As we reflect on South Africa’s G20 presidency in 2025, questions of collaboration, trust, and cross-sector alignment have never been more urgent. Drawing on insights from Nicole Martens, Head of Impact Advisory at Krutham, this article explores what makes multi-stakeholder processes such as the G20–B20 work in practice, and how disciplined collaboration can drive real, lasting change.
How Trust and Diversity Shape Meaningful Global Collaboration
In a world facing interconnected crises, from climate change to inequality, we are increasingly confronted with challenges that no single institution can solve on its own. Collaboration has become less a choice and more a necessity. Yet even when intent is shared, partnerships across sectors often falter when theory must turn into practice.
The G20 brings together the world’s major economies to address shared global challenges, ranging from financial stability to climate change. With South Africa hosting the 2025 presidency, the process has taken on renewed significance as Global South priorities, particularly sustainability, inclusion, and equitable growth, come into sharper focus. Within this broader context, the G20–B20 process, which convenes business, civil society, and policymakers, offers important lessons about how collaboration can move beyond dialogue toward tangible outcomes.
Reos Partners has worked for more than two decades on complex, multi-stakeholder collaboration. We bring together governments, businesses, civil society, and communities to address systemic challenges. Our work is grounded in the premise that transformative change requires diverse voices, structured dialogue, and a willingness to experiment together. The themes that surfaced in this year’s G20–B20 process, particularly trust, alignment across sectors, productive tension, and sustained engagement, reflect dynamics we see frequently. They also reinforce a central truth. Collaboration is not simply a value. It is a disciplined practice that helps turn ambitious commitments into practical, real-world impact.
To explore these dynamics more closely, we spoke with Nicole Martens, Head of Impact Advisory at Krutham, a research and advisory firm working to make finance serve society better. With a background in environmental science, economics, and two decades in sustainable finance, Nicole brings a systemic lens to the question of what makes collaboration actually work.
Where Collaboration Gets Stuck: The Implementation Gap
Across our work, we have seen that meaningful progress on issues such as energy transitions, inequality, and sustainable finance requires diverse actors to work together in unfamiliar and often challenging ways. Nicole notes that most collaborations begin with enthusiasm and alignment around a shared vision. At this stage, there is an ease and optimism.
“Where things start to come undone is when it is time to implement.”
The conceptual phase is often smooth. People agree on principles and draft visions. But implementation raises more complex questions. Who is responsible for what? What trade-offs are required? What does each partner need or expect to gain?
When these questions remain unanswered, trust weakens. Partners slip back into their own priorities. Momentum slows. As Nicole explains,
“Often stakeholders come to the conversation focused on what they want to get out, without taking the time to understand others’ realities and constraints.”
Successful collaboration relies not only on shared goals but also on shared understanding of each other’s positions, pressures, and limits.
Trust as the Currency of Collaboration
For Nicole, trust sits at the heart of all meaningful progress.
“You build trust by making sure your intentions are seen as genuine and authentic. And to do that, you need to do two things. Listen and be honest.”
Listening, in this sense, means listening fully, especially when a perspective challenges your own. Honesty requires clarity about motivations and limitations. Without honesty, good intentions can be misread. Without listening, partners miss the realities that shape decisions.
Nicole adds,
“Not everyone wins at the same time in the same way. But if everyone is clear about what they can give and what they need, you can find a real win-win.”
This aligns with Adam Kahane’s Stretch Collaboration. Instead of avoiding disagreement or keeping interactions comfortable, real collaboration requires facing conflict while staying connected. Tension, when held well, becomes a driver of creative progress.
Navigating Productive Tension
Many collaborations become stuck because people try to avoid tension or maintain harmony. But some of the most compelling breakthroughs come when differences are acknowledged rather than avoided.
The G20–B20 process illustrated this. Policymakers, businesses, small enterprises, academics, and civil society brought deeply varied incentives and perspectives. When this diversity was used effectively, it led to solutions that felt more strategic and grounded.
This mirrors what we see in systems change work. With a clear structure, skilled facilitation, and a safe environment for honesty, tension becomes something to explore productively rather than something that derails progress.
Unlikely Alliances and the Power of Diversity
Some of the most interesting collaborations, Nicole observes, bridge unexpected divides, such as partnerships between investors and civil society.
“You have top-down capital pressure and bottom-up community needs. When those come together, you get solutions that create value for both shareholders and communities.”
She points to renewable energy microgrids and local skills programmes linked to the energy transition as examples of collaborations that deliver social, environmental, and financial value.
Diversity is another central element. This South African B20 cycle reached 50 percent female representation among Task Force chairs, which Nicole sees as practically significant.
“Diversity of thought improves decision making. When people from different genders, races, and backgrounds are at the table, discussions are more grounded in real lived experience. The solutions that emerge are more resilient and innovative.”
For Nicole, gender balance is not a box-ticking exercise. It is a lever for better outcomes. Diversity broadens perspectives, strengthens analysis, and leads to more sustainable decisions.
Beyond the G20–B20 Cycle: Collaboration as Ongoing Practice
Nicole’s most resonant point is about persistence.
“When this G20 cycle ends, that is not the end of these proposals or this change. If they have the potential to deliver impact, they deserve a chance.”
In her view, the process of bringing diverse stakeholders together to co-create solutions is itself a model for ongoing change. The principles of engagement and collaboration should continue beyond the formal B20 cycle.
This aligns with our experience. Effective collaboration is built on trust, a structured process, and the participation of the whole system. It requires people to stay in the conversation, even when it becomes difficult, and to continue experimenting together.
The Path Forward
The G20–B20 process offers a clear example of how structured engagement and diverse participation can support more durable and impactful outcomes. These principles are not limited to global policy arenas. They apply equally to local initiatives, national reforms, and corporate sustainability efforts.
At Reos Partners, we see that real transformation depends on ongoing practice. By bringing diverse perspectives into a participative, creative space and supporting honesty, experimentation, and connection, people can build the trust needed to navigate complexity and generate new possibilities.
Real change does not end with a meeting or a cycle. It continues through the relationships built along the way. It is in this ongoing practice of listening, honesty, and shared action that transformative collaboration truly begins.
