Latest News

Join Us at the "Food for Thought" Dinner Seminar featuring Gary Hirschberg of Stonyfield Farm on Jan. 23, 2012

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:08:39 -0500

New Directions Collaborative is pleased to partner with the The Food and Health Forum in launching the “Food for Thought” dinner seminar series featuring Gary Hirshberg, the Chairman, President and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm on Monday, January 23 at 6:30 p.m. Participants will enjoy a three-course dinner and a glass of wine at the Blue Moon Evolution restaurant in Exeter, NH, an award-winning restaurant serving local and organic food. Gary will share his thoughts about the myths around the production of “cheap” food including the nutritional, environmental and social costs that consumers don’t see at the check-out line. He will present a “win-win-win-win-win formula” for sustainable food production which protects all stakeholders including shareholders, employees, farmers, consumers, even livestock.

Following Gary's talk, New Directions Collaborative will facilitate conversations among participants on why and how organic and local food supports a healthier society and what we as consumers and as a community can do to play our part. This event is sponsored by Veris Wealth Partners.

To register and/or see future events in the series: please click to Food and Health Forum

Food and Health Forum is a new venture between the owner of Blue Moon Evolution, Kathy Gallant and nutritionist and health coach, Tracey Miller, to convene doctors, policy makers, farmers, CEOs, citizens and other visionaries who are revolutionizing our food system from the ground up. They want to inspire and educate communities to help reestablish the link between what we eat, where our food comes from, and how it affects our health.

Network Gathering to Launch Vermont Farm to Plate Network

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:41:04 -0400

In early October, 150 people from all parts of Vermont’s food system gathered for two days in Fairlee, VT to launch a network to implement the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan, a 10-year plan to build the local food system. New Directions Collaborative and Curtis Ogden of Interaction Institute for Social Change helped design and facilitate the gathering.

View local TV news coverage by Lyndon State College

Check out these videos from participants:

Allen Freund of Upper Valley Produce and VT Fresh Network:

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Jean Hamilton, Northeast Organic Farming Association of VT:

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Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund's web site has more videos and links.

Creating a Network to Implement Vermont's Farm to Plate Strategy

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:07:13 -0400

Beth Tener of New Directions Collaborative and Curtis Ogden of Interaction Institute for Social Change were selected as the team to assist the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) in creating a state-wide Farm to Plate Network to collaboratively implement and monitor progress on the recently issued Farm to Plate Strategic Plan. The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, with input from 1,200 stakeholders, developed this comprehensive 10-year strategic plan to strengthen Vermont’s food system. The Farm to Plate Strategic Plan contains 33 goals and 60 high priority strategies that will lead to job creation, greater economic output, and increased access for Vermont and regional consumers to healthy, fresh food over the next 10 years. We will advise on the network governance structure and provide two network trainings to enable the momentum of the F2P Strategic Plan’s development to be carried forward into collaborative action among a diverse range of entities to achieve the goals.

Patti Anklam joins the Collaborative

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:03:50 -0400

We are pleased to announce that Patti Anklam has joined New Directions Collaborative, bringing over 30 years of experience working at the intersection of collaboration technologies and networks and communities. The growth of social media and on-line connectedness offers many new ways to collaborate; yet most of us have heard tales of failed efforts to adopt these tools, e.g., investing significantly in building on-line systems that people do not use, dealing with information overload. Patti helps clients to “get it right the first time,” selecting the most appropriate strategy and tools, providing training/coaching, and implementing on-line connections for networks in ways that people will use.

With roots in high-tech companies like Digital Equipment and Nortel and a knowledge management, writing and communication background, Patti is a master at helping people understand and apply technologies for collaboration and communication. She works at the executive level to help set strategy and select technologies and is equally comfortable and effective one-on-one helping people adapt and use technology to help them work more effectively. Patti is also a widely recognized leader in the field of organizational/social network analysis (SNA/ONA) for knowledge management and is a frequent speaker, writer, and trainer on the topic. Her book, Net Work: A Practical Guide to Creating and Sustaining Networks at Work and in the World, was published by in 2007. As an independent consultant specializing in ONA/SNA since 2001, Patti has supported dozens of projects for both commercial and nonprofit/NGO clients, including using SNA in the context of program evaluation for a UN organization (IFAD) that promotes solutions to rural poverty in Asia/Pacific.

Institute for Corporate Sustainability Certificate Program Launches this October

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:01:25 -0400

Beth Tener of New Directions Collaborative is honored to be part of the faculty and to participate in planning the curriculum for a Certificate in Corporate Sustainability offered by the new Institute for Corporate Sustainability, which is a joint project of the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business, New Hampshire Business for Social Responsibility, and UNH's Sustainability Academy. The Institute will be held October 4 - 6, 2011 at UNH in Durham, NH.

The Institute for Corporate Sustainability is a three day “boot camp” on practical topics within corporate sustainability. Participants will learn the “why, what, and how” of corporate social responsibility program implementation for their organization. The program is designed for mid- to senior-level executives within small, medium or large businesses. Our experienced, recognized instructors come from a variety of fields and areas of expertise. The sessions are team-taught to maximize academic content with practical application in the field.

For more information and to register, please see this link.

New Directions on TV!

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:04:57 -0400

Beth Tener, Principal of New Directions Collaborative, was interviewed on Green Screen TV (click on the Episodes 1-4 tab) on the MyTV New England channel on Sunday, April 3rd, 2011. The show featured several sustainability case study videos that were produced by Sustainable Step New England, which Beth was involved in helping to create.

One video shares the story of how Mt. Wachusett Community College went from a sustainability laggard to a leader through a large energy efficiency upgrade and shift to biomass, solar and wind to power the campus. The other story features Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston and Health Care Without Harm as they share the hospital's success in adopting green initiatives that engage employees from "bottom to top." Bill Rogers of Green Screen TV interviewed Beth about these stories and the work of New Directions Collaborative.

A Learning Network for Boston's Innovative Energy-Efficiency Program

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:37:06 -0500

New Directions Collaborative participates in a learning network of consultants around Boston who specialize in networks for social change. A local foundation supporting this work provided the opportunity for us to collaborate on a client project. We worked with a team of consultants for Renew Boston, a partnership among the City of Boston, utilities, and other service providers to deliver energy-efficiency residential upgrades in inner-city neighborhoods not traditionally benefiting from utility efficiency programs. The short-term goal is to retrofit 3,000 homes meeting certain criteria by March 2012.

Renew Boston is partnering with 13 community-based organizations to outreach and enroll to residents in the programs. Our work helped to catalyze a learning network among the community organizations and other key players to ensure the program delivers on its goals. A one-day workshop helped participants see how their work fits into the larger system and share what was working so far and where there were challenges. Steve Waddell of Networking Action shared several network mapping techniques, including mapping the relationships among stakeholders, which are highlighted in his blog about the workshop.

Networks for Sustainability: A Talk at Boston Area Sustainability Group

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:12:55 -0500

On Wednesday, January 19th at 6:00 p.m., New Directions Collaborative will be the speaker at the Boston Area Sustainability Group's (BASG) first networking event of 2011.The BASG holds bi-monthly networking events in Boston that bring together sustainability practitioners together to share ideas, experiences and best practices as to elevate the practice of sustainability. Beth Tener and Bruce Hoppe will lead participants in a live Social Network Mapping exercise, the results of which will be a network map to see who you may be connected to but just didn't know it. This will be a fun and useful exercise to those working in sustainability in that it helps identify key change agents in organizations, which are not always those with the biggest title.

Beth and Bruce will provide a brief overview of how to understand social networks and share some case studies of how networks can be used to implement sustainable strategies more effectively, such as how the peer network of Boston Green Tourism has enabled local hotels to make great progress in greening their operations.

The event will be held at the House of Blues in Boston near Fenway Park at 6pm. Click here to register with BASG.

Healthy People, Healthy Planet: Making the Connections between Wellness and Sustainability

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:23:40 -0500

On Tuesday, January 6th, New Directions Collaborative will facilitate a World Cafe dialogue, in partnership with the Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living and Integrative Medicine at Brown. This fun and inspiring evening will forge new connections among Rhode Island’s wellness and sustainability communities, to discover new ideas and solutions that support wellness of people and the health of our planet. The interactive format of the The World Café, offers the opportunity for lots of small conversations and mingling. After a brief introduction to sustainability principles and holistic health principles, we will explore two BIG questions relevant to caregivers and sustainability professionals alike:

How could we bring the goals of personal health and sustainability together in how we work for positive change?
How would your lifestyle and caregiving/sustainability work change if your own wellness, the wellness of the people you serve, and the wellness of our environment were equally important?

Details are in the flier attached.

Women's Sustainability Leadership Retreat - Nov. 4-6th, 2010

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:05:02 -0400

New Directions Collaborative is pleased to host a women’s leadership retreat that brings together women who are working on sustainability and climate change in business, government and non-profit sectors. This is an opportunity to 'hit the pause button' to reflect on our work and what is changing, restore/re-energize ourselves, and cross-fertilize ideas. The retreat will be held from the evening of Thursday, November 4^th through mid-day on Saturday, November 6^th at Pinetree Farm, a small retreat center in Eliot, Maine, just north of Portsmouth, NH. For questions or more information, please contact us.

New Directions Facilitates World Cafe

btener@ndcollaborative.com (Beth Tener) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:39:08 -0400

NH Business for Social Responsibility (NHBSR) has reached its 10th anniversary, which was an ideal moment to learn for its members to learn from their peers about innovative socially responsible business practices and create a vision for moving forward. New Directions Collaborative facilitated a two-hour interactive World Cafe dialogue with a ballroom of close to 100 people.

The World Cafe involves a series of focused, café-style conversations in groups of four people. A group explores a question and then its participants As dozens of small groups simultaneously interact, new ideas and insights will naturally arise, as will new networking connections with other New Hampshire socially responsible business leaders. Participants explored these questions:

What is the most inspiring example of socially responsible business practices you have participated in or learned about?
Looking forward, what is the most powerful way that you and we, as the NHBSR community, can act to make a difference?

The room was full of energy and ideas as people talked in small groups, meeting new people with each round of conversation. When the group came back together at the end, the conversations had surfaced many ideas for how NHBSR and its member companies could make progress, including helping small and medium sized companies adopt socially-responsible practices and encouraging mentoring between NHBSR members. Click here to see a full summary of the results.