The Quilt is the national association of regional IT collaboratives, including our clients OSHEAN, MAGPI and MCNC. 

The Quilt seeks to be a dynamic forum where leaders from throughout the advanced research and education network community build on the intellectual capital and best practices of network service providers worldwide.

In this project, The Quilt, wanted to move forward on several strategic and organizational fronts. The primary focus of this effort was implementation of a strategic action plan to transition to organization from an interim executive director to a permanent hire. Our role was to facilitate, coach and help manage the process.

HELIN, a regional higher education library network, wanted to redesign its governance model and align its committees to the go-forward strategic priorities as outlined its strategic plan. The project built a hybrid goverance model drawn, in part, from these sources:
1. High Performing Governance by New Commons 
2. Board Policy Manual by Michigan Library Consortium
3. HELIN Strategic Plan Framework
4. Crafting a Charter to Help People Work in Groups by New Common

New Commons was honored to have been selected to facilitate this crucially important project. The project included two initial phases with the third still in activity.

Phase One involved a comprehensive process of multiple stakeholder meetings to develop core input. Foundational work completed at an earlier roundtable event identified four "acceleration initiatives" and New Commons organized and facilitated workshops for each. We also facilitated follow-up sessions that dug deep into areas of overlap, producing a set of "meta-projects" that are currently underway (comprehensive energy strategy, access to capital for green companies, workforce development).

Phase Two involved an extensive drafting and editing process to create the actual roadmap, both the summary version and the full, 20-page verion. This included a graphical layout with the addition of some image. 

Phase Three is currently evolving a network of partners to develop capabilities and take 'ownership' of specific projects.

In 1992, the Providence Foundation convened a series of workshops to create a vision of Providence in the year 2010. in 2009, Providence Foundation again convened a series of workshop to envision a future Providence. This time, the foundation invited young and emerging leaders to share their thoughts on what Providence could be in 2030.

Participants came from large and small businesses, non-profit and advocacy organizations, and from within city government. In late July, the emerging leaders presented their vision document to the Providence Foundation's Board of Directors. The vision was subsequently presented at Pecha Kucha Night: Providence. At present, the visioning process is in transition to become an network that can begin to implement some aspects of the vision.