Convergence Learning Lab
for Foundations
Today’s philanthropic landscape is marked by extraordinary opportunity and unprecedented complexity. Foundation leaders and nonprofit executives are grappling with intense polarization, internal and external tensions around values and priorities, and growing demands for transparency, equity, and authentic community engagement.
The Convergence Learning Lab’s training and consultation services empower leaders with the necessary skills to bridge these divides, resulting in more alignment across departments and roles, more deeply engaged community stakeholders, improved grantee capacity-building, and a stronger capacity to adapt to change. Lab services are built on our unique, evidence-based collaborative problem-solving methodology, which has been used to successfully address seemingly intractable political, social, organizational, and community-based issues.
Our services Can help
Navigate internal tensions
Navigate internal tensions around strategy, equity, or values by equipping teams with tools for productive disagreement, inclusive decision-making, and resilient leadership.
Support grantee capacity-building
Support grantee capacity-building by modeling and sharing collaborative problem-solving approaches that strengthen leadership, communication, and conflict resolution across the ecosystem.
Strengthen donor relationships
Strengthen donor relationships through trust-building strategies that allow for honest dialogue, mutual understanding, and deeper alignment on mission and impact.
Engage community stakeholders
Engage community stakeholders with openness and humility, so feedback is integrated meaningfully and partnerships are strengthened, not strained.
Respond adaptively to change
Respond adaptively to change, whether in the political climate, funding landscape, or community context—without compromising your mission or fracturing relationships.
Align across departments and roles
Align across departments and roles to support budgeting, communications, and program delivery that reflect shared values and maximize community benefit.
how it works
Our customized services can be delivered on a one-time basis or as an ongoing engagement to meet the needs of your community.
TRAINING
Participants will strengthen their knowledge and skillsets as follows:
- Uncovering the roots of polarization and division
- Understanding the psychology of conflict and its resolution
- Discovering effective strategies for bridging divides
- Applying collaborative problem-solving to go from conflict to solutions
CONSULTING
Our consulting team will work with you to design a specific collaborative problem-solving process for addressing the unique challenge you face. Whatever the issue, a broad range of leaders, employees, and other relevant stakeholders will be engaged in producing better, more informed, and more inclusive decisions.
We can also help you design systems and processes to make your foundation resilient in the face of our growing division, including systems for effective conflict management and productive stakeholder engagement.
WHY CONVERGENCE?
Convergence is the leading organization bridging divides to solve critical issues through collaborative problem-solving across ideological, political, and cultural divisions.
Since 2009, we have convened leaders and doers to consistently build trust, find common ground, forge consensus solutions, and move forward in unlikely alliances for constructive change. It is this evidence-based approach to collaborative problem-solving, informed by continued advances in contact theory, neuroscience, and psychology and refined by 15 years of successful practice, that forms the foundation of the Learning Lab.
CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE
To learn more about how the Convergence Learning Lab can work for you and get started on a unique program designed for your needs, contact Hannah Ollenburger,
Senior Manager of Executive Operations, by filling out our contact form.
