Testimonials

The work of Dr. Naava Frank to support the launch and development of Communities of Practice at Purpose Built Communities® has been transformative. Naava is an exceptional partner, bringing insights and strategies we couldn’t have envisioned on our own. She has pushed us, challenged us, and cheered us on—bringing out the best in our team and helping us collaborate across the network in new and meaningful ways.

Over five years, Naava’s leadership and expertise helped transform Purpose Built and our Network Members into a truly interconnected network—one built on trust, shared purpose, and a strong sense of community. Network Members increasingly take ownership of their connections, initiating collaborations and drawing on one another’s expertise independently. This represented a significant cultural shift.

Naava has a remarkable ability to navigate the complexity of this work. She helped us create spaces where Network Members could drive conversations and bring their knowledge and experience forward. In turn, she challenged Purpose Built staff to listen differently—to recognize the expertise within our network, learn alongside Network Members, and become more responsive to what was emerging from the network.

This shift was not always easy. Naava helped us recognize and step back from some of the assumptions and habits that can develop when an intermediary is accustomed to being a source of expertise.

Naava’s generosity and support empowered our staff to become network facilitators and leaders, building the expertise and confidence to carry this work forward on their own. Staff began sharing facilitation strategies, learning from one another’s experiences, and continuing to strengthen their own skills. This growing capacity helps Purpose Built continually surface the collective knowledge and experience of Network Members, enriching the content and insights it brings to its leadership in the broader field of place-based community development. 

Naava’s deep understanding of learning dynamics and social learning, combined with her strategic thinking and ability to guide complex organizational change, made her an invaluable partner to Purpose Built.

I would recommend Naava to any intermediary or network organization seeking to build a stronger learning culture and harness the knowledge and relationships within its network.

The Rural Learning Network evolved from an emerging network connected by online meetings into a high-trust, high-energy, thriving Community of Practice (CoP). Leaders from education, government, business, nonprofits, and other sectors now show up engaged, take ownership, collaborate across sectors, and turn relationships into meaningful action in support of rural education.

Knowledge Communities helped us redesign meetings, improve onboarding, and create clear pathways for leadership. As trust grew, so did the network’s effectiveness.

Organizationally, the Georgia Partnership broke down internal silos, strengthened cross-team alignment, and better-connected local practice to statewide policy.

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.

One of the most significant aspects of working with Dr. Naava Frank is the partnership she brings to the table. Her ability to offer insights from a broader perspective has been invaluable. Even when the feedback is challenging, Naava’s thoughtful approach helps us refine our strategies and improve our impact.

Naava’s expertise and guidance have been critical in building and evolving our community of practice. She ensures we’re not working in silos, helping us see the bigger picture and fostering collaboration across teams and networks.

Over time, I’ve realized that the seeds we plant during our conversations often sprout long after the meeting ends. I’ve seen firsthand how insights shared in a session resurface in unexpected ways, shaping decisions or sparking ideas weeks or months later. This has taught me to trust the process, value reflection, and recognize success in ways that aren’t always immediately visible.

Beyond her technical expertise, Naava brings a sense of confidence and assurance. She makes us feel that we’re not alone in this work—that we have a partner who understands the complexities and can guide us through them. Her contributions have helped us build more than just a team; she has been instrumental in creating a collaborative environment, weaving in expertise from those who have worked in similar organizations.

Working with Naava has been a transformative experience. She has pushed us to think bigger, embrace new possibilities, and strengthen our foundation for long-term success.

While your commanding presence and your ability to hold the room held all participants on course, you conscientiously (and consistently) created a safe place for us to have important conversations about exactly what we were struggling with. I was so impressed!  You helped us maximize channels of communication so we could plan a successful major conference together. Those communication channels remain in place and continue to boost our productivity. Committees talk to each other, feed information back out to the network, and allow information and innovative ideas to bubble in. Staff save time managing extraneous communications and more innovations are incorporated into our work. Thank you!

“Naava was very open to listening to my challenges and struggles with evaluation and helped me work through it. After hours of back and forth, she helped me find the type of evaluation that would suit my program and understand the rationale for doing more consistent evaluation. She was very helpful working with a hard-headed CEO like myself and such consultants aren’t easy to find.”

Naava worked with me to develop a system-wide network strategy…As a result of our meetings, we revised the logic model for our networks across the agency, including refining our desired outcomes for networks…We planned for effective interactions with my supervisor and developed a regularized way to promote ongoing learning from practice among our cadre of network facilitators….She is an excellent listener who was able to help me reflect on issues and relationships and see new ways to move forward. She encourages action and also models desired strategies and behaviors through her own practices. She helped me solidify plans and action steps that I feel will open new pathways for my success in my new role.

I enjoyed the lunch session… It helped frame the other pedagogy sessions I went to/facilitated after in terms of collaboration and how I can work more purposefully with my colleagues.

Raised some important questions and things to think about.

I really like Naava’s presence–warm and inviting.

 

Rabbi Dan: Naava is a good listener and synthesizer and asks provocative questions. We valued the way Naava’s questions created a different perspective for us, so we could get outside of ourselves. Sometimes the perspective she brought was philosophical and helped us get beyond the mechanical mode of how to get the program done. There was value to having a person outside that we had to explain things to. It helped us think it through and explain it to ourselves.

Rabbi Tom: A useful trick that we learned was to ask “What goal do you want to accomplish” as opposed to “How do we get things done?” Then we planned starting at the end and met our goals.

Ellen Dietrick: Naava really listened to us and joined with us, understood our perspective and worked with us. A lot of pieces were new, including focusing on questions, the reflective component, evaluation afterwards. These gave us new frameworks and tools. We often “use her lines” e.g. Naava would say ..

“Thank you very much for being a masterful guide this year….Very helpful and will continue to be very useful.”