Greater Than the Sum of our Parts: Lessons from an Inter-field Collaboration in Parkersburg, WV
August 25, 2026
Bridge-building, community organizing, and participatory democracy each fall short on their own, but what happens when all three work in sync? A yearlong pilot in Parkersburg, West Virginia, tested that question by uniting nine community leaders across the political spectrum to tackle substance use, drawing on hundreds of residents' ideas to build a concrete action plan. The result offers a candid look at what inter-field collaboration can unlock, and where it still falls short.
