a plan of action can be designed to achieve a goal. It is a strategy many of us use on a daily basis– in that recurring coffee chat with our counterpart on a different team, that cross-functional team meeting, that task force listserv. It is a strategy that recognizes the power of joining forces to expand capacity, better understand connected pieces of the puzzle, and focus collective energy in the right place at the right time.

Collaboration is how mission driven leaders make a meaningful impact.

The Defining Skill and Strategy of Our Time

All systems change work is intertwined. Though we may approach our work as separate, siloed disciplines, it’s all connected– child care to the workforce, climate change to public health, AI to education, equity and liberation to everything.

The problems we’re trying to solve are connected; so too must be the solutions. COVID revealed a lot of that interconnectedness, as cracks in our systems deepened into fault lines during a time of crisis. In the half decade since, it has become increasingly clear that the impact we seek requires that we break down silos and collaborate across sectors.

But collaboration is hard.

Collaboration is hard, largely because it’s unpracticed. It’s not what a lot of us are used to. Rather, we approach systemic issues with specialized lenses that don’t allow us to see the full picture. We compete for resources–including time, money, and attention– and advocate as if we’re playing a zero-sum game. We glorify limited cuts of data, unable to capture much of the human nuance that factors heavily into any system.

And, when we’re most honest about it, as leaders we have a hard time setting aside our egos for the sake of the collective. We want to be right and we want others to admit it.

To date, collaboration for systems change has largely existed within the paradigm of winning. Sometimes we collaborate effectively, and sometimes it feels like we’re just going in circles. But we are in an era of increasing complexity, rapid transformation, and escalating uncertainty. We don’t have time to go in circles.

Collaboration is the defining skill and strategy of our time. It allows us to move beyond winning individually to thriving collectively.

Like any skill or strategy, collaboration must be practiced. In future essays, I’ll share a framework for collaborating for systems change, along with resources that help my clients deepen their own collaboration skills and strategies.

For now, I’ll prompt you to reflect– what would it really take for you (or your team, your org) to collaborate effectively? What impact could you create?

Remember, the world can change, but no one can change the world alone.

Let’s move from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

When you hear the word “silo” do you think of farms or systems?

Last year, I launched my social impact agency, Root + Bloom Strategies, by asking this very question. As I shared in my first Substack post, I don’t see silos in the mission-driven work I have done over the last couple decades. Rather, I see trees.

Though we may treat them as separate entities, individual trees stretch their roots wide, grounding in an expansive diameter of soil and sharing resources with their neighboring trees. As their flowers bloom, they depend on an entire ecosystem of actors to bear fruit. A tree is not a silo. It’s an ecosystem.

Similarly, impact-driven leaders may work in silos, but we exist in ecosystems. The impact we seek only happens when we work together on purpose, for a purpose– when we collaborate. The world can change. But no one can change the world alone.

It’s Only Human to React

I firmly believe that collaboration is THE skill and strategy that mission-driven leaders need to create meaningful systems change.

This Substack was originally meant to be a space to expand and expound on that idea– I’d planned a series of essays that would dive deeper into the concepts that ground my work as the coach and advisor behind Root + Bloom Strategies.

But then, within the span of weeks, there were multiple seismic shifts in our ecosystems…

…and I found myself in an old pattern of leadership I’d both learned and seen time and time again: reaction.

In times of uncertainty, pressure, and massive change, it is only human to react. My clients, my colleagues, and I were all trying to move forward with intention while everything around us was moving too fast and out of control. Reaction felt like the most responsible thing to do.

And in many ways, it is. Leaders must react to the onslaught of change if we are to play any part in shaping it. However, so much reactivity leaves little room for the true work of systems change: creativity.

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We Create the Way Forward

Systems change requires imagining a new world and coming together to shape it. It requires creation.

Reaction is about responding to what already exists; creation is about bringing something new into existence.

Much of my work coaching and advising mission-driven leaders has been to help them find clarity of vision. This clarity is what allows them to create– rather than letting the storm waves and currents chart their course, they have a “north star” to keep moving toward. It helps leaders quickly see what's important for their impact and what is just another distraction. And it helps leaders share what they see with others so they can all move forward together.

This clarity offers something that has felt increasingly out of reach– a way forward. An answer to “what do I do?” Something that feels rooted enough to actually promise a bloom, even in the midst of a storm.

We Can Change the World Together

No one can tell the future. But I believe we can shape it. Especially as leaders committed to systems change, I believe we must.

Unfortunately, I don't have The Answer™. In fact, I don't think there is one. Rather, I think we have to create it.

Mission-driven work is, by its very nature, human and dynamic. It requires adaptiveness, sustainability, and a level of creativity that cannot come from just one leader, one organization, even one movement.

Systems change requires collaboration. And though some may dismiss collaboration as a “soft skill” we all learned in kindergarten, the real work of collaboration is difficult and ongoing.

Break Down Silos, Build Up Collaborations

Up until now, this Substack has largely been reactive. But I am reimagining this space to practice what I preach.

I have my own clear vision of what it takes to create a lasting impact, and it has only crystalized in the year since I started Root + Bloom Strategies–

Collaboration is an advanced leadership skill and strategy. It is a creative practice, necessary for meaningful systems change. It is how we shape the future we wish to live in.

Collaboration is how we break down silos and cultivate thriving ecosystems.

Moving forward, From Silos to Ecosystems will explore the skill and strategy of collaboration for systems change. Expect an essay series covering topics like–

• No One Changes the World Alone – Why Collaboration is the Defining Skill of Our Era

• Breaking Down Silos – Meaningful Impact Requires Ecosystem Thinking

• The Answer Isn’t Static – The Dynamic Reality of “Impact”

• “Soft Skills” Are Hard Skills – Collaboration in the Age of AI and Nonstop Change

• Simple in Theory, Complex in Practice – Collaborating Skillfully for Systems Change

Look for this and more every second Tuesday of the month. In between, I’ll share the insights, tools, and questions that shift perspectives from reaction to creation, based on what I’m learning from my work coaching and advising mission-driven leaders.

If you know that this work means working together well, this is the place for you. If you want to shift from reactivity to creativity, this is the place for you. If you want to break down silos and build collaborations for systems change, this is the place for you.

Let's move from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

“I move at the pace of my humanity and am always happy to see others doing the same.”

I found myself writing this in an email on a particularly frenzied Wednesday last month, as a reminder to myself more than anything else. I took some deep breaths after hitting send. Stood up. Stretched my body. Drank some water. Looked out the window.

Moving at the pace of my own humanity has always felt a little subversive in a culture that’s obsessed with transcending our basic human needs. Conversations so often start with folk connecting over some type of deprivation– of sleep, of nourishing food, of energy, of time. Lately, I’ve been doing my best to resist frenzy and lean into sustainability.

We Each Have A Part To Play

It takes a good deal of focus to move at the pace of your own humanity. And that’s on a normal, completely precedented day.

These days, keeping pace requires being able to hear your own rhythm in the first place, which gets more impossible with every roaring stream of information. Distractions are everywhere and discernment is really the only way to sift through them.

Instead of adding to the influx of outside voices and links, I offer y'all a question that has been helping me help clients clearly hear their own rhythm–

What can I do right now?

There are two very important nuances to this question.

1. First, what can *I* do? As part of a larger ecosystem of change, how we each lead as individuals matters. Where you choose to direct your time and energy matters. Now, more than ever.

A tree is not a silo, it's an ecosystem.

From “Why Now & How: Breaking Down Silos to Collaborate for Systems Change” December 13, 2024.

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Like a tree, it is important to be rooted and resourced. To hold the ground through high winds and sudden change. Ask yourself what *you* can do. What is actually in your particular control, given your unique context and position? What can you do in your sphere of influence? What ecosystem does your own tree actually support? What do you think waters your tree, gives it sunlight, protects its roots? It is important, not just for yourself, but for your whole community.

As a friend quoted recently, “we all have a role to play in the whole.” What's your role?

2. Next, what can I do right now?

Urgency in the face of increasing change in the world is absolutely necessary. However, urgency at all costs is destructive and ultimately pointless. Urgency is only effective when coupled with focus.

Answer “what can I do right now?” literally. What can you do in THIS moment? Presence generates focus. So what is within your immediate, tangible control? What can you do to be present? Look away from the screen? Hydrate? Say the thing? Stretch? Call a friend for a 10 minute catch-up (it's worth it!)? Show yourself a little grace? Breathe?

The answers that come may feel small, but we each have a part to play. And there truly are no small parts, only small actors. It’s all connected and so it all makes an impact. Ask yourself what you can do right now, again and again. And keep pacing yourself.

We All Have A Part To Play

The world needs to change, but no one can change the world alone.

In other words, we’re all only human. We need each other.

I coached over thirty clients in January on a range of life and leadership challenges… and in every conversation, people brought up the people in their lives.

It came up again and again– we all need each other and we are each needed. Whether for support, accountability, celebration, affirmation, comfort, the people in our lives keep each of us going. As the African proverb goes– If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

This is a long game; it is important to go far. Find fuel that will sustain you and people that will support you.

From “Why Now & How: Breaking Down Silos to Collaborate for Systems Change” December 13, 2024.

Over those 30+ coaching conversations, I was reminded that often the personal, human parts of our individual experience are actually the most universal. That feeling you feel? Like this pace is unsustainable? Like you need to get clear on what direction you’re even going in? Like you just have to make it through this week, this month, year, season? We’re all feeling it. And we all need to respond to it as best we know how.*

We all play a part.

On Reactivity and Responsiveness

Leaders are often more likely to react than to respond in moments of uncertainty or pressure.

To be fair, that’s a human thing. It is very hard to choose to respond. We are wired to react to threats (real or perceived) with behaviors that we think will help us survive. It’s our default, and it is extra difficult to even be aware of that default mode, much less to choose something different.

It’s rare for a leader to slow down enough to realize they’d let their insecurity or anxiety or fear take the wheel before driving themselves, their teams, or their organizations into a ditch.

Reaction distracts from THE action.

Collaboration requires that leaders create space to respond instead of react. That they create space for their own humanity and everyone else’s. It is that very humanity that connects us. It is that very connection that will sustain us.

*If you want support in creating some clarity to respond to life or work, let’s chat one on one. I’m opening six slots for coaching clients next month and would love to discover if we’re a good fit. Reply to this email to let me know you’re interested and I’ll get back to you soon!

Take care, y’all. Stay human.

Nia

P.S. Click here for my full conversation last December with Piper Hendricks, CEO of Stories Change Power– “Why Now & How: Breaking Down Silos to Collaborate for Systems Change.” Lookout for more Root + Bloom Strategies resources on collaboration for systems change in 2025.

Listen, I apologize in advance, but I HAVE to talk about Wicked.

Let’s set the stage.

I probably still had bubble ties in my braids (iykyk) when I graduated from kiddie theater to shows on “The Great White Way” (yup).

It was a big deal– I’d seen musicals before, but these were official Broadway productions. To whoever ran that program giving kids a half-priced birthday discount– I have a stack of Playbill covers to thank you for.

I’d give out my own pretend Tony Awards to shows I’d seen. The Scarlet Pimpernel won “Best Set” for its sliding guillotine. Saturday Night Fever won “Best Curtain Call” for the sharpest dance canon I’ve ever seen. And Aida won “Best Musical” because Heather. Headley.

Musical theater has been my happy place for decades. Every original cast recording stretched my vocal and emotional range. Every step of choreography in the living room expanded my sense of presence. Every costume and set taught me the value of environmental context.

All this to say, I’m a theater kid.

Say what you want about musical theater, something magical happens when songs drive major plot points. It is an undeniably powerful art form.

Little Nia was all about the spectacle of it– the bright lights, the elaborate costumes, the impressive dancing, the catchy songs. But as I grew older, I came to appreciate musical theater’s capacity to examine profound philosophical themes. It’s fun, but it’s also very serious. One minute you’re free as a bird singing about living hills and laughing brooks, the next, you’re performing in stirring protest against Nazis.

As an art, musical theater examines human connection on both emotional and socio-political scales. It moves you. Sometimes, literally.

I could go on forever about shows that present the audience with highly nuanced questions of good, evil, and individual agency in the face of it all. Seriously, DM me if you’re really looking to geek out.

In the meantime, here’s a list of other shows that feel fit for these times. As you listen to the cast recordings (or watch the movie version!) ask yourself– How are you moved? How will you act?

• Hadestown

• Cabaret

• The Wiz

• Hamilton

• Into The Woods

But back to Wicked.

I can’t tell y’all how many times I’ve sung Defying Gravity. From a high-school castmate’s couch to college talent shows to a piano bar cabaret last month– I’ve belted out that final battle cry for over 20 years. It’s amazing to now hear the song casually blasting from passing cars with a Black woman’s voice.

I’ve been so lucky. The first original cast recording I cared to learn back-to-front starred a dark-skinned, crop-haired leading lady who was also a Trini. I’ve always been able to see my own human experience– including my Blackness– in musicals.

I’ve also been lucky enough to see Cynthia Erivo perform live. There are quite literally no words to describe what happened in that theater, but I’ll try– it was like she generated some kind of surge of energy in every person there. She sang and we all shot to our feet. I’ve seen a lot of standing ovations. This is the only one I can remember in my body.

All this to say, this specific woman… playing this specific role… at this specific time… is exceptional in every sense of the word.

Defying Gravity is a song about tapping into your power. When Cynthia Erivo sings it, it deepens into a pressing call to action–

• Do your work, even when it’s hard.

• Stop pretending you don’t know what that work is.

• Give allies a chance to come with you, but don’t limit yourself for them.

Defying Gravity is also a song about questioning the balance of power. When Elphaba sings it, she’s challenging all laws that create unjust limits, including those of physics itself.

It’s not just a song of self-actualization, it’s a song of collective actualization. It’s a timely musical reminder that stepping into your power is necessary, not just for one person, but for us all.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I’m here to tell you that all the hype does not disappoint. My little musical theater heart is so full. I couldn’t be happier (😉) that so many people have connected to this masterpiece.

How are you moved? How will you act?

A few years ago, I learned that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is actually incomplete. Apparently Abraham Maslow spent six weeks with the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation years before publishing his theory.

“He intended to test the universality of his theory that social hierarchies are maintained by dominance of some people over others. However, he did not see the quest for dominance in Blackfoot society. Instead, he discovered astounding levels of cooperation, minimal inequality, restorative justice, full bellies, and high levels of life satisfaction. He estimated that “80–90% of the Blackfoot tribe had a quality of self-esteem that was only found in 5–10% of his own population” The Blackfoot Wisdom that Inspired Maslow’s Hierarchy

Human needs are not a pyramid that peaks at self-actualization. Instead, the Blackfoot philosophy expands to community-actualization and the cultural-actualization that can only happen through future generations.

Human needs haven’t really changed that much over time and space. We still need food and shelter. We still need a sense of belonging. We still need each other.

It is clear that we need systems to change. But no one can change the world alone. And real collaboration is hard.

This is not how it was “supposed” to be. And it is not how it has to be. Millions of Americans could strengthen democracy by practising it… Many are out of practice at coming together, committing to one another in pursuit of a shared purpose, deliberating together, deciding together, and acting together—the essential practices of democracy in its most everyday form. The same goes for skills related to group decision making, managing internal conflict, or holding one another accountable—the most basic democratic practices. We see, hear, and read about the major threats to democracy every day, but a closer look reveals the depth of the challenges we face in our everyday lives. Will Trump Teach Us To Care About Democracy Again?

What Marshall Ganz calls the “practice of democracy,” I call collaboration. At its core, collaboration is connecting on purpose, for a purpose. It is both a skill and a strategy, and it is necessary for any kind of meaningful systems change in the face of technological advancement, political disorder, and socio-economic instability. No matter what, we’re going to have to be able to work together for the work ahead.

Next Friday (12/13) I’m presenting a free webinar on collaboration: “Why Now & How: Breaking Down Silos to Collaborate for Systems Change.” Whether you’re reflecting on your individual impact or finalizing your team’s strategic action plans, this session will help you explore:

• What does collaboration look like in practice? What are the components of this “soft” skill?

• Why is collaboration required for effective systems change in the years ahead?

• How does this apply to your work in 2025 and beyond?

All are welcome to join regardless of field or level of experience. Click here to register!

Wicked energy is carrying me into 2025. You can find me learning new vocal runs and helping changemakers break down silos. Some things I cannot change, but ‘til I try I’ll never know. 🧹🪄

Let’s fly from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

I don’t know about you, but everything feels in flux these days. Maybe it’s the changing seasons, maybe it’s the looming existential threat to democracy. Who can say. Either way, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about being in between possibilities.

Both, And.

One month and one day after my 13th birthday, I signed one of the most important documents of my life. That day, I became a United States citizen. 

I can’t remember why I chose to wear a pink turtleneck that morning, or what style I had in mind when I carefully braided my hair, but I do remember practicing the curly cursive of my “complete and true signature” for weeks leading up to the appointment.

I didn’t realize that I’d have to literally swear my allegiance to this country aloud before signing. There was a whole blurb that I had to stand up and read. Luckily, as a theater kid, I lived to read aloud. 

I didn’t even blink when the official told me I was very articulate and mature for my age. A part of me must have noticed it, since I somehow remember it to this day. But at the time, I was too excited by the newfound fruit of being in-between: dual citizenship. 

Being in-between came to mean that I am both, and. As both Caribbean and American, I get the privilege of access to the best (and worst) of both worlds. I get to exist in both, so I get to be a bridge and translator.

It’s a superpower of sorts– when you’re in between, you can feel extra connected. You see a ton of possibility. You have no lack of imagination, for better or worse. You question everything, because you know it can be different. You’ve seen it.

It can also be disempowering, though. You feel isolated– in between silos there are just walls. People don’t see what you see. It’s frustrating. People are slow to change, even when they say it’s what they want. Or worse, sometimes nothing actually changes at all. You think there’s a transformation, but it’s just Richard Pryor behind a curtain pulling levers. At best, it’s exhausting. You feel like you’re wasting time and energy when there’s no time or energy to waste.

That double-consciousness of being in between one world and another comes with a blessing and a curse– you know what’s really possible. 

What’s Possible…?

Election Day is next week in the US. This year I’m voting for the Democratic nominee for President (and Blue down-ballot) for the same reason I did in 2020 and 2016– I do not lack imagination.

Matter fact, I’ma call it– I can see the future. 

Now, being an idealist, I firmly believe the future is a matter of collective and individual choice. 

It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. - Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967 Christmas Sermon

What we choose to do as individuals matters; it creates an impact that ultimately affects us all. So I’m voting (early!) for Kamala Harris for President. Because I want to like the future I see. I want to live in the future I see. I believe it’s possible. 

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My Granny passed down that powerful sense of possibility, of imagination. She came to this country in her 40s, a recent widow with five kids. Granny hadn’t even finished high school back in Trinidad when she landed in Boston, got her GED, and eventually fulfilled her childhood dream of earning her nursing degree. 

She retired to a house she bought in Florida, became the secretary of the Ladies Club, started a garden in her backyard with grapefruit and orange trees, and became the default “reform house” for her grandchildren when our parents needed an extended break. 

Granny lived the American Dream, and she made it clear that she expected us– her children and grandchildren– to get our education and do the same. She knew the power of imagination. She never wavered in what she believed was possible.

…When We Work Together?

At the core of the capital-W “Work” of systems change is the belief that something different is possible. Without that imagination, we stay stuck– systems never quite uproot deep inequities, leaders get frustrated pouring their energy in the wrong direction, and nothing meaningful changes in people's day-to-day lived experience.

Systems change requires imagination. And it requires collaboration. 

The world can change, but it won't change by itself and no one can change the world alone. Real systems change requires that we work together well– in teams, across sectors, amongst communities. 

Note that Rodgers & Hammerstein had Cinderella’s fairy godmother sing about zanies, fools, and dopes. All plural. 

Real change may feel downright impossible, but to this Zany/Fool, there is no other choice but to try. Impossible things are happening every day, in places where we choose to work together.

On her 90th birthday, I asked Granny for the secret to a good life. She got a clear look in her eye and leaned forward. “It’s not easy, but it’s simple,” she said. “Decide what you want, then go get it.”

Go vote. Stay focused. Take care of yourself. 

Let’s go get it,

Nia

This Fall, Root + Bloom Strategies is releasing a concept paper on skillful collaboration– the practice of moving from silos to ecosystems. Let’s break down silos and build up collaborations to change systems and do the impossible. Email us at hello@rootbloomstrategies.com to learn more.

I got to spend the first few weeks of August on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure– traveling all over France with my mom!

Back in 2019, we realized that we hadn’t traveled to a new place together since my childhood, so we decided to change that the next year. Except the next year was 2020 and… that didn’t happen. When we learned that the 2024 Olympics would be in Paris, we reset our goal to go to a game, any game.

As luck would have it, it turned out I know an Olympian for Team USA! Sunny and I worked in the same college dorm and were both in dance groups on campus– for salsa and breakdancing. 

And that is how mom and I found ourselves in France at the first Olympic Women’s Breaking Qualifiers.

Our trip was epic. Exhilarating. Energizing. And one word kept surfacing for me throughout it all– Freedom.

Liberty

August always feels like Freedom Month to me. It is bookended by two important days in Trinidad and Tobago, the country where I was born.

August 1 (1834) is Emancipation Day, the date that chattel slavery was legislatively abolished “throughout the British Dominions.”

August 31 (1962) is Independence Day, when the twin island nation was released from Great Britain’s colonial rule.

In his inaugural address to the newborn nation, Prime Minister Eric Williams immediately tied freedom to collective responsibility under the banner of democracy:

“The first responsibility that devolves upon you is the protection and promotion of your democracy. Democracy means more, much more, than the right to vote and one vote for every man and every woman of the prescribed age. Democracy means recognition of the rights of others.” (emphasis added)

And the week after we got back from France, clips from the Democratic National Convention echoed the theme that defined my month. 

Freedom is active, a matter of self- and collective-determination. 

To be free is to have “the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without.” There’s freedom from and freedom to. Freedom from oppression. Freedom to opportunity. And while it can be easy to discount the small actions that add up to freedom, it is– by definition– in each of our hands.

It does not exist in a silo–in fact, true freedom requires collaboration. Fannie Lou Hamer was right. Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.

In many ways, voting is quite literally freedom. All month, I was reminded again and again of how precious that freedom is. How it is a living inheritance from a centuries-long struggle that is far from over. 

In the months to come, I invite you to collaborate actively in our collective freedom. Here are a few ideas:

• Check your registration to make sure you’re registered to vote.

• Encourage your community to check their registration and/or register to vote.

• Take some time to inform yourself of what’s on your ballot (it’s not just the presidency!). 

• Deepen your knowledge. Ask questions and discuss the issues you care about with your community. 

• When the time comes, GO VOTE!

Equality

Marianne, the personification of the French Republic, is one fierce bitch. She and I could totally be friends. And during the Olympics, she was everywhere.

Apparently, we’d met before. Marianne is often syncretized with the goddess of Liberty– that green lady that I grew up seeing lifting her lamp beside the golden door across the Hudson. My time in Paris made me feel like that much more of a New Yorker.

And as a New Yorker, a Black woman, and a dancer, hip-hop has always been a part of my life. It is an art that I deeply respect and I was so excited to see breakdancing recognized as an Olympic sport. 

And then came the memes.

One thing I’ve always loved about hip-hop is its self-regulation. The art has evolved quite a bit over its 50+ years, but it has always been true that if you want to come, you better come correct or get checked.

In other words, authenticity and competence are non-negotiable. And if you want to be part of the community, you must accept accountability. These rules apply equally, without exception.

A central question seemed to drive much of the internet sleuthing and hot-takes on b-girl Raygun’s performance: do the rules apply equally? To everyone?

The thing about equality is that it only exists in the context of other people. It cannot exist in a silo. In fact, equality is a balance of power within an ecosystem. Equality requires collaboration. It requires skilled communication, self-awareness, curiosity, and commitment. It must be demonstrated, not simply performed. 

As we face questions of equality, equity, and more with much higher stakes, I encourage you to reflect– 

For what community am I performing?

And what am I demonstrating?

Fraternity

On our first day in Paris, my mom and I realized that souvenir is a French word that has been adopted into English. Over the next two weeks we collected over 90 more words– silhouette, encore, cuisine, boulevard, repertoire, boutique, soiree, nuance, entrepreneur… 

We spoke French to the best of our ability, stringing together my mom’s high school French, my 28 days of Duolingo, and a whole lot of body language. We got by. And we got to experience my absolute favorite part of travel– the reminder that we are all connected as human beings, that we are more alike than not.

But now, summer vacation is over and I’m capping off Freedom Month back home in Brooklyn.

J’ouvert– which loosely translates from French to “daybreak”– is an annual tradition rooted in Afro-Caribbean resistance, joy, and liberation. 

To me, it is a celebration of community and self-determination. A reminder that like my ancestors, I exist in the context of a global community and it is in my hands–our hands– to define and realize freedom.

This Fall, Root + Bloom Strategies will release a concept paper on skillful collaboration– the practice of moving from silos to ecosystems. 

Until then, I hope these last days of summer treat you well and are filled with freedom and joy. Don’t forget to subscribe to this monthly newsletter and follow Root + Bloom Strategies on LinkedIn.

Let’s cultivate change from silos to ecosystems. Take care, y’all,

Nia

Try a short experiment with me– read the subject line out loud:

“What Can We Do?”

What was your tone of voice? Was it hopeful? Skeptical? Determined? Resigned? Supportive? Helpless? Strategic?

I’ve been planning a Root + Bloom Strategies blog and newsletter since launching in May. In this first note, I was going to introduce the agency beyond what’s already on the website or my LinkedIn and give an overview of the core concepts that ground the work.

But then, within the span of weeks, there were multiple seismic shifts in our ecosystems–

• In how US policymaking functions: 

  • Supreme Court strikes down Chevron, curtailing power of federal agencies (SCOTUS Blog). POLITICO has a good roundup of potential implications.

• In how summer feels (hotter than ever):

  • "Potentially deadly" heat wave envelops East Coast (Axios). And the heat keeps breaking records (The Guardian, Reuters).

• In how hurricane season starts:

  • Hurricane Beryl Becomes The Earliest Category 5 On Record (The Weather Channel). This BBC piece breaks down some of the climate science. Also, Puerto Rico Sues Oil Companies for $1 Billion in Climate Damages (Scientific American).

• In how we elect a US President:

  • What does Trump’s Supreme Court immunity decision mean? (Al Jazeera). Trump injured but ‘fine’ after attempted assassination at rally, shooter and one attendee are dead (AP News). Biden just quit the race and endorsed Kamala Harris. What happens now? (Vox). The dizzying array of firsts for Harris if she wins nomination or election (Washington Post). How 44,000 Black Women Raised $1.5M for Kamala Harris in 3 Hours (Yahoo News).

• And so much more than I can list, happening around the world.

The drafts I’d already written had to catch up to the moment. To pivot, which as a friend recently said to me, “is not a change in vision, but a change in strategy.” 

From Silos To Ecosystems

The vision remains the same: 

Move beyond silos to cultivate ecosystems where we can all thrive.

And while the objective may shift, the core strategy is also the same: 

Take action.

Impact happens when changemakers collaborate skillfully. But what can we do?

Well for one, as you can see, I decided to adapt my plans to changes in the ecosystem. 

Welcome to my first note in the Root + Bloom Strategies newsletter: From Silos to Ecosystems. 

Every month, I will share reflections and a whole bunch of links on collaboration, systems change, and social impact. Think of this as an open note to all of us living into these questions and choosing to answer them with action. I hope to offer insights that inspire clarity and agency. 

In other words… What can we do? 

Next Steps

Take another second to notice what you felt in that first experiment. 

Then, consider taking these next steps. I wrote them in 2020 in a different, but not unrelated context. They still apply today:

1. Seek first to listen, without interrupting. Ask what you can do.

2. Actually do the thing.

3. Make intentional choices every day.

4. Clarify what you’re working toward and why.

These “next steps” are broad and require personalization– that is on purpose. We exist in ecosystems, not silos. We each have the agency to make a change. And what we choose to do matters. It’s all connected.

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Take Instruction

My go-to choice is joyful liberation, which I usually access through art and community. Art can be just as instructive as it is fun, and this past month, the instructions have been everywhere:

• At the Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures exhibit in the Blacksonian (aka the National Museum of African American History and Culture), I marveled at Octavia Butler’s typewriter, Lt. Uhura’s Starfleet uniform (my family is full of Trekkies), and Phillis Wheatley’s words on imagination. The exhibit closes with the energizing reminder, “There Are Black People In The Future.”

• As a pre-Hamilton musical theater geek, I’ve loved seeing The Wiz revived on Broadway. The cast’s NPR Tiny Desk concert was 20 minutes of truly meaningful instruction– it’s not actually that easy to ease on down the road, but it will bring you home.

  • P.S. I am BEYOND excited to see Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked, another instructive musical set in Oz.

• I committed to reading more work by Black woman political leaders this year, starting with Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm. The woman drops bars throughout, but my favorite quote is just *chef’s kiss*:

“Shirley is a nice person. She’s bright but she doesn’t play the rules of the game.” 

That is true. I don’t, because I don’t choose to. It is not because I don’t know what the rules are. I have participated in and watched politics for more than twenty years, and I know how things are supposed to be done. I also know why the rules are made, and why they are enforced without mercy. Frederick Douglass said it best and shortest: “Power concedes nothing.”

• And of course, I noted July 20, 2024, the day of Lauren Olamina’s first journal entry in Parable of the Sower. This book is in my top five for many reasons, including how much pure instruction Octavia Butler shares through her character’s reflections. 

  • @thefreeblackwomenslibrary shared 12 lessons from the books in “Octavia Taught Me aka Survival Strategies of a Pre-Apocalyptic Dystopia.” My favs on the list are: Stay Focused. Archive or Journal. Trust Your Intuition. Build Community. 

Keep Going

What can we do? So much.

In the months to come, I hope you will join me in answering this question with action.

Check out our intro post— Start Here: From Silos to Ecosystems. And please subscribe to the monthly newsletter and follow Root + Bloom Strategies on LinkedIn.

Let’s cultivate change from silos to ecosystems,

Nia

Over the years as an advocate-at-heart/attorney-by-training, I have been in a few Rooms™.

From the classroom, to the local school district, state university systems, national think tanks, federal policymaking, and beyond, there has been a fascinating constant– silos.

If you think of yourself as a changemaker, no matter your approach, you’ve likely heard or said that your work is challenged by a silo.

But I’ve always had the privilege of sitting at the intersections– my career has been interdisciplinary and I’m a Black immigrant/FirstGen woman. And from this view, I don’t see silos. I see trees.

Trees have a lot to teach us about connection and collaboration for shared advancement and growth. Though we may treat them as separate entities, individual trees stretch their roots wide, finding grounding in an expansive diameter of soil and sharing resources with their neighboring trees. As their flowers bloom, they depend on an entire ecosystem of actors to bear fruit. The seeds in that fruit ensure the grove’s sustainability.

Social impact leaders often work in silos, but we exist in ecosystems. Though we may approach our work as separate, siloed disciplines, it’s all connected– child care to the workforce, climate change to public health, AI to education, equity and liberation to everything.

I’ve learned that the impact we seek only happens when we work together, when changemakers collaborate skillfully. Increasingly, the pace of change and the complexity of the world *requires* us to work together well, within teams, across sectors, amongst communities.

Mission-driven leaders must collaborate across sectors to create meaningful impact at scale. We must think beyond this season’s buds to the ongoing sustainability and evolution of our work. How do we root and ground ourselves? How might we bloom our vision of a shared future?

I truly believe it’s possible to move beyond silos to cultivate ecosystems where we can all thrive.

How? With an essential, deceptively simple leadership skill: collaboration.

Join me every month to explore how connecting people and ideas can change systems that change the world.

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