ABOUT
We support a community of practitioners working in collaborative conservation, natural resource stewardship, cultural heritage preservation, recreational access, and Tribal and community engagement.
The Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy is a public-private partnership program. Our training and services are cooperatively delivered with agency partners and clients and with our staff of independent consultants.
The Academy was founded in 2008 to support federal agencies and their partners in developing professional knowledge, skills, and practices pertaining to communication, collaboration, and social sciences.
We offer commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) and custom training, facilitation, coaching, and other consulting and professional development services. We support public agencies and organizations working in the United States, District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories.
Our owner and administrator is Anne Desmarais, dba Desmarais Consulting, based in California.
People
Academy Team
The Academy Staff is made up of independent consultants. We lead operations, develop curriculum, host training, conduct training assessments and provide facilitation and coaching to support our agency partners’ professional development.
Jane Hanson
Assistant Director & Registrar, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Federal Coordinators
Federal Coordinators act as agency liaisons, training coordinators, and instructors. These leaders provide valuable insights into agency partnership policy and practice and inform our strategic direction.
Christina Marts
Deputy Superintendent, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and Saint Gaudens National Historical Park, National Park Service
Dave Smaldone
Course Leader, National Conservation Training Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Rachel Sowards Thompson
National Education Program Lead & Acting Foundation Liaison, Division of Education, Cultural, and Paleontological Resources (HQ-420), Bureau of Land Management
Courses are led and taught by practitioners and subject matter experts who share their breadth of experience working in partnership and community engagement. Guest instructors, speakers, and facilitators represent federal and public agencies, Native Nations, nonprofits, and the private sector.
Lisa Van Alstyne
Instructor and Facilitator, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Matthew Magaletti
National Partnership Coordinator, National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships Directorate, Bureau of Land Management
Denis Desmarais
Negotiation and Collaboration Instructor, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Sergio Pierluissi
Regional Partners for Fish and Wildlife Coordinator, Midwest Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Leigh Goldberg
Instructor and Scholar-in-Residence, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Academy Team
The Academy Staff is made up of independent consultants. We lead operations, develop curriculum, host training, conduct training assessments and provide facilitation and coaching to support our agency partners’ professional development.
Jane Hanson
Assistant Director & Registrar, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Federal Coordinators
Federal Coordinators act as agency liaisons, training coordinators, and instructors. These leaders provide valuable insights into agency partnership policy and practice and inform our strategic direction.
Christina Marts
Deputy Superintendent, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and Saint Gaudens National Historical Park, National Park Service
Dave Smaldone
Course Leader, National Conservation Training Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Rachel Sowards Thompson
National Education Program Lead & Acting Foundation Liaison, Division of Education, Cultural, and Paleontological Resources (HQ-420), Bureau of Land Management
Courses are led and taught by practitioners and subject matter experts who share their breadth of experience working in partnership and community engagement. Guest instructors, speakers, and facilitators represent federal and public agencies, Native Nations, nonprofits, and the private sector.
Lisa Van Alstyne
Instructor and Facilitator, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Matthew Magaletti
National Partnership Coordinator, National Conservation Lands and Community Partnerships Directorate, Bureau of Land Management
Denis Desmarais
Negotiation and Collaboration Instructor, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Sergio Pierluissi
Regional Partners for Fish and Wildlife Coordinator, Midwest Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Leigh Goldberg
Instructor and Scholar-in-Residence, Partnership and Community Collaboration Academy
Course alumni and participants are at the forefront of our community of practice. These valued peer leaders support outreach, instruction and community-building while keeping us in step with changes in agency policies, practices, initiatives, resources and opportunities.
From classroom discussions and case study presentations to networking and support, our alumni are leading and innovating best practices in collaborative conservation, resource stewardship, cultural heritage, and community engagement.
Managing By Network Alumni represent diverse agencies, positions, and partnership programs nationwide. They work with partners in all sectors as well as private landowners, permittees, Native Nations and Indigenous communities.
Collaborative Conservation: Partnerships in Practice Alumni have substantial partnership experience and are actively involved in leading programs and supporting landscape-scale and community-based partnerships.
The Academy’s programs offer an unparalleled opportunity to connect with agency peers and their partners. Academy graduates represent our community of practice and include members of Federal, Tribal, state, and local government, Indigenous communities, nonprofit, business, education, and other organizations.
What Guides Us
We support a partnership community of practice.
Our programs build interagency cooperation and partner engagement. We connect our network with emerging practices, innovative programs, key resources, and each other.
We work to build collaborative capacity.
We support employees in the confident application of professional competencies and best practices for effective communication, resilient relationships, and sustained collaboration.
We walk the talk of partnerships.
We are responsive to the strategic priorities and training needs of partners and clients. We cooperate to design and deliver high-value, transformational experiences that advance mission goals and collective impact.
Impact
The Academy and our agency partners work to create meaningful connections, strengthen capacity,
and increase partnership impact for collaborative conservation and resource stewardship.
WE FOCUS ON:
Professionalizing the practice of partnership and community collaboration.
Increasing partner culture awareness and collaborative culture for effective governance.
Strengthening the individual effectiveness and resilience of current and future leaders.
Enhancing resource sharing between agencies, researchers, and practitioners.
History
The Academy was founded in 2008 to support federal agencies and their partners in developing professional knowledge, skills, and practices pertaining to communication, collaboration, and social sciences.
Our founding partners were the BLM National Conservation Lands Division, the BLM National Training Center, and Liz Madison Consulting. The founders developed a vision for an interagency training program that would focus on professional competencies, leverage adult learning models, and provide a cohort-based peer-learning experience.
Managing by Network was the result of this vision. Since 2008, our flagship course has evolved into a 6-month training program, cohosted by six agency partners and offered annually to 120 partnership practitioners. In the years following, BLM was joined by other agency partners who recognized the unique opportunity and value of this interagency program, including the USFWS, NPS, USDA FS, DOI CADR, and the USACE CPCX.
Our team also supported the development of Getting to the Course of Conflict and Communications (GTC3), presented by the DOI Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution. Our role included adapting the onsite course to online platforms, providing additional facilitation and instruction, and developing a Train the Trainer program.
In 2019, we debuted our advanced level course, Collaborative Conservation: Partnerships in Practice, with the USFWS National Conservation Training Center. This intensive, seminar-style course has been offered in a hybrid and online format.
Other training programs of note include: an asynchronous Partnership Foundations course (NPS NCR); a Partnership Fundamentals Train-the-Trainer program (USDA); and an Advanced Communications Training for Partnerships short course (USFWS). Our Spotlight Webinar series has featured several innovative programs from our network’s agencies.
In 2021, co-founder Liz Madison, in consultation with representatives of the Academy’s cohosting federal agencies, selected Anne Desmarais as the Academy’s Director.
Our extensive peer network and collective expertise have positioned us to be effective collaborators with public, private, and nonprofit sector partners. We look forward to working with you.