For the first time in nearly a decade, contractors from across SelfDesign gathered in person for Collaboratory (Collab) in June of 2025 in Kelowna, B.C.

The last Collab took place in 2016 at Quest University in Squamish. In the years that followed, SelfDesign remained connected through LocalLabs (in-person regional gatherings) and in the virtual world. But Collab 2025 offered something different: time and space to reconnect as a whole community.

At its core, Collab is about relationships. While the gathering includes structured sessions, open conversations and shared learning, its purpose goes beyond formal programming.

As Collab Facilitator Michelle Buck explains, “It’s an opportunity for an online community to get together in person. At its core and its essence, that’s what’s most important, because we could do workshops and keynote speakers online. Really, Collab is about being in person.”

The moments in between

Michelle often describes Collab not by its agenda, but by what happens around it.

“For me, it’s the moments in between all of the activities. It’s being together, sitting at a table, sharing how your day was, or walking back to the residences together. That, to me, is the essence of what Collab is,” she says.

Throughout the year, many SelfDesign contractors work closely within their teams. Collab creates space to step outside familiar circles and meet people across roles and areas.

“It gives us an opportunity to wander throughout the organization, where you might be walking side by side with a board member, or a support provider you’ve never met before,” says Michelle. “It re-establishes the fabric of our community and helps make sure it’s still integrated and intact.”

A balance of structure and openness

Collab 2025 was intentionally designed to meet a wide range of needs across the community. The agenda included keynote sessions, open sessions proposed by participants, team gatherings and time for informal connection. Open sessions allowed anyone in the community to suggest a topic—whether a focused workshop or an open conversation—creating space for organic, community-led dialogue.

This balance between structure and openness reflected the diversity of the SelfDesign community itself. Some participants valued clear schedules and shared learning, while others found meaning in unplanned conversations, shared meals and the chance to simply be together without an agenda.

Rebuilding connection after years apart

For many attendees, Collab 2025 was the first time meeting colleagues face-to-face after years of working together remotely. That shift, from virtual interaction to in-person presence, had a powerful impact.

Wyatt Miller-Unser, Video Content Specialist for SelfDesign’s HomeLearners’ Network, reflected on how quickly connection can form when people share time and space.

“I spent my first two hours at Collab playing frisbee with Steven and Anastasia. Anastasia didn’t mention that she had been an ultimate frisbee player for years, but while she blasted 60 km/hour frisbees into my weak video editor hands, I got to know them both a little. They’ve both been working at SelfDesign since before I started as a learner in 2006, as Steven put it, they really were “OG” LCs (learning consultants).

As I spent time with them, I saw this great relationship they had together; they were laughing, telling stories, sharing updates on their lives, and obviously very comfortable with each other. I thought this was the result of those 20 years of working together, of many, many Collabs, of a connected career across decades.

But I was wrong.

72 hours later, I was talking to Molly from IT right before I left for the airport. We were laughing together, sharing stories, joking about the sandwiches, and telling each other about our summer plans. We were comfortable with each other.

And I realized that maybe Steven and Anastasia hadn’t built their friendship over 20 years like I first thought, maybe they had built it in 72 hours, like I had just done with Molly.

Maybe 20 years ago, they went to their first Collab, and made some awkward introductions, and told some bad jokes, but still found a connection with each other, and then had twenty whole years to enjoy that friendship together.

Maybe I had just done something similar in those three days, and to be honest, I didn’t talk to Molly the first day, so it was more like 48 hours.

Except really, it wasn’t 48 hours at all. It was one open session together, a few meals, and a couple of hours one evening.

It was a tiny investment of a few stumbling minutes of conversation with someone I didn’t know, and the return was the start of a friendship, and a connection that I hope, in another twenty years, can be seen and appreciated by someone else over a game of frisbee.

So thank you, to Steven, Anastasia, Molly, and everyone else at Collab, who showed how special 72 hours really can be.”

Space for reflection and shared learning

Collab also created space for collective reflection during a year of transition for the organization. Open sessions led by former Director of Organizational Learning and Culture, River Meyer and Interim CEO Nikki Kenyon invited participants to reflect on community, culture and what it means to work together during times of change.

Participant Molly Lydon described the impact of these conversations:

“In that session, Nikki asked us to bring to mind when we had felt a true sense of community. What elements made up that experience? What feelings did it bring up?

Later, Wyatt from HLN shared about his experience with SelfDesign, and how supported and seen he felt during his time as a learner.

To me, that moment felt like an answer to the earlier question. Here was someone who had grown up within the SelfDesign community, now working alongside us as a colleague, and who could share the positive, lasting impact of the organization.

Amidst big changes in the organization, some tension about the future, and years without time together in person, we were all being brought together in that moment to connect over the positive impact this community had on Wyatt.

In the future, if someone were to ask me again to bring to mind a time when I felt a sense of community, this particular afternoon would definitely come to mind. So, shout-out to Wyatt for the vulnerability, and to River and Nikki for creating that space.”

These sessions reinforced the role of Collab as not just a professional gathering, but a space for finding meaning, where individual experiences could be shared and held within the broader story of the community.

More than an event

Across participant feedback, relationship-building consistently emerged as the most meaningful aspect of Collab 2025. Whether through open sessions, shared meals or spontaneous conversations, the gathering helped re-weave connections that can be difficult to sustain through virtual work alone.

While Collab does not aim to resolve every challenge or answer every question, it plays a vital role in maintaining the social fabric of SelfDesign, reminding people that behind every email and meeting is a human being in relationship with others.

Looking ahead to Collab 2026

The return of Collab in 2025 marked a renewed commitment to in-person connection within the SelfDesign community. Building on that momentum, Collab 2026 is scheduled once again for June 2026 in Kelowna, BC.

As SelfDesign continues to navigate reflection, transition and growth, Collab remains a meaningful touchstone, offering space to slow down, reconnect and remember what holds the community together.