Imagine...twelve statewide organizations, each a powerful entity in its own right, each with its own mission and agenda, each with a large, influential constituency...planning for the common good. When the Education Alliance of Michigan contacted TMR to facilitate a strategic planning retreat, it would be the first such planning session this diverse group of leaders would undertake as an alliance of organizations committed to education, but with very different traditional roles. Over the three-day retreat, Presidents and CEO's of these organizations developed a shared vision for what they could accomplish by working together, goals for how they would collaborate to improve educational opportunities for all of Michigan's children, and a framework for future decision-making and their work together. The participatory methods TMR employed to work with the group enabled each participant to contribute to the final consensus, ensured that there were no "winners and losers" in the process, and gained the commitment of each representative to move forward with the common strategy in the coming year.