08/26/2026
Something is weighing heavy on me this morning. I keep hearing in conversations “our competitor.”
WE ARE NOT COMPETITORS. WE ARE CO-LABORERS IN COMMUNITY.
When did serving vulnerable people become a competition?
Our agencies were not created to compete over referrals, recognition, contracts, credit, or who can say they did it first. We were created because there are children, families, individuals with disabilities, people in crisis, and vulnerable members of our community who need all of us.
There is too much need in our community for organizations with like-minded missions to waste energy competing against one another.
At Synergy Family Services & Foundation, we believe in coaction—people and organizations intentionally moving together toward a shared purpose.
Your agency does not have to lose for mine to succeed.
Your program reaching someone we couldn’t reach is still a WIN.
Your resources filling a gap we couldn’t fill is still a WIN.
Your organization changing a life is a WIN and a lot of the time many community workers are putting it work to get to that point.
Because this work was never supposed to be about who gets the credit.
It is supposed to be about who gets helped.
Imagine what would happen if agencies stopped guarding tables and started building bigger ones.
If we shared resources.
Shared knowledge.
Shared connections.
Celebrated one another.
Referred to one another.
Filled each other’s gaps.
And remembered why we entered this work in the first place.
Alignment over ego.
Collaboration over comparison.
Coaction over competition.
Community over credit.
There is enough work to do.
There are enough people who need us.
And quite frankly, none of us can do it alone.
Synergy has never been interested in being the only organization at the table. We’ve been working on bridging the gaps since day 1 and hope more can do the same.
We want a table full of passionate, ethical, compassionate people willing to lock arms and say:
“Whatever it takes. Whoever can help. Let’s serve them well.”
That is community.
That is leadership.
That is The Synergy Way. The ONLY way
🤍With love & respect,
Mandi Makoni
Founder & CEO
Synergy Family Services & Foundation
Mandi Makoni
