2004 Message from Peggy Dulany, Founder and Chair of Synergos
Seventeen years after founding The Synergos Institute, I am more convinced than ever that the complex social, economic and environmental problems facing the world cannot be solved by one part of society alone. Sustainable solutions require groups to work together across their differences. They require the inclusion of those usually left out of decision making. They require the building of trust among individuals and groups who have traditionally disliked and mistrusted each other.
Synergos, since the beginning, has sought to build trust, to include the excluded and to bring together key stakeholders to solve problems of poverty and inequity using collaborative methods. We and our partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America have learned a lot during these years. The stories on this website represent some examples of these learnings.
One thing we have seen is that there is a need for bridging organizations and bridging leaders -- organizations and individuals who can reach out across divides, using their convening power to bring people together as well as their relationship capital to extend "chains of trust."
Our work with grantmaking foundations including in particular, community development foundations in the Southern hemisphere has informed our thinking about how certain kinds of civil society organizations can play such a bridging role. The story of the Western Region Foundation in Zimbabwe chronicles one example of how people in a very poor area came together to develop an effective and accountable organization that could attract resources from outside to match local support to overcome enormous problems.
Our work with members of the Global Philanthropists Circle as well as with Senior Fellows (foundation leaders from around the world) has opened our eyes to the key role that individuals can play in reaching across divides and getting people to work together. The story of how Tokyo Sexwale shared his experience with the reconciliation process in his South Africa with Maria Eugenia Garcés of Colombia, and how she adapted this to launch a major restorative justice program in her country is an example of the creativity that can develop out of relationships of trust as well as of the key bridging role that philanthropists can use, beyond the application of their wealth. The story about leadership training and capacity building provided by the AIM-Mirant Center for Bridging Societal Divides in the Philippines demonstrates that such bridging does not have to be connected to financial resources.
We are very grateful to our partners for helping us to learn and apply these lessons, and we look forward to sharing more stories of successful partnership and bridging with you in the coming years.
Sincerely,
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