Linda Provenza is an extraordinary trainer. I know of her extensive expertise from over ten years of collaborations and co-trainings. Linda is equally well-grounded in conflict negotiation and mediation training as in peace education, both of which we have ...

Linda Provenza is an extraordinary trainer. I know of her extensive expertise from over ten years of collaborations and co-trainings. Linda is equally well-grounded in conflict negotiation and mediation training as in peace education, both of which we have co-taught together at Teachers College, Columbia University. She also has expertise in facilitating political theater trainings and workshops based on the Theater of the Oppressed work of Augusto Boal, and the TOPLAB of New York City. Linda is excellent at planning and facilitating short workshops, intensives, and extended trainings. She is especially astute at sensing a learning group’s relationship to the material–she is attuned to the pulse of the participants and wisely discerns arising issues and conflicts. Linda is brilliant at facilitating these unplanned concerns, which often become high points of the course. She is reliable, organized, attentive to details, and sensible, yet flexible and able to improvise when needed. Not only is Linda an exceptional facilitator-trainer, she is an extraordinary human being. Her warmth and sensitivity, her thoughtfulness and easy energy, combine to create a special sensibility in each experience with her. She is someone who demonstrates passion in all she does. Her dedication to contributing to a transformed world shines through all her accomplishments.

I first encountered Linda Provenza in 2004, at the inaugural Leadership Development ten-week program that she developed in collaboration with the Labor Management Project and Cabrini Medical Center. In my role as Assistant Vice President there, I thought I’d ...

I first encountered Linda Provenza in 2004, at the inaugural Leadership Development ten-week program that she developed in collaboration with the Labor Management Project and Cabrini Medical Center. In my role as Assistant Vice President there, I thought I’d already mastered many of my interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills—and I was more concerned with the concrete tasks I was leaving behind on my desk to come to the program—so I was a bit skeptical prior to arriving. From the outset, Linda drew the group in, listened to our needs, crafted our program to suit the needs of the group, and always maintained the primary goals for the program. Linda promoted significant relationship growth and mutual understanding between management and labor, and she had special sensitivity to the various personalities in the program, which allowed for a great exchange of ideas. I learned so much about myself and the role I play as a leader and team member. I use many of the skills that I learned in my program to this day, and I am a better informed leader as a result of her program. I have great admiration for Linda Provenza. She not only teaches leadership through collaboration and collective understanding, she literally exudes her own model in her interpersonal and professional interactions. She is as real as they come and any organization would be lucky to use her skills as a facilitator, group educator, and collaboration leader. I feel fortunate to be working with Linda on developing an emerging leaders program for NYU’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in my current role as Administrator for the department.

Strategies for Change played an integral role in the turnaround of a top-tier global Central Laboratory of which I was the Vice President and General Manager. Linda Provenza led process improvement activities in our global study setup process in ...

Strategies for Change played an integral role in the turnaround of a top-tier global Central Laboratory of which I was the Vice President and General Manager. Linda Provenza led process improvement activities in our global study setup process in the U.S. and Europe which resulted in immediate, significant, and lasting improvements. I was particularly impressed with how effective she was in leading these efforts and managing the process across cultures. These accomplishments were critical to our success, and I will absolutely call on Linda again for our Process Improvement initiatives.

I had the great pleasure to see Linda Provenza in action while I was CEO of Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan. Linda served as the facilitator for a newly formed Labor-Management Committee and helped us design and implement a ...

I had the great pleasure to see Linda Provenza in action while I was CEO of Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan. Linda served as the facilitator for a newly formed Labor-Management Committee and helped us design and implement a shared governance committee. Thanks to her work, we saw the group transform itself from a collection of suspicious camps of individuals to a highly productive and passionate committee of people who were all dedicated to achieving the same goals. She helped us overcome our natural management/union boundaries and molded us into a team in every sense of the word. Her style was always supportive and encouraging while at the same time efficient and always prodding us forward. I have been through many group exercises in my career, and can honestly say that Linda was the most effective facilitator I have ever had the pleasure to work with.

Working with Linda Provenza is a joy. I have seen her in the most difficult organizational tangles helping to find constructive and reasonable solutions; I have seen her step into an unknown training situation and adopt her teaching to ...

Working with Linda Provenza is a joy. I have seen her in the most difficult organizational tangles helping to find constructive and reasonable solutions; I have seen her step into an unknown training situation and adopt her teaching to the particular skills and attitudes of the session; gain eye contact and trust of people who do not speak her language; establish rapport with other teachers and administrators and all of this in the most gentle and yet purposeful manner. Linda will pick up the unwanted task, if need be, and take on the most difficult teaching, if need be. She is a team player and yet is never absent or submissive, always willing to engage the issues intelligently and skillfully. She brings to her work a suitcase of various methods and teachings about conflict resolution, mediation, and performance healing and can draw upon whatever she needs, on the spot. This is a woman whose ego is entirely in control, but is not in any sense retiring, a rare combination. I would work with her on any team, anywhere. She is that good.

I worked with Linda Provenza in Baku, Azerbaijan, on several different occasions, under circumstances that were sometimes difficult. I am amazed at how resilient she is and the skill she brings to her work. Linda's warmth, depth of caring, ...

I worked with Linda Provenza in Baku, Azerbaijan, on several different occasions, under circumstances that were sometimes difficult. I am amazed at how resilient she is and the skill she brings to her work. Linda's warmth, depth of caring, and respect for each person contribute greatly to her effectiveness. Even though she had to communicate through an interpreter, Linda was able to make good contact with the young professionals we were there to train.

We were facilitating their ability to bring about a civil society, which involved learning to communicate effectively, to act with respect for each other, and to resolve differences in a way that was satisfactory to all. Linda's teaching of the Interest Based Problem Solving Method was masterful. She used a real conflict within the group as the problem. This was brilliant, because Linda was able to fully engage the group's interest, resolve the problem, and demonstrate the usefulness of this process all at the same time. With this experience and her handout describing the method translated into Russian, Linda left the participants with a very practical tool that could be used in many situations. The problem-solving method was only one of the many tools Linda has in her grab bag. She has a knack for sensing what a group needs and coming up with the right exercise or process.

Linda's training and years of experience, together with her innate creativity, give her a rich and varied expertise. I've seen her lead activities from the Theatre of the Oppressed that affected people, myself included, on a very deep level, all the while looking like play. Linda and I both serve on the Board of Directors of the Institute for International Connections (IIC), a nonprofit organization that co-sponsors the training program in Azerbaijan and another project in Tajikistan. The IIC Board has benefited greatly from Linda's abilities as a planner, her ability to help a group determine its goals and direction, and to make effective plans for moving ahead. I have the highest regard for Linda as a person, teacher, and facilitator and I would not hesitate to recommend her to any group or organization that wants to operate more effectively and/or to improve relationships among its members.

As the co-owner of a national consulting agency, I often come across companies and institutions that want to empower their employees to come up with creative solutions to their own operational and interpersonal challenges. I’ve referred several of those ...

As the co-owner of a national consulting agency, I often come across companies and institutions that want to empower their employees to come up with creative solutions to their own operational and interpersonal challenges. I’ve referred several of those companies to Strategies for Change, and the results are always fantastic. Linda Provenza has a way of helping people inside of any organization craft their own solutions to structural, interpersonal, and political problems. She is a pioneer in the field of democracy-based organizational change—everyone participates, so the decisions made and policies devised have 100 percent buy-in.

As Sally Ann Parsons, the owner of Parsons-Meares, stated it: “My staff waged constant turf wars until Linda came in and got them to work together in a way I didn’t think possible.” Linda’s creative approach to group process, communication, and facilitation create remarkable results. She helps people find their own solutions by catalyzing their sense of personal power, group responsibility, and community leadership.

Linda Provenza is a tremendous asset to the 1199SEIU-League Labor Management Project. The Labor Management Project is a jointly sponsored consulting group of 1199SEIU, the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, and other participating health care employers established to ...

Linda Provenza is a tremendous asset to the 1199SEIU-League Labor Management Project. The Labor Management Project is a jointly sponsored consulting group of 1199SEIU, the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, and other participating health care employers established to provide organizational development services to joint union and management teams throughout the industry.

In the past six years, Linda has been able to consult to a diverse group of health care workers and managers—she is equally comfortable and effective working with housekeepers and dietary workers, nurses and nurse managers, and chief operating officers and executive directors. Linda has delivered well-developed and well-conceived training programs that have transferred important skills that allow cross-functional teams to work together more effectively. Her enthusiasm and positive attitude is infectious and inspiring. We highly recommend Linda as a consultant to 1199SEIU and to our hospital and nursing-home clients.

I have worked closely with Linda Provenza for over two years in our efforts to improve the quality of nursing homes in New York City. Linda has provided on-site consultation to teams of management and direct-care staff and has ...

I have worked closely with Linda Provenza for over two years in our efforts to improve the quality of nursing homes in New York City. Linda has provided on-site consultation to teams of management and direct-care staff and has participated in the development of large-scale leadership training.

Linda brings a unique combination of knowledge, skills, and talents to her work. She has a strong foundation in organizational development theory and practice models, as well as an ability to assess clients’ needs and their readiness to in engage in personal growth. Her customized interventions are infused with her experiences in international cultural diversity, performance arts, and complementary therapies—all of which support her strong commitment to social justice.

In her work in the field of health care, Linda has enabled nursing home staff to develop skills in communication, teamwork, project planning, leadership, and more that have resulted in improved quality of life for frail elderly and disabled adults who reside in nursing homes. Linda’s interventions have also resulted in improved job satisfaction and improved labor-management relationships.

Linda’s approaches incorporate her sincere respect for the contributions of all individuals and their ability to grow and impact others. If you’re interested in effecting meaningful, lasting change, you need to meet Linda Provenza.

Linda Provenza is one of the most skilled and insightful strategic facilitators I've have had the privilege of working with.

In 2003, while I was working as director of an international economic policy working group funded by the Ford ...

Linda Provenza is one of the most skilled and insightful strategic facilitators I've have had the privilege of working with.

In 2003, while I was working as director of an international economic policy working group funded by the Ford Foundation and based at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, our team hired Ms. Provenza to plan and facilitate an international convening with top economic development scholars and global social activists hosted in Antigua, Guatemala. Thanks to Ms. Provenza’s skillful leadership and guidance, we succeeded at bridging the “academic-activist” divide which often impedes these communities from collaborating effectively, and laid the foundation for several years of joint programming that has promoted policies that foster economic development with human dignity. This outcome would have been impossible had it not been for Ms. Provenza’s astute ability to work with highly diverse stakeholders toward achieving a common purpose.

Indeed, from group mediation to community building, Ms. Provenza's strength lies in her ability to build bridges across seemingly disparate groups, and channel that energy toward common interests, goals, and strategies for achieving positive change. Her innovative problem-solving and facilitation strategies combine the best of organizational development theory with social change practice, making her firm, Strategies for Change, an indisputable asset and leader in the field.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Linda Provenza in her role as Labor/Management consultant for our New Models of Person-Centered Care enhanced dining initiative over the last year.

Ms. Provenza has the perfect set of skills for ...

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Linda Provenza in her role as Labor/Management consultant for our New Models of Person-Centered Care enhanced dining initiative over the last year.

Ms. Provenza has the perfect set of skills for bringing groups of people of differing backgrounds, disciplines, and interests together to initiate change. She is extremely creative, she is an excellent listener, she has an exceptional knowledge of the critical issues faced by staff in providing services in a long-term-care setting, and she has been steadfast in her commitment to our project and process.

She is always upbeat and comes equipped with her own special toolbox of activities and learning exercises to promote effective interpersonal communication, shared leadership, and outside-the-box problem-solving techniques. She really goes the extra mile to personally connect with the staff she is working with at all levels of the organization, thereby building trust, generating enthusiasm, and modeling what it truly takes to effectively build relationships with others to initiate and implement innovative and lasting changes within the facility.

Her dedication to the cause of person-centered care is clearly heartfelt, as she is a strong advocate of the right of those living in long-term-care settings to a have a homelike experience filled with choice and continued opportunities for growth and fulfillment. Her conviction and her vision have served as inspiration and motivation to all of us whose lives she has touched through her supportive guidance and direction.

Our successes with culture change have come about in large part due to the foundational support which she has helped us to create.

Linda Provenza joined the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory in 1996, first as an intern, then as a trainer. During those years, she has made a significant contribution both to the popular education vision and to the strength of ...

Linda Provenza joined the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory in 1996, first as an intern, then as a trainer. During those years, she has made a significant contribution both to the popular education vision and to the strength of the collective dynamics of the group.

First, her measured, no-nonsense, and pragmatic approach to the links between Augusto Boal's aesthetics of the oppressed, Paulo Freire's pedagogy of liberation, and social healing has helped us think strategically about the communities we serve, and holistically about the individuals in those communities. Second, she has consistently modeled effective, non-authoritarian group facilitation by means of rigorous and thorough preparation, clear methodology, and dialogical workshop formats that emphasize participants’ experiences and integrate their feedback at all stages of the learning process. Third, she is also a skilled workshop and residency co-facilitator, who simultaneously focuses on the task at hand, is open to collective process, and takes conciliatory positions, and as such she has helped all TOPLAB members develop guidelines for fluid and mutually rewarding co-facilitation. Finally, she constantly reminds us that if our practice as popular educators is to be ethically coherent, then the action-reflection dialectic that we help set in motion must be rooted in what Boal calls “sym-pathy”, or reciprocal empathy, that is, in the heart.

I always look forward to working and learning with Linda. For me, she is a facilitator's facilitator.