“….mystery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows” exclaims the shipwrecked Trinculo, while seeking shelter from the storm, in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and the same might be said by dozens of nonprofit leaders across New Jersey who are working on our state’s rebuilding and recovery efforts. These nonprofits are sharing their wide knowledge base and best ideas with each other and are designing cross-sector, multi-disciplined approaches to New Jersey’s recovery. This is creativity in action and the collaborations which are taking root will surely yield an innovative bloom. We are witnessing environmentalists, artists, and journalists brainstorming together. We are in discussions regarding the development of wide-scale communication systems, scientific and environmental mitigation efforts, and arts’ programming that provides critical psychological healing for traumatized adults and children, among many other ideas.
Photo Credit: The Tempest www.doubleconvex.com
In the coming weeks and months we’ll be hearing news about these bold collaborations and this burgeoning statewide, multi-disciplined effort has never before occurred on such a grand scale and with such high stakes. For all of us at Creative New Jersey, we are looking forward to working with our colleagues at Sustainable Jersey, The Citizens Campaign, Young Audiences of NJ, Monmouth Arts, WHYY, the PENN Center for Civic Engagement, in addition to dozens of other nonprofits, community organizations, and our important Long Term Recovery Group members. We are also engaged with our state’s philanthropic leaders who are active in New Jersey’s recovery, along with members of the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, and FEMA’s community planning specialists. Followers of our blog know that our work is all about cross-sector collaboration and while this is a basic tenet of our operations, we are pushing the boundaries of our own experiences and networks in order to design community engagement programs that can truly be of service to residents and business owners affected by Sandy. Our work in communities creates a landscape for creativity, innovation and multi-disciplined collaboration to flourish. We believe in the power of leveraging the best of what each of us has to offer and we are committed to fostering opportunities to achieve sustainable collective impact. Indeed, we promote the coupling of strange bedfellows!
Elizabeth Murphy is the part-time Director of Creative New Jersey. She also currently consults with the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers providing coordination of the Post-Sandy Philanthropic Response in NJ.
Creative New Jersey is dedicated to fostering creativity, innovation, and sustainability by empowering cross-sector partnerships in commerce, education, philanthropy, government, and culture in order to ensure dynamic communities and a thriving economy.
Creative New Jersey’s leaders and partners are regular contributors to the Dodge blog.