“I’ll age myself here,” Leroy Abrahams joked during a recent Insights for Community Partnership webinar, referencing a Rolodex – a tool many in today’s audience may have never used.
But the idea behind it still resonates. Abrahams, head of Community and Market Engagement at Regions Bank, noted that the ability to connect the right people at the right time remains one of the most powerful ways to create impact – especially in the nonprofit sector, where collaboration can turn individual efforts into lasting change.
That philosophy is central to the Regions Making Life Better Institute, which was created not only to promote associate volunteerism and financial education, but also to provide technical assistance and knowledge-sharing to community partners. Part of that work includes connecting nonprofits with one another, as well as with government agencies and local businesses.
Sometimes, just by making introductions and playing matchmaker, we can add value in a different way.
Leroy Abrahams, head of Community and Market Engagement at Regions Bank
“We’re in a fortunate position: we have a lot of customers, and we serve many communities,” Abrahams said. “Sometimes, just by making introductions and playing matchmaker, we can add value in a different way.”
That spirit of connection and community partnership was the focus of the most recent Important Insights Webinar for Community Organizations, part of a quarterly series designed to leverage the bank’s in-house knowledge and experience to provide no-cost support for nonprofits in the areas they need it most.
Regions’ Commitment to Collaboration
Regions doesn’t just serve as an intermediary; bank leaders also encourage nonprofits to work together directly, including through collaborative grant opportunities that support shared initiatives.
For more than a decade, Regions has been bringing organizations together across the St. Louis area. Linda Lockwood, Philanthropic Solutions Advisor, and Nancy Barnes-Ault, Market Engagement Partner, joined the webinar to share how that work has evolved through the bank’s Annual Community Convening.
The Convening began as a way to bring nonprofit and community leaders together to network, share ideas and discuss local needs. Lockwood emphasized that those early conversations helped build trust across organizations, creating a foundation for deeper collaboration long-term. Over time, those conversations sparked a bigger question: how could those connections lead to meaningful, measurable impact?
Lockwood worked with market leaders to introduce a collaborative grant, providing $25,000 to two or more organizations working together to accomplish something they could not do independently.
For the past six years, under the leadership of St. Louis Market President Scott Hartwig, the bank has awarded grants to participants emerging from the Convening.
Barnes-Ault outlined the application and vetting process, which includes review by a panel of community leaders and funders.
The Convening continues to grow in popularity, with many participants asking for more frequent sessions and expanded programming. But Barnes-Ault said one of the most important lessons has been the need to stay focused.
“The Convening is incredibly valuable – the networking, the breakout sessions, the connections people make,” Barnes-Ault said. “We hear requests to do more, more often, but we also know we can best serve the community by doing this work well and staying intentional about where we focus our time and resources.”
Collaboration in Action
Two Regions Bank Annual Community Convening grant recipients – Monique Thomas, executive director of Cornerstone Community Development Corporation, and Maggie Strube, program director at Ready Readers – joined the conversation to demonstrate what successful community partnerships look like in practice.
It was not an obvious pairing. Ready Readers focuses on expanding literacy in low-income communities, serving more than 21,000 young children in the St. Louis Metro area. Cornerstone’s mission centers on affordable housing and community development in the West End and Visitation Park neighborhoods.
But Strube explained that Ready Readers was exploring an idea to develop a grassroots, place-based literacy program. While the organization had long partnered with early childhood centers and schools, leaders recognized that learning doesn’t begin and end in the classroom. To truly support children’s literacy, they needed to engage families and communities more directly – and that meant finding the right partner at the community level.
At the same time, Thomas said Cornerstone was exploring new ways to promote economic mobility in its neighborhoods – and childhood literacy quickly emerged as a critical building block.
“It was like the universe was aligning because with every person we talked to West End just kept coming up,” Strube said.
Watch this brief clip to hear Strube and Thomas describe how they first connected and how their collaboration, supported by a Regions Bank grant, became a gamechanger.
Regions Bank Collaborative Grant Dollars Put to Work
Thomas outlined how the two organizations leveraged the $25,000 Regions grant to launch the Seasons of Wonder Storytelling series in the West End, an initiative designed to embed literacy directly into neighborhood life.
Through the program, Reading Captains engage families in creative, community-based experiences, bringing books and storytelling into parks, shared spaces and local events.
The following video clip highlights the energy behind the program – as well as the impact, including thousands of hours of community engagement and tens of thousands of books distributed to children and families.
Lessons Learned: Making Collaboration Work
While the partnership between Ready Readers and Cornerstone demonstrates what’s possible, both leaders emphasized that successful collaboration requires intention and effort.
Strube said one of the most important starting points is simply being open.
Be open minded; the perfect partnership might not be what you expect.
Maggie Strube, program director at Ready Readers
“Be open minded; the perfect partnership might not be what you expect,” she said, noting that strong collaboration also depends on clear expectations and consistent communication.
In this clip, Strube shares key “dos and don’ts” that can help nonprofits build stronger, more effective partnerships.
Thomas echoed those themes, while also offering a candid look at some of the less visible aspects of collaboration. From assessing mission alignment and leveraging complementary strengths to understanding roles, timing and brand dynamics, she emphasized the importance of being realistic about both opportunities and challenges.
She also encouraged organizations to account for the often-overlooked investment required to collaborate effectively, including staff time, coordination and relationship-building.
Watch as Thomas shares additional insights on what nonprofits should consider when entering into a partnership.
Building Stronger Communities, Together
As the webinar made clear, collaboration isn’t just about bringing organizations together – it’s about building relationships that lead to meaningful, lasting impact.
Whether through convenings, grant opportunities or simple introductions, Regions continues to play a role in helping nonprofits connect the right people, align their strengths and expand what’s possible for the communities they serve.
And as the partnership between Ready Readers and Cornerstone demonstrates, when the right organizations come together with a shared purpose, the results can extend far beyond what any one group could achieve alone.
Miss any previous webinars? See below for summaries of past topics:
Turning Ideas into Impact: Practical Strategy Guidance for Nonprofits. Regions strategy specialists and community partners break down the what, why and how of effective strategic planning.
Building Trust Through Transparency: Why Financial Reporting Matters for Nonprofits. Regions Bank webinar shares best practices to strengthen nonprofit accountability and sustainability.
Building Better Boards: Regions Shares Strategies for Nonprofit Success. Webinar offers practical guidance to help community organizations develop engaged, effective boards.