A New Chapter: From Participate to Community Works Collective
Community Works Collective helps organizations design and sustain communities of practice through strategy, facilitation, and digital recognition. Built on years of experience and a proven track record, our founding team comes from Participate, where we pioneered the design of learning communities — and now we’re ready to take that mission even further.
Designing Communities Before It Was Cool
At Participate, our goal was simple but bold: to design a space where people could learn together — well before "communities of practice" were part of the mainstream conversation. Over the years, we had the privilege of working with incredible partners who shared that vision and believed in the power of collective learning.
What We Accomplished Together
Looking back on our time at Participate, we're proud of what we achieved:
We helped organizations across education, nonprofits, and industry design thriving learning communities that brought people together around shared goals and passions. We issued hundreds of thousands of digital credentials, recognizing the real-world learning and collaboration that happened within these communities. Our work supported social learning initiatives on every continent (except Antarctica — though we're open to opportunities there too). And perhaps most importantly, we built a team of passionate, mission-driven people we'll always be proud to have worked alongside.
Gratitude and New Beginnings
As our founding team transitions from Participate, we're filled with gratitude — for the customers, staff, board members, and everyone who supported that work along the way. Each partnership taught us something new about what makes communities thrive, and each challenge made us better at what we do.
But the story doesn't end here.
Introducing Community Works Collective
The spirit of Participate lives on through Community Works Collective. Our founding partners — Mark Otter, Julie Keane, Don LaBonte, Patrick Jaberg, and the rest of our team — are longtime friends and colleagues who share a deep commitment to helping organizations design, grow, and sustain meaningful communities of practice. We bring strategy, facilitation, and digital recognition to learning communities wherever they live.
We believe that the best learning happens in community. We know that recognition matters. And we understand that designing a thriving community of practice takes intention, expertise, and the right tools.
If you're working to design or strengthen a learning community in your organization, we'd love to talk with you about how Community Works Collective can help.
Here's to the Journey Ahead
Our time at Participate was the experience of a lifetime — and we're so proud of what we designed together. Now, we're excited to continue the work of community, learning, and recognition in new ways through Community Works Collective.
The work continues. The mission evolves. And our commitment to helping people learn and grow together remains stronger than ever.
Interested in learning more about how Community Works Collective can support your organization? Get in touch with us today.