Characteristics of Successful Partnerships

Relationship and Trust Building

• • All parties confirm shared values and vision
  • Practice and honor bi-directional transparency
  • Long term/ lots of time investment made
  • Foster trust by recognizing past harms (acknowledge history) and rebuild where needed
  • Emphasize humility, humanity, and active listening
  • Lasts beyond staff turnover and/or funding changes

Equity and Power Dynamics

• • Address and disrupt existing power dynamics and prioritize mutual decision-making over feedback-only models
  • Apply principles of power-sharing and power-shifting to ensure all voices are respected; humility is essential, e.g., cultural humility
  • Practice collaborative leadership
  • Attend to Inclusivity
  • Recognize that CBOs are not a proxy for community members but can serve as connectors

Clear Structure and Accountability

• • Mutually define clear roles, responsibilities, goals, and expectations
  • Establish intentional governance structures to support shared decision-making and power distribution
  • Be action- and results-oriented
  • Ensure mutual accountability, with follow-up actions demonstrating commitment to the partnership

Resource Sharing and Funding

• • When possible, jointly secure dedicated resources and funding for sustained collaboration, not just short-term, transactional support
  • Share resources and complementary assets across partners, valuing each organization’s strengths
  • Provide supportive infrastructure, including staff, to support ongoing partnership activities

Effective Communication and Flexibility 

• • Maintain open, ongoing, bidirectional dialogue—not only in crises
  • Use inclusive language and translation where needed for cross-sector collaboration
  • Recognize each partner’s unique strengths, limitations, and evolving needs, with flexibility to adjust as the partnership progresses