Collaboration: connect, share, create

Collaboration Lab · October 23, 2026

Building partnershipsthat last.

Nonprofits from across Transylvania County spent a morning trading practical tools and local success stories. This is that morning, told in three parts, with every photo and clip ready for you to use.

01Connect

Before anyone took the stage, the room was already at work.

People from nonprofits across Transylvania County caught up, made introductions, and got to work at the tables.

A crowded room of attendees mingling, a man with a white beard mid-conversation in the foreground. — The room filled early.

Introductions and catching up.

A man and a smiling woman in a brown sweater talk near the windows. — Catching up by the windows.

Attendees at a round table write on sticky notes during a small-group exercise. — At the tables, ideas went up on sticky notes.

A woman listens closely at a table as the person beside her, in a black cap, makes a point. — Listening as much as talking.

A woman in a gray sweatshirt laughs in the middle of the crowd near the refreshments table. — And plenty of laughing.

02Share

A collaboration, told by the people doing it.

The featured collaboration: Sarah Hankey of SparkPoint and Keagan Monteith of FWRD Transylvania on Wellness Rooted in Connection and Community Connectors.

Keagan Monteith and Sarah Hankey in conversation on stage, the audience in the foreground.

Wellness Rooted in Connection

A community of practice where organizations listen together and strengthen mental wellness and resilience across the county.

Community Connectors

Neighbors people already trust, with the training and tools to help their communities get ready for hard days and recover from them.

Watch their conversation

If you're looking to start a collaboration, first look at starting relationships.
Sarah Hankey, SparkPoint
Watch this moment · Part 1 at 50:53
Typically when somebody's in uniform, they think you have the answers. And unfortunately, I did not.
Keagan Monteith, FWRD Transylvania
Watch this moment · Part 2 at 0:07
We very rarely write a grant just for us. Even if it's small, even if it's a $10,000 grant, we say, who can we do this with?
Sarah Hankey, SparkPoint
Watch this moment · Part 2 at 12:08
Once we see that smoke, that is y'all's fire. That is not Dogwood's fire.
Jerry Kenney, Dogwood Health Trust
Watch this moment · Part 1 at 28:06

The full program

Jump to any chapter or line of the transcript, or copy a link to a moment to share it.

Download part 1 · 2.2 GB

Transcript

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03Create

Your turn. Make something with it.

Every photo from the morning is here for your newsletter, your report, your next grant application, or your feed. Photos and video by SparkPoint.

Photos · 16

Tap a photo to see it larger. Pick up to 5 with the check mark to download them together.

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Sharing

Help us tell people what happened.

Share them about the Collaboration Lab — on social media, in newsletters, reports, presentations, and news coverage.
Credit SparkPoint when you post.
Please don't alter them in ways that change the moment, or use them in advertising.

Questions, or need something we haven't posted? Email info@yoursparkpoint.org.

Credit line

Photos and video by SparkPoint

Ready-to-post caption

Spent the morning at the Collaboration Lab in Brevard with nonprofit leaders from across Transylvania County: practical tools, local success stories, and a room full of people building partnerships that last.

With gratitude

Built together

Thank you to the partners who made the morning happen. Tag them when you share.

Were you there with a camera?

We'd love to see the morning from where you sat.

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