A detailed account of how and why the diverse groups of INDEPENDENT SECTOR came together, what it has taken to keep them together, and what they have been able to achieve through collaboration.

BRIAN O'CONNELL is founding president of INDEPENDENT SECTOR, the national coalition of voluntary and philanthropic organizations. He has also served as president of the National Council on Philanthropy and as executive director of the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations and of the National Mental Health Association. He also chaired the organizing efforts for the National Committee on Patients' Rights, the National Assembly of Voluntary Health and Welfare Organizations and CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. He is also the author of eleven books, including Board Overboard (1996), People Power (1995), Volunteers in Action (with Ann Brown O'Connell, 1989), Philanthropy (with Robert Payton, Michael Novak, Peter Dobkin Hall, 1988), Philanthropy in Action (1987), Our Organization (1987), The Board Member's Book (1985), America's Voluntary Spirit (1983), Values (1978), and Effective Leadership in Voluntary Organizations (1976).O'Connell is currently professor of public service at The Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs at Tufts University.