DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS Andy Winnegar, RESNA Catalyst Co-Director

PARTNERSHIPS By sharing expertise, resources, and stakeholders, organizations that partner successfully are able to access new markets, spur innovation, and achieve greater outcomes. Yet, partnership does not come without risk; recent studies have shown that partnerships have a modest 50% success rate. Many partnerships fail due to lack of organizational investment, insufficient leadership commitment, and few dedicated resources. It is important to define roles and responsibilities, align capabilities, and understand cultural differences.

COLLABORATION Collaboration with stakeholders and strategic partnering by organizations has proven to increase effectiveness, save resources and achieve greater outcomes. These efforts are most necessary as individuals with disabilities especially those experiencing more severe disabilities, are the most expensive and hard to serve populations in the country (National Council on Disability, 2009; Iglehart, 2011; Kaiser, 2011).

TOWARDS A COMMON PURPOSE Leadership commitment, dedicated resources, and staff training are critical elements to program success. Set engagement rules and expectations at the beginning of the project. Evaluate partners based on project outcomes resulting from engagements. adjusted from a business development to a relationship

ROLE FOR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY Partnerships between the Federal Government and the States provided an important service which should provide a foundation for great collaboration strengthening the capacity of each State to assist individuals with disabilities of all ages meet their assistive technology needs.

NEW PARTNERSHIPS The mission of the National Aging and Disability Business Center led by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging is to successfully build and strengthen partnerships between community- based organizations (CBOs) and the health care system so older adults and people with disabilities will have access to services and supports that will enable them to live with dignity and independence in their homes and communities as long as possible.

BUSINESS CENTER PARTNERS Independent Living Research Utilization/National Center for Aging and Disability, American Society on Aging, Partners in Care Foundation, Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley/Healthy Living Center of Excellence, National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), The Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund (DREDF), The National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC), and Health Management Associates (HMA).

FUNDERS Administration for Community Living The John A. Hartford Foundation The SCAN Foundation The Gary and Mary West Foundation The Colorado Health Foundation The Marin Community Foundation

THE POWER OF ALTRUISM DAVID BROOKS NY TIMES  Imagine what would happen to a marriage if both people went in saying, “I want to get more out of this than I put in.” The prospects of such a marriage would not be good.  Matthieu Ricard notes in his rigorous book “Altruism,” if an 18-month-old sees a man drop a clothespin she will move to pick it up and hand it back to him within five seconds, about the same amount of time it takes an adult to offer assistance. If you reward a baby with a gift for being kind, the propensity to help will decrease, in some studies by up to 40 percent.  To be a good worker, you often have to make an altruistic commitment to some group or ideal, which will see you through those times when your job is hard and frustrating.