A Joy-Based Approach Towards Transformational Change™

We provide community building experiences, design, facilitation, and strategic support for teams and organizations ready to transform their communities and work environments into inclusive spaces of belonging. Our engagements are designed to build trust, cultivate meaningful relationships, and support the development of practices and skills necessary for transformational change.  

OUR SERVICES

  • The foundation of strong communities are deep and meaningful relationships. Our community experiences are designed to bring people together in ways that deepen connections and build stronger communities of belonging. Experiences are rooted in authentic connections, joy, and care, and range from public events to staff retreats. We actively engage partners during all phases of design, facilitation, and follow-up. You can learn more about our staff retreat offering here.

  • Everyone has a voice and a role in transformational change. Our participatory co-design process supports teams and organizations to collectively examine systems and their roles in them, engage stakeholders, prototype ideas, and (re)design programs and processes to be more equitable and inclusive. Our creative and engaging design sessions foster inclusion, belonging, and trust, and support teams and organizations to become more effective advocates and agents of change.

  • In a diverse and quickly shifting society, it is important to foster environments that encourage authentic and healthy communication. Our compassionate facilitation supports partners to navigate difficult and challenging conversations by cultivating authentic, creative, and community-centered environments. Our facilitation honors differences and empowers individuals to communicate across lines of differences and forge paths forward together.

  • We believe that strategic visioning and planning should be collaborative, transparent, creative, visionary, and most importantly, useful to our partners as a guiding path for their future. We work with partners to set bold visions for their work along with planning to align present actions with intended future impact. Our work supports partners to shift their mindsets toward new possibilities and build internal capacity for change management.

 
 
Joy Based Approach
A Joy-Based Approach Towards Transformational Change™
A Joy-Based Approach Towards Transformational Change™


This approach consists of cultivating curious and optimistic mindsets, authentic and trusting relationships and a creative and community-centered environment. These are foundational to building communities of belonging that lead to transformational change.

Environment
Environment


CREATIVE
We help partners tap into their creative energy and explore different mediums to navigate difficult conversations.


COMMUNITY-CENTERED
We cultivate a sense of belonging to help groups grow together and form solidarity in their work.

Mindsets
Mindsets


CURIOUS
We design engagements that foster an excitement for learning, new ideas, and experiences.


OPTIMISTIC
We structure work around reimagining what is possible and believing that transformational change can happen.

Relationships
Relationships


AUTHENTIC
We provide ample time and opportunity for people to show up in ways that are honest and authentic to themselves.


TRUSTING
We create opportunities for people to develop deep connections that help them move through differences together.

Our Partners

  • 826 Valencia

  • Alena Museum Logo

    Alena Museum

  • Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies

  • Avenidas

  • CIRCLE Lab at UNC Chapel Hill

  • DVAN (Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network) Logo

    Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network

  • Digital Promise

  • Ecology Center

  • Grunin Foundation

  • JVS

  • Mission Rock Logo

    Mission Rock

  • OC&C Strategy Consultants

  • Pacific Institute logo

    Pacific Institute

  • Project Drawdown

  • Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)

  • Step Forward Foundation logo

    Step Forward Foundation

  • The Stress & Development Lab Logo

    The Stress & Development Lab at Harvard University

  • VIP Kid Logo

    VIP Kid

  • Vietnamese-American Roundtable Logo

    VAR (Vietnamese-American Roundtable)

  • Wildlife Leadership Academy

  • Women's Audio Mission (WAM)

  • Women's Foundation California Logo

    Women's Foundation California

  • Woodland Park Zoo

  • Nonprofit Quarterly

Testimonials

“Working with the Novalia Collective was a transformative experience for my team. Through our work with them, we not only developed concrete strategies for building greater diversity, inclusion, and belonging in the team, but also developed strategies for continued evaluation and updating of these practices to ensure that positive changes are maintained over time and as members of the team change. I would strongly recommend the Novalia Collective for any group interested in incorporating a greater focus on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in your work.”

— DR. KATIE MCLAUGHLIN, Lab Director, Stress & Development Lab, Harvard University

"Our team has had the opportunity to work with Odelia and Vina over the last year and VIPKid is so appreciative of their thoughtfully crafted programs and initiatives. Our HR & broader team felt like we gained partners with Novalia, who helped coach, advise, and guide us on our diversity and inclusion efforts. They've been able to take a thoughtful approach to specific goals we wanted to accomplish and I'm excited to partner with them in the future."

— ERIKA LOUIE, HR Director, VIPKid

“We had a great experience with Novalia Collective. Vina and Odelia provided a high level of facilitation, guidance, and support. We especially appreciate their flexibility as we navigated through some challenging but important issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion. They made it a top priority to include and encourage input from all of us, and incorporated a wide range of perspectives into their work. They were also very accommodating when we asked them to adapt their model to meet our needs, which allowed us to become even more invested in the process.”

— PETE STANGA, Chief Operating Officer, Pacific Institute

“We've worked for over a year with the Novalia Collective on our strategy. They have worked patiently with us for months and produced an excellent strategic plan, that propelled us from an almost all volunteers organization to one with four paid staff and six contractors. They then guided us with professionalism and care in the implementation of the strategic plan. They have become in a relative short time a very important part of our organization. It is in part thanks to their contribution that DVAN is nearing its goal to move from having a fiscal sponsor to becoming a non-profit organization.”

— ISABELLE THUY PELAUD, Executive Director, Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network (DVAN)

“As a new non-profit organization that was coming together and starting to get funding, we needed experienced facilitators to help us tackle some of our growing pains. Vina and Odelia helped us navigate tough conversations about how we wanted to operate and what values we wanted to uphold as an organization. They did this with fun and creative exercises and open ears. Their attentiveness to our discussions ensured that everyone was heard, and that our planning was effective.”

— HUY TRAN, Vietnamese American Roundtable (VAR)

“Novalia Collective curated a conversation on belonging that contributed to our team’s equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. Abstract concepts were made real through creative discussions and exercises. Our team came in with a range of experience, and the Novalia team curated a nuanced session that spoke to folks with different levels of familiarity and comfort.”

— JOSHUA KARLIN-RESNICK
Transportation Director, Oracle Park & Mission Rock

“Brave wisdom and strategic creativity were the hallmarks of Novalia Collective’s facilitation of our group’s team-building virtual retreat. They created the ideal conditions for us to explore our diverse strengths and perspectives, and help us improve our communication and collaborative efforts within a cohesive unit. Novalia was thoughtful, thorough, and served as competent shepherds as we discovered better ways to connect, engage, and thrive within our work environment.”

— WOMEN’S FOUNDATION OF CALIFORNIA

Ready to work together?

Since you and your needs are unique, we customize all of our services. Contact us to learn how we can help you.