Nonprofit leaders are navigating enormous pressure right now—from funding uncertainty to political headwinds. That’s why the latest Chronicle of Philanthropy article, “Stronger Together: the Benefits of Joining Nonprofit Networks,” resonated so strongly with me. It underscores what so many of us see every day: Networks and peer connections aren’t a “nice to have”—they’re essential infrastructure for resilience, innovation, and staying in the work.
The Chronicle article highlights exactly what we’ve learned through five years of supporting the Purpose Built Network Community of Practice:
Leaders need a place where they don’t feel alone
Peer expertise accelerates learning far faster than going it alone
Cross-organizational relationships spark creativity and shared solutions
Networks become lifelines during crises—financial, political, or personal
Diverse perspectives help leaders see beyond their own “trenches” (as one nonprofit leader put it in the article)
A catalyst for spreading innovations from one neighborhood to another
A structure that sustains people through hard moments, preventing burnout and turnover
Taken together, these two articles point to the same conclusion: 💡 If we want stronger organizations and stronger outcomes, we need stronger connections between the people doing the work.
Communities of Practice, peer networks, and learning communities aren’t peripheral—they’re one of the most strategic investments funders and nonprofits can make.
If you’re curious about how Purpose Built built a thriving, multi-year network—or if you’re thinking about creating one in your field—I’d love to talk.
How the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education turned a network of connections into a Community of Practice that spreads what works
Across rural Georgia, organizations in education, healthcare, business, and social services are working to improve outcomes for students and communities. But when learning stays siloed—within programs, counties, or even individual relationships— impact is limited.
That’s where our partnership with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE) began.
The Challenge: When Good Ideas Stay Local
At the center of this work is the Rural Learning Network (RLN), a cross-sector initiative connecting leaders across the birth-to-workforce pipeline—from early childhood to higher education, from mental health to workforce development.
The right people were in the room. Important work was happening.
But like many networks, RLN faced a familiar challenge: what worked in one place wasn’t spreading. A promising approach in one county might never reach another. Learning stayed local—and progress slowed as a result.
The Shift: From Network to Community of Practice
Together with GPEE, we focused on a critical shift: moving from a network of connections to a true Community of Practice.
That meant designing for learning—not just convening.
We introduced structures that supported growing relationships, peer exchange, and shared reflection. Convenings became sessions where participants learned directly from one another’s experience, not just the presenter.
At the same time, we strengthened facilitation capacity—equipping network leaders with practical tools to lead more focused, participatory, and results-oriented conversations.
What Changed
The impact was immediate and visible:
Conversations became more structured, inclusive, and action-oriented
Participants engaged with one another—not just with presentations
Ideas and practices began to travel across communities
Convenings led to clearer next steps and stronger follow-through
As Kathleen Da Silva (Director of Regional Engagement) reflected:
“Working with the Knowledge Communities team helped me grow our network into a fully functioning Community of Practice and sharpen how I facilitate collaborative groups. Their coaching and facilitation strategies are practical and immediately usable. The tools and techniques I learned are being applied in ways that extend well beyond what I anticipated. For example, I’ve used the discussion methods at regional partner convenings to lead structured table conversations that transform presentations into shared learning and actionable next steps.”
Why It Matters
When networks are designed for learning—not just connection—ideas move.
And when ideas move, networks become more than a collection of people doing good work. They become engines for spreading what works—and accelerating impact.
Stay Connected Follow our LinkedIn business page for ongoing, practical tips for Community of Practice sponsors and facilitators.
I’m thrilled to announce that my chapter “Creating and Nurturing Communities of Practice for Neighborhood Revitalization” has just been published in the volume Handbook of Quality of Life and Social Change — part of the International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life series from Springer. The chapter became available online as of October 5, 2024. SpringerLink
What the Chapter Covers
In the chapter, I explore how communities — much like the families we’re born into — shape long-term outcomes across health, income, and educational opportunities. I argue for the importance of place-based community revitalization and shared learning, as embodied in a “community of practice” (CoP) model. Drawing from the work of Purpose Built Communities Foundation, I show how collaborative, cross-sector leadership involving residents, civic organizations, philanthropy, and business can promote equity, wellness, and opportunity across neighborhoods. SpringerLink+1
Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all blueprint, the chapter highlights how a CoP helps local leaders learn from each other and adapt effective strategies across different contexts — respecting the unique challenges and assets of each neighborhood. SpringerLink
Why This Matters to Me (and Hopefully You Too)
Writing this chapter has been a deeply personal and professional journey. Neighborhoods are more than just geographic areas — they are ecosystems of relationships, aspirations, and potential. I believe that by strengthening community networks, we can build more equitable and resilient places for families to thrive.
Publishing this work feels like a first step in a larger conversation: one that bridges research, practice, and real-world impact. My hope is that the ideas shared in this chapter will inspire practitioners, policymakers, and community advocates to think differently about neighborhood change — not just in terms of projects or investments, but in terms of people, relationships, and shared learning.
What’s Next
I plan to continue exploring how CoPs can support community-led transformation, especially in under-resourced neighborhoods.
I hope to engage with practitioners, community leaders, and fellow researchers to test and refine these ideas in real-world settings.
Feel free to reach out if you want to discuss collaborations, community building, or future research ideas.
Over the past five years, the Purpose Built Communities network has undergone a powerful transformation through its Community of Practice (CoP), evolving from a loosely connected group into a vibrant, collaborative learning community and advocacy group. A newly released report, co-developed with Naava Frank of Knowledge Communities, captures key milestones from 2019 to 2024 and highlights the deep impact of intentional peer learning, trust-building, and shared leadership across the network.
Report Highlights Include:
Stronger Connections and Belonging: Personalized onboarding, virtual orientations, and a growing Buddy Program have helped over 150 professionals across the network feel seen, connected, and supported in their work.
Tacit & Explicit Knowledge Sharing: Through peer exchanges, job-alike CoP groups, and in-person convenings, members have shared hard-earned insights and created toolkits, templates, and handbooks that now support the entire network.
Action at Every Level: From regional collaboratives securing public funding to national advocacy like “Hill Day,” Network Members are increasingly working together to drive change beyond their local communities.
A Living Learning Culture: The network’s capacity to self-organize and support each other is now fully embedded in Purpose Built’s operations, with members driving agendas, shaping knowledge products, and sustaining momentum.
This report doesn’t just celebrate five years of growth — it maps out a future where shared knowledge, deep relationships, and collaborative action continue to power neighborhood transformation.
Start Here with Tool 1: Steps for Launching a New Community of Practice Group
Building a thriving Community of Practice (CoP) doesn’t have to feel overwhelming — and you don’t have to start from scratch. In our latest report, Building Community, Driving Change, we share practical tools developed and tested by the Purpose Built Communities network. One of the most actionable is Tool 1: Steps for Launching a New Community of Practice Group.
This step-by-step guide walks you through a proven, inclusive process for launching a peer learning group that actually works. It’s based on real-world experience from Purpose Built’s Network Members who have been doing this work successfully since 2019.
Here’s what the tool covers:
Step 1: Recruit Gather a small group of peers who share a role, challenge, or interest — ideally 6 to 12 people.
Step 2: Plan a First Meeting Focus on purpose, expectations, and shared norms. The tool includes prompts and sample agendas to get you started.
Step 3: Facilitate Meaningfully Use light-touch facilitation to ensure all voices are heard. No expert knowledge required — just thoughtful listening and shared leadership.
Step 4: Sustain Momentum Schedule regular meetings, rotate leadership roles, and build toward shared products like templates or case studies.
Whether you’re a nonprofit leader, neighborhood organizer, or systems-change advocate, Tool 1 offers a simple but powerful roadmap to turn informal conversations into ongoing peer learning that drives action.
Today is 9/11/2024, and it feels like another lifetime when I was living in the Boston area and working downtown. The news started to spread, and my wonderful colleague, Bonnie Hausman, said, “Let me drive you home to Cambridge. We’ll pick up your kids at pre-school on the way so you can all be together. Who knows what the rest of the day will bring?” She knew my husband was in London at the time. And so she did—bless you, Bonnie. The rest of the day is a blur, trying to entertain two pre-schoolers at home while anxiously following the news.
Remembering Bonnie’s kindness and the closeness we felt that day also brings to mind another traumatic event experienced in community: the Boston Marathon bombing. I vividly recall the unity and compassion that spread throughout the city as people came to terms with the shock and looked for ways to help those in need.
My friend and professional colleague, Sarah Blumenstock Girrell, owner and leader of the Goddard School in Reading, MA, shared an incident involving the parents at her school that made me wonder: What motivates this outpouring of help and connection after a tragedy? And how long does it last?
I remember the quote Mr. Rogers is famous for “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
Shortly after the Boston Marathon bombing, reflecting on Sarah’s experience and my Jewish tradition, I wrote a brief reflection for Sh’ma magazine (included below).
I hadn’t thought about that article in years, but when one of my colleagues shared her first-person account of 9/11 today, it came to mind. I found myself reflecting on what motivates helpers after a tragedy and how long that motivation endures. It’s hard to connect with the enormity of 9/11 more than 20 years later, living in a different city, with grown children and work deadlines piling up.
In honor of today, I remember the victims of the Towers and the helpers who gave their lives. Please accept my reflection. Below is a link to the article in Sh’ma magazine.
Knowledge Communities, in collaboration with Purpose Built Communities, have released a white paper (that you can download below) telling the story of Purpose Built’s successful and compelling journey to adopt and implement a Community of Practice (CoP) strategy to support neighborhood revitalization and racial equity. Specifically, the paper describes the Purpose Built CoP startup process, the status of the Purpose Built CoP as of early 2021 and success factors to date. Finally, the paper contains an appendix of tips for practitioners who support and manage CoPs and networks.
Read about how the Purpose Built Community of Practice (PB CoP) successfully supported a network of change makers across the country during COVID and continues to support them on an ongoing basis today.
Learn some practical strategies you might want to adopt as you build a community of practice.
Understand why the PB CoP exemplifies best practices from which many can learn.
Communities of Practice bring together professionals who share a common set of challenges (e.g., Purpose Built Network leaders focused on place-based community development) on an ongoing basis to collaboratively solve problems and learn from each other.
ArticleSummary
Purpose Built Communities brings together Network Members — leaders and staff of organizations working to improve equity and opportunity in neighborhoods across the country — in a networked Community of Practice (CoP) structure. Knowledge sharing and collaboration helps local leaders in the Network tackle the complex challenge of intergenerational poverty to achieve racial equity, improved health outcomes and upward mobility for residents.
In 2019, with the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Purpose Built Communities began moving from a hub-and-spokes structure (with Purpose Built serving as the hub), to a Community of Practice, also known as a networked model.
The Purpose Built Community of Practice stimulates problem recognition, and the creation, exchange and application of innovations to serve place-based neighborhood revitalization that moves people out of poverty.
The CoP’s structure and interactions help Network Members:
Build stronger relationships with supportive peers
Accelerate knowledge sharing
Respond rapidly and flexibly to changes in circumstances
Shorten learning curves to gain skills and expertise fundamental to Network Member excellence
Successfully implement the Purpose Built Communities model
Make informed decisions that create stronger outcomes
For more information, read the full white paper below, “Value and Impact of the Purpose Built Community of Practice: 2019-2021″
When COVID hit, Naava Frank, lead consultant on Communities of Practice (CoP) at Purpose Built Communities, (under a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), and Michelle Mathews, Senior Vice President of Purpose Built Communities, realized it was an opportunity to jump-start the Community of Practice they had been planning.
Although the in-person conference session to launch the CoP would have to be cancelled, members needed support. Michelle and Naava convened a video call and the CoP was born. Members had a peer group for immediate practical, emotional and moral support in meeting the challenges they were facing as leaders during COVID.
Even now, knowledge sharing and collaboration through the CoP — supported by Ashley Bozarth, Purpose Built’s Knowledge Manager — continues to help Network Members tackle the complex challenge of intergenerational poverty as they aim to achieve racial equity, improved health outcomes, and upward mobility for residents. The old dictum, “lemons from lemonade,” rings true, the pandemic accelerated the launch of the Purpose Built CoP and provided a strong foundation for the initiative.
Naava Frank, with Michelle Mathews, Ashley Bozarth, and Jon Ippel, Executive Director of Amplify GR, and a network leader in the CoP, were honored to present about this important topic at the Collective Impact Action Summit, attended by 100 leaders utilizing the Collective Impact Model.
Here is a link to the video of the presentation, Purpose Built Communities of Practice: Networks in a Time of COVID, Thursday April 29, 2021 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM. Below is a session description and copy of the slide deck. Also, participants asked to see the evaluation research results implemented by Naava Frank and Purpose Built, which can be downloaded below.
Session Description:
Purpose Built Communities of Practice: Networks in a Time of COVID
Making lemonade from lemons: What are the opportunities and barriers to moving from a centralized hub and spokes consulting model to a networked learning model of service delivery and capacity building? How did the onset of COVID-19 and outcry for racial justice underscore and accelerate the need for a strong Community of Practice within the Purpose Built Network? Throughout 2020, executive directors and staff of nonprofit, neighborhood-based organizations have faced challenges navigating uncharted territory. Purpose Built supports peer-to-peer learning so that Network Members learn from each other how to better support their respective communities, communities more likely to be experiencing trauma from the recent crises. Hear from PB senior leader, network member, and external consultant about how the team seized the moment to focus on relationship building and shared learning to drive strategic impact in local neighborhoods.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the tools and structures necessary to launch and sustain a Community of Practice (CoP)
Learn about specific examples of how the CoP provides network-level, neighborhood-level, and individual-level impact, and what surprised us along the way
Experience community building tools in the context of a Community of Practice
“I am a nervous wreck, I am way behind on my fundraising, my staff is not getting along, I don’t know how to support them, I lost a major donor, and I feel so alone,” said Aron, an Executive Director of a nonprofit, a few months into COVID.
After almost eight months of the pandemic, leaders like Aron continue to face shifting contexts and ongoing stresses as they try to move into the new normal. Never before have leaders of Jewish organizations had to address questions like making working spaces safe from COVID and working entirely virtually. It’s lonely at the top anyway, but facing challenges further isolates leaders. “I must be the only one to experience this,” they think and therefore hesitate to share struggles with others, who could help. At this juncture in our communal lives, and as the Jewish Federations of North America 2020 General Assembly convenes virtually this week, we see professional networks are critically important to support leaders.
As Bill Gates writes, when tackling a big challenge he begins by asking, “who has dealt with this problem well? And what can we learn from them?” As guides and facilitators to groups of leaders – Ziva organizes leadership development cohorts and Naava guides Communities of Practice – we see the power of networks for leaders in both the Jewish and non-Jewish sectors. Peer support offers leaders practical insights as well as inspiration and hope, through seeing the successes, failures, and resilience of others. Therefore, a combination of peer community and access to an ongoing flow of information and solutions provides leaders with what they need to face the dynamic and ongoing challenges that COVID presents. Aron, for example, had a network but he had not used them much before. They had monthly webinars that provide interesting case studies. But that’s about it. And, while it’s tempting to hope that information is enough to address leaders’ needs, there are a few key pitfalls in that approach.
Overcoming the Challenges of Stress and Isolation
We are learning from new market research by the Schusterman and Jim Joseph Foundations that the key to successful virtual events for young Jewish adults is to provide community and connection before content. We argue that for leaders and other professionals, a similar approach applies.
So much of today’s pandemic challenges are outside of leaders’ lived experience, with a learning curve compounded by a paucity of best practices and continually changing guidelines. Supporting leaders must begin by attending to the human, the need for connection, and the emotional needs of leaders. Attending to the emotional is not a touchy-feely aspiration; stress is real and has a physiological basis. Stress causes the body to release cortisol, which inhibits the brain’s ability to proliferate dendrites and create new circuits. In other words, stress inhibits the brain’s ability to learn. So, to unlock learning, begin by addressing the human elements.
Research on professional learning shows the most powerful professional learning occurs in the context of work itself and solutions come from ongoing access to and informal conversations with peers. Only a peer understands the depth of what it means to stand in those shoes and has the shared language to describe it. Being able to reach out to the right person at the right time can be invaluable. In our experience, leaders are expressing a hunger to speak with each other about how they are handling COVID related challenges. And, thanks to Zoom, Teams, Meet, and more, we have unprecedented opportunities to bring people together.
By bringing people together, we give Aron a space where he feels understood, sees others dealing with similar challenges. His stress levels drop, unlocking his capacity to learn. But from whom? There are no experts on leadership in times of a pandemic. Aron and his peers need to co-create their knowledge together, writing the playbook themselves. Our own experience shows – and research validates – that participants in a well-facilitated networked model of learning can – in close to real-time – identify emerging challenges, deal with complexity, learn from experiments, share resources, create and spread innovation, and move a field forward.
Following, are a few success stories about ways the pandemic is providing new opportunities for organizations and individuals to find peers. We also share tips about how gathering differently can create stronger outcomes.
Find Your People
Example: Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools
When COVID hit, Jewish day school professionals serving in nine different roles – ranging from Jewish studies teachers to school counselors – reached out to Prizmah, the network for Jewish day schools across North America, to support them in convening. Prizmah used their existing infrastructure to form these new online communities, including professionals they had not previously convened, like the gym teachers who were suddenly faced with offering online gym class.
As an organization dedicated to connecting people with peers, experts, and resources, Prizmah already had monthly facilitated peer-to-peer gatherings for heads of school from across North America. At the start of COVID, heads of school requested more frequent time together and shifted to meeting weekly to get the support they needed. The nine new online communities found support through Prizmah, who had the infrastructure and staff in place to transition immediately to gathering more often with more groups. By listening to network members and building on their network of resources, Prizmah was able to serve a timely and critical need.
Networks are a Long Term Strategy
As illustrated by Prizmah, networks are a long term sustainable strategy. As Debra Shaffer Seeman, Prizmah’s Director of Network Weaving describes, “Investing in relationships makes all the difference. During periods when time is of the essence, pre-existing relationships allow for open sharing, trusted feedback, and quick input without the need for formal introductions or starting from scratch. Once a trusting relationship is formed, it is there to be easily activated when the necessity arises.”
Gather Differently
Once you have found your people, we believe the realities of COVID require thinking differently about gathering. The goals of gathering in many professional development contexts have been focused on knowledge transfer, bringing in guest experts, or sharing case studies. We argue that during COVID, professional gatherings should provide space and opportunities for social and emotional support as well as stimulating learning and we provide an illustration and resources below. In addition, with the right facilitation and convening strategies, we see significant upside potential to stimulate innovation and catalyze collective impact.
We understand there is significant resistance to group time and energy focused on the ‘touchy-feely stuff’ of relationship building. Yet, profound learning occurs when professionals feel safe enough to ask questions, reveal their vulnerabilities, and explore what they do not know. Gathering differently means balancing a group’s intellectual growth with growing the relational underpinnings and trust that support network members.
Example: New England Hemophilia Association (NEHA)
Before COVID, NEHA had run in-person sessions for members with a format of the guest expert followed by Q & A. With the start of COVID, Sarah Shinkman, NEHA’s Program Director, realized there was a need for something more and started experimenting with Zoom breakout rooms. Sarah explained, “Breakouts in Zoom let attendees see each other, see facial expressions, and have stronger connections. The discussion becomes more meaningful, intentional, people are inclined to share more about their experience because they feel the energy, emotions, and connections from each other. It allows people to be more vulnerable.” Sarah’s insight and responsiveness increased her members’ learning, as well as their confidence in the support offered by the network.
Gathering Differently Requires Excellent Design and Facilitation
Excellent facilitation is essential for a strong network. Unlike a hierarchy that has a clear chain of command, we believe partnering with a network is best accomplished through facilitation. A facilitative stance allows the creativity and out of the box thinking of a group to emerge.
We recommend conveners build their facilitative muscles by undergoing training and watching master facilitators at work to continuously expand their repertoires. In the example above, COVID motivated a simple tweak in gathering – breakout rooms – that enabled more sparks of connection and intimacy, enriching and deepening network connections thereby creating social and emotional support for participants.
TIP: We recommend systematically using breakout rooms after a presentation to help participants synthesize what they heard, hear other perspectives on the topic, and think about how to apply what they learned to their own experience.
Resources for Gathering Differently
The new zoom client, released in late September, has an option that allows attendees to move across breakout rooms on their own creating many new and exciting formats ranging from a virtual cocktail party (Rae Ringel) to Open Space.
Other resources we have found to be useful in gathering differently include:
Troika Consulting from Liberating Structures – In quick round-robin “consultations,” individuals ask for help and get advice immediately from two others via peer-to-peer coaching triads. The virtual hack is to turn off your video instead of turning your chair around (Tanja Sarett).
Using Jamboard for Network Mappingby June Holley uses Google’s virtual post-it note board, to help members get to know each other and find their common interests.
Virtual Gathering In The Time Of Corona, Priya Parker’s introduction to virtual gathering, includes creative ideas for simulating pre-event mingling with Zoom meetings and other basic concepts.
This is a time that calls for learning together. After speaking with Naava, Aron reached out to his umbrella organization and reached out to his peer network. When we last spoke with Aron, instead of feeling overwhelmed and isolated, he felt supported, engaging with his network (and other supports) and knowing that his network was there for him.
Do you have a story of gathering differently in the pandemic? Learning differently? We want to hear it!
*Aron’s name has been changed to protect his privacy.
Naava Frank is Institutional Giving Manager at Honeymoon Israel and leads the Network of Network Leaders – an initiative founded by Cyd Weissman of Reconstructionist Rabbinical College that brings network facilitators together for support and to learn from each other. As Director of Naava Frank LLC/Knowledge Communities, Naava has devoted her career to enabling nonprofit organizations to maximize the outcomes of Communities of Practice. Naava lives in Riverdale, the Bronx, New York.
Ziva Mann is the Director of Learning and Development at Ascent Leadership Networks, where she helps leaders understand their capabilities, and guides development for individuals and organizations. Ziva is also faculty at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement for the 100 Million Healthier Lives initiative (100mlives.org), working with a network of change leaders to improve equity, health, and wellbeing. She is also the director of ZMM Consulting, LLC. Ziva lives in Massachusetts with her husband and sons.
Michelle W. Malkin saysOctober 29, 2020 at 8:33 pmThank you for this important article! For those working or volunteering in congregations, the National Association for Temple Administration is having their annual conference virtually for not only learning but networking with others facing the same challenges you are. We hope you’ll join us and gain some needed resources to keep you going strong!https://www.natanet.org/greetings_from_the_chairs.php
Lisa Colton saysOctober 30, 2020 at 8:18 pmThank you for this – while I already knew many components of what you’ve taught here, you’ve compiled it, and highlighted causation in new ways for me. And, the curated resources at the end are GREAT! I wonder if you have any suggestions for “facilitation training” – both light and deep – that you recommend? I find a lot of people are newly aware that they could use more training in this area (Yay!) and looking for recommendations too share. Thanks!
Thanks so much for your response and excellent question and I love hearing about the interest in facilitation.
In addition to the individual’s I listed in the links, one of my favorite go to’s for facilitation for social change is the Interaction Institute for Social Change
I don’t want to leave others out – I am sure there are many excellent providers I don’t know about – and perhaps crowdsourcing some resources could be valuable.
I see the facilitation of a network or community of practice as a sub-specialty of facilitation that uses many generic skills but requires some specialized understandings. Given COVID – another important sub-specialty is virtual facilitation like https://www.trybalgatherings.com/bootcamp. And there are differences between long term vs. one-off facilitation, for example, ‘meeting facilitation’ or ‘collaborative decision making’ can be tools in a facilitator’s toolkit.
My advice for someone who is interested in growing their facilitation skills is a) think about whom you would like to facilitate, in what context, toward what outcome b) learning any process from therapy to sailing, takes practice and time, you learn by doing, (and making mistakes) which is fine, watching master facilitators, as well as building up your toolkit c) jump into the pool – its fun!
Having been bitten by the facilitation bug — as so many of us are — its so rewarding to see what possibilities, commitments, and innovations can emerge from a group that is well facilitated.
