Collaboration in Community Impact Is Powerful

My in-service training at the University of Johannesburg provided me the chance to work with stakeholders at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, the City of Johannesburg, and Play Energy Drink. These experiences unveiled to me the serious business of collaboration in achieving profound community impact.

The work was about us—me, along with the stakeholders—tapping into our collective knowledge, resources, and passions to make a real change happen. It was not about anything I could do as an individual.

*   Advocate for patient rights at a public hospital? No thanks; I’d rather do it my way, in private, with the public as the front half of my advocacy.

*   I would surely collaborate with a group that worked up rights for patients to live and die with dignity. That’s the serious business I mean when I  talk about collaboration. Understanding this has inspired me to work with a more collaborative essence in my community engagements. I now focus on the collaborative strengths found in organizations with whom I work, as well as the diverse range of community members I serve. I have found, in the process, that working in a more aligned and collective way also creates a greater sense of "shared space" and "positive ripple effect" ownership of the work and its outcomes. Indeed, it is a two-part collaborative process: for me, as someone engaged in the work, and for us, as a community, in realizing the work's often diverse and seemingly unreachable goals.

Engaging with a variety of stakeholders has made one thing abundantly clear to me: Adaptability and empathy are absolutely fundamental to the work I do as a community collaborator. Statistically speaking, a role like mine usually amounts to two years of service per community. That’s a two-year investment to build the kind of relationships necessary to make a real difference. And in that time, I inevitably encounter a wide assortment of singular and collective stakeholders who demand a variety of things from me. Communication is always the number one issue, and resolving it calls for an ever-increasing set of tools in 

This experience has taught me the importance of active listening, understanding the needs and concerns of each stakeholder instead of making my own assumptions. It also showed me the value of empathy, putting myself in their position to understand their motivations and challenges. By developing these qualities, I aim to build better relationships, promote mutual respect, and create a more inclusive and responsive environment .

My community engagement experiences have had a lasting impact, not only shaping my understanding of the challenges and opportunities within our communities but also fueling a deeper sense of purpose and responsibility. The collective impact of our efforts, from improving patient care at the hospital to inspiring youth through sports and education, and revitalizing public spaces, has left a lasting impression on me. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to these initiatives, witnessing firsthand the power of community collaboration to make a real difference in people's lives.

I am committed to continuing this journey of community engagement, recognizing the profound potential it holds to address social issues, empower individuals, and build a more just and equitable society. My experiences have taught me the importance of embracing diverse perspectives, adapting to different communication styles, and working collaboratively to create positive change. I believe that by fostering a spirit of collaboration, empathy, and adaptability, I can collectively harness the power of community engagement to create a more vibrant, resilient, and sustainable future for all.

One of the main challenges I faced was overcoming communication barriers between different stakeholders. Each organization had its own specific language, priorities, and ways of communicating. For example:

*   When talking to medical professionals at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, I needed to have a good understanding of technical terms.

*   When working with Play Energy Drink, I had to focus on marketing and social impact.

I had to change our way of communicating so that it would resonate with each group of stakeholders. This meant customizing our message, using the right words, and making sure our delivery was clear and concise. The difficulty was in finding a common ground where all stakeholders could understand and contribute to the collaboration. However each stakeholder engagement taught me the value of adapting my communication style to resonate with different audiences.