Collaboratory is a Community Foundation committed to bringing Southwest Florida together to solve all of our major social problems by 2040.

Working alongside our donors and our community partners, we connect and leverage our region’s resources to address ongoing social problems by upskilling our workforce, increasing access to affordable housing, and enhancing health and wellness for all. Because these are complex social problems, they require coordination to ensure we are all working together, and that every generous donor achieves the biggest impact with their funds.

Two years in, we are well on our way to creating the infrastructure required to coordinate the achievement of this goal.

How We Do It

Having witnessed firsthand how hard it is for individual programs to get results, Collaboratory started the FutureMakers Coalition, with a goal of making sure 55% of adults 25-64 in Southwest Florida have education beyond high school by 2025. From Collaboratory’s experience with FutureMakers, we know – and can share with you – some effective ways to work together and measure your progress. We can and will be there to help support this work through grants and leadership training.

Collaboratory recently launched two additional networks in the FutureMakers model to make sure everyone in Southwest Florida can afford housing and enjoy good health. The Home Coalition strives to increase the number of people paying less than 45% of their income on housing and transportation combined. The Health & Wellness Coalition’s goal is to make the communities within Southwest Florida among the healthiest in the nation by scoring above the 90th percentile for length of life and quality of life indicators. As with FutureMakers, each network will choose specific goals so they can measure their shared progress towards solving one of Southwest Florida’s complex social problems. Once these two new networks are up and running, we will begin to focus on creating the next two coalitions for environment – natural and built.