Creating conditions for vividly connected research collaboration

convergence | interdisciplinary | transdisciplinary

Work with US

From ideation to implementation

Work with us when you’re ready to stop “winging it” and go deeper into what it means to create an effective team.

Top research leaders know the pitfalls of collaboration. We give you frameworks + tools that support the conversations you need to set your research up for success from the very start.

We design a partnership that scales to fit your unique needs with innovative ideation workshops, rigorous frameworks, world-class team diagnostics, engaging facilitation, and customized tools.

Partner with a well-traveled guide who understands the pressures of research.

Anne Heberger Marino, MSW is the Founder and Principal of Lean-to Collaborations, LLC, a team effectiveness and collaboration consultancy launched in 2020. She brings 20 years of experience working with researchers, professionals, and communities across disciplines and sectors. From ideation to implementation, Lean-to Collaborations helps clients build the mindset, structures, and processes they need to address complex social, environmental, and technical challenges.

What our clients say

"Anne’s skillset, generosity, and competence have kept us moving forward. She is schooled in team dynamics and operational procedures. I have hired, fired, and contracted with hundreds of individuals and businesses. She’s been essential."

Convergence Ideation Workshops

Our Fourfold Approach prepares diverse people to collaborate and generates many paths forward while connecting across ways of knowing & doing.

Research Team Launch Sessions

Set your new team up for success from the very start with our research-backed, highly interactive launch sessions.

Team Diagnostics & Development

Know how your team is really doing! Apply the world-class Team Diagnostic Survey (TDS) for an actionable analysis of your team’s effectiveness.

You could figure it out yourself, but...
do you have time for that?

our mission

to increase our individual and collective capacity to solve humanity’s interconnected challenges.

our values

Anne's NSF growing convergence research lecture

Beyond "Science As Usual": Perspectives on Creating
Convergence Research Pathways

Praise from Clients

“The workshop promoted conditions for researchers belonging to different fields & with different expertise to discuss at length about transformative, big picture concepts, methods, and ideas that could impact multiple fields of science”.

Using powerful questions and always digging deeper, Anne pushes me the right amount out of my comfort zone. The sheer breadth and depth of her experience in life and work mean I can bring a range of issues to her and she always has a unique insight to give.

We've worked with

Land Acknowledgement

Lean-to Collaborations is headquartered in Brunswick, Maine which was settled on the traditional territory of the Wabanaki Confederacy. We recognize and honor the current Tribes who comprise the Wabanaki Confederacy—the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Micmac peoples—who have stewarded this land throughout the generations. We respect the traditional values of these Tribes and affirm their inherent sovereignty in this territory. We support their efforts for land and water protection and restoration, and for cultural healing and recovery.