Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive

This whakataukī (Māori proverb) talks to community, to collaboration and a strengths-based approach.
​It acknowledges that everybody has something to offer, a piece of the puzzle,
​and by working together we can flourish.​

Collaborations and Partnerships Systems Strategist

 nazanin@nazaninjenkin.com | +64 21 478253

Moving collaboration beyond a buzzword I am a convener of safe spaces where all the voices can be heard. Together we deliberate complex strategic issues, towards innovative solutions, through successful collaborations and partnerships. As a true 'pracademic' - I deliver well  researched thought leadership, translated into practitioner friendly frameworks. We are increasingly working with uncertainty and complexity; but complex doesn't have to be complicated. It has been said of me, "...she presents a complex topic in a way that others can understand and work with". 

​ I design and deliver learning experiences, where we build our collaboration muscles and collaborative leaders grow with renewed understanding and refreshed courage. As we move forward globally, we're going to need everyone and everything! Working together across silos, sectors, disciplines and cultures - I facilitate and support spaces and processes where solutions emerge 'together' and untapped opportunities come to life. Everyone contributes to building new futures. 

​Utilising a range of Collaboration Frameworks and Design principles, we deliver:

• ​Shared Value & Collective Impact
• Assurance of Value for Money
• Integrated, population focused local services
• Whole system prioritised investments
• Collective policy initiatives

Collaboration is the intersection between Strategy, Co-Design and System Change. It is the pinnacle of a strengths-based approach to working relationships. We acknowledge that the opportunity or desired outcome(s) requires the collective strengths; we identify what we bring to the table and what others bring to the table; then, we work together in the spirit of humility, openness and manaakitanga [kindness, generosity, support, hospitality].
Nazanin Jenkin

⚡️ Partnerships and collaborations that are bounded around policies, services, opportunities, geography, population, desired outcomes or combination thereof.
⚡️Deeper understanding of the collaboration package. Working with an external facilitator frees you to focus on your responsibilities and mandates an independent individual to manage support mechanisms, ensuring programme momentum.
⚡️In-house collaborative capability - which enables new cultures and nudges change. 
⚡️The benefits of collaboration: new behaviours and skills; improved cultures & relationships; customer retention; efficiency & effectiveness gains.

These are the tangible outcomes you can expect. Working across the business spectrum, through shared solutions, supported by collective impact action plans, that cross silos. With extensive experience working with clients across sectors my end-to-end approach is particularly successful for those seeking to build in-house capability and long-term solutions to complex problems that need input from multiple parties.

There is no 'right' approach - I artfully use a mix of tools and techniques to help you make your partnership and collaboration journey the next success story! Whilst many leaders and practitioners have some experience in this arena, "stretch" or "real" collaboration needs to take a systemic perspective and can sometimes feel counter-intuitive - because collaboration as a business discipline is something deeper, more complex and an entirely new approach that requires new competencies. 

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My 'big idea' shared and featured in Vision Week NZ 2020

Parts of this video were used as the closing comments (1:47) for the  final session of #visionweeknz, 8-12 June 2020 
The theme for this session:  What Next NZ; looking to the future and implementing some of these ideas. Prime Minister Jacinda Arden's Address @ 30 mins. 

PODCAST
Check out my recent kōrero/conversation for the Beyond Consultation podcast series about all this things mahi tahi/collaboration here. This is an authentic/got a bit vulnerable conversation - if you're curious about what I do and want to know more - this might be a good starting point to connect 😀 

​​Nazanin Jenkin couldn’t believe it when her big idea was featured alongside Jacinda Ardern in Vision Week 2020. But it should come as no surprise to you if you’ve been following her work on cross-sector collaboration.

She is a fierce advocate for moving collaboration beyond a buzzword. And she has the practical experience to back this up. She began her working life in engineering - thrown into the deep end of bringing diverse views together to make change.

​Now, Nasi (as her friends call her), knows that complex doesn't have to be complicated - but that takes effort and experience. If you want to build your collaboration muscles, and move collaboration beyond a buzzword, Nasi is your go-to consultant.

We talked about:

• my journey from engineering to cross-sector collaboration
• my Persian heritage & how that's influenced my work
• the reason why most collaboration is doomed to be nothing but a buzzword (and what you can do to prevent that)
• the steps you can take to build your collaboration muscles
• how and when slowing down can speed you up
• why it is so important to acknowledge the past when envisioning the future

PUBLICATIONS
​
My research on collaboration in the New Zealand context delivered ground-breaking thought leadership.
​A summary article “Working Towards Working Together” was published by Institute of Public Administration New Zealand (IPANZ) and can be downloaded below.

In 2020, through the New Zealand COVID-19 lockdown I bought together my most current thinking identifying post-COVID opportunities for re-imagining new futures together.

​"Collaboration: From 'buzzword' to reality" was published by Apolitical early June 2020. 

In this article I consider academic research, the opportunities provided through the Wellbeing agenda and outline three key areas for consideration: 

• Why collaborate - is there a shared agenda?
• Collaboration requires time and investment, so it's best suited to the most complex systemic opportunities.
• Collaboration is a stand-alone skill set and leadership approach - we need to invest in that.

​I'm working on my first book  - (provisionally) Collaboration Insights: A guide for successful collaborations & partnerships -  and it's scheduled for publication in 2021. This will bring together many years  of practice and quality  research. ​

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Nazanin's approach to delivering shared value & collective impact, assurance of value for money, and, integrated services focuses on three key pivotal areas: 
* Collaboration
* Moving Strategy to Reality
* Collective Thinking

COLLABORATION
​

Nazanin helps you: 
​​- Develop agreement around the purpose for collaboration in your context.
- Decide with partners how to collaborate and who contributes what and when.
- Deliver shared value and collective impact.
​- Develop collaborative capabilities and leadership.

  COLLABORATIVE
​STRATEGY to REALITY

Nazanin helps you: 
​​- Co-design  a collaborative strategy where all the voices are heard and included.
- Surface the heartbeat of the strategic intent.
- Develop system alignment of cultures, communication and processes.
- Design the optimal back bone structures.

COLLECTIVE THINKING
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Nazanin helps you:
- Facilitate authentic and collective conversations, navigating the conflict.
 - Work together to identify a shared understanding of the opportunity and solution options.
 - Develop collective impact action plans.

 

There was a lot at stake then, and there's a lot at stake now, and we won't solve our problems if we expect them to be solved by a few supermen or superwomen. Now we need everybody, because it is only when we accept that everybody has value that we will liberate the energy and imagination and momentum we need to create the best beyond measure. 
Forget the pecking order at work | Margaret Heffernen | TEDWomen 2015