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What is a backbone team? A backbone team is the dedicated group of people whose job is to be glue, weaving and holding collaboration together. What is distinct about this team is what it isn’t, its not there to deliver the frontline services, its not a program facilitation team... they are focused on the work that to often sits beyond the remit of programs, services and teams. The work that people and teams see the need for but rarely if ever have the capacity, time or skills

There is a unique person or team, adapt at reading what is not written down, recognising what is not named, and knowing what when and how to guide and shepherd the collective or coalition in the long journey we call place-based change. The skill of place-based sensing. So what is a backbone team, exactly? Lets back-track a bit… what exactly is this team I call a backbone team? Originally coined in the Collective Impact framework, developed by John Kania and Mark Kramer in 201

What if something small today became the turning point for your whole community…. In change initiatives, the small intentional seeds planted today become the promising shoots of tomorrow and the trees for future generations. The burning question is, what seed needs planting and watering today so that tomorrow change is emerging? Across the breadth of my work with place-based initiatives, some of my favourite are when working with communities and change initiatives early on —

“Find the people holding the biggest consequence of failure” […and ask them] You could hear a pin drop as the room processed, before applause rang out. Mic drop moment. We hear provications often, such as this one at the recent Impact Summit in Brisbane Australia, convened by PLACE; and of course the room universally agrees. Yet somewhere along the way it still gets lost in translation, backgrounded, or steered left towards others also impacted but in lesser ways, such as fun