At the beginning of 2022, HOT_tech started a collaboration with Kathmandu Living Labs on the Tasking Manager. This followed our ambition to facilitate an open collaborative process in building and improving our open source technology by forming a ‘collective’. The idea of a ‘collective’ is to bring people with shared purpose together on shared ground to achieve a shared goal. A lot to be shared! In this context the shared goal is the development of the Tasking Manager. Our vision is for creating with, for, and by the community for making the product more impact-driven and user friendly. The Tasking Manager has proven itself over the years to be not just a software but a platform to bring the different individuals, communities, organizations who share a common goal towards not only humanitarian effort and crisis response but identifying local resources and needs through mapping and data. So whether you are a mapper, a validator, a designer or an open source developer with an interest in the Tasking Manager, you can join the collective. During this talk we will share our journey in building the collective. You will hear an open and honest reflection on what worked, what didn’t work, what we have learned and what we hope to do going forward. We want this talk at FOSS4G to open a conversation with other open source and geospatial communities on best ways for designing, creating and implementing open, diverse and inclusive spaces for thriving and healthy collectives and communities.