Testimonials
Debra is one of the finest consultants with whom I've ever worked. She is a talented consultant who is highly process oriented and well organized, who educated and made me a better leader. Having worked with other consultants in the past, I have been struck by how effectively Debra builds trust and cultivates relationships.
Andrea Yusim Meltzer, Executive Board Member, SHALVA
Debra is smart and dynamic, she "gets" what is needed and became a true part of our team. Debra, helped to keep our project focused and engaged. She provided great information and supported staff fully. She helped us stay on course and went above and beyond. She is a true professional and we would recommend her to any organization. She left us with lasting tools and resources that we can build upon and a framework that we have built into our culture. We will definitely reach out to Debra when we begin our next phase.
Dr. Andrea Cain Lawson, Chief Operating Officer, Goddard Riverside
Debra leads our international community of non-profit consultants, and is incomparably skilled at listening to and synthesizing diverse perspectives. She keeps the meetings focused on our agenda but still somehow manages to have them feel organic. She is respectful, interpersonally intuitive, and sets the perfect tone no matter the topic and makes our meetings welcoming spaces. I so appreciate all she has done for our consultant’s group - it simply wouldn’t be the same without her leadership. |
I hope I say thank you enough, and that you know what a valuable team member you are to everything we are doing related to outcomes, change management, and data! Thanks for all of your support and amazing perspective on our past, present, and future. We couldn’t do this without you!
Sabrina Townsend, Associate Vice President, Evaluation and Quality Improvement, Jewish United Fund
Debra is insightful and knowledgeable, and it was a pleasure to work with her. She was a great sounding-board for issues that were beyond the scope of the strategic planning process but which had an impact on the plan. The process was helpful regarding mission, vision, and Theory of Change, and it was good to set up the strategic priorities. We are already using the language in the plan in a number of our publications and grant proposals. There are a lot of challenges ahead right now, but the plan should help me to navigate through them successfully.
Dr. Shana Erenberg, Ph.D., CEO, Libenu
Debra Natenshon is, in a word, outstanding! She is not only extremely knowledgeable but very insightful. She will listen with care, ask illuminating questions and guide effectively. She was able to quickly bring clarity to our process and give us clear direction. She guided our visioning session with skill and took us from a place of many random thoughts to a singular focused vision that captures the heart of who we want to be. Debra has the perfect blend of knowledge and skill combined with a caring, supportive, reassuring personality. We immediately had confidence in her and, in return, she gave us the confidence to drive our strategic plan process to the next level. I can't recommend Debra highly enough. She is responsive, personable and a true professional!
Lisa Rosenkranz, Chair, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El Strategic Planning Committee
Debra made me feel like she cared in a way that is truly unique. I know she understands my work and has my back. Her organization aligned very well with how I work, specifically the way she created the exact steps we needed to take throughout our process together made me feel supported as I ventured into something brand new. Her communication, in particular, was fantastic. I loved the PPT's she used to keep us on track, and she was always available to answer my questions.
She brought field research and structure to our work in a way I would have never been able to do. The Theory of Change that was created is something I frequently go back to in order to stay motivated and focused in my work. We are able to see what outcomes we are achieving and not achieving due to the surveys created. This is critical to us assessing our program.
Debra probably makes all her clients feel this way, but I really felt like she thought our work was particularly interesting and exciting so she really got to know our target audience and goals. I knew she was 'on our team' the whole time. Once we completed our work together, I knew I could reach out and ask her a question with no issue. As someone who was in a new job, creating a new program, this was critical to me feeling supported and empowered.
Jordyn Scorpio, Director of Community Education, SHALVA
Debra guided ATT through two strategic planning processes and recently, our CEO search and onboarding. As an organization, we understood that we needed to do an additional deep dive on a strategic level. Knowing we couldn't handle it ourselves, we were very pleased to be able to have Debra re-engage with the ATT to help spearhead this process. She had a tall task of trying to keep a large group of busy lay leaders engaged over a long time period, and she succeeded in keeping just about everyone engaged. Debra was a pleasure to work with, and she is always willing to be flexible - in time frame, approach, and substance. She has a great personality and a great level of respect for those who she works with. Overall the process was smooth and the final result is something we are proud of. We are appreciative that Debra helped us create the roadmap, and we are on path to forging ahead with the plan.
Richard Silverman and Stan Gertz, Co-Presidents, Associated Talmud Torahs (ATT)
As I think about the past year's challenges and successes, it is clear that your work and friendship with the team at the ATT was a game changer and really helped me clarify my role. I am grateful for your support and help.
Avrohom S. Moller, Superintendent of Schools, ATT
Outstanding board meeting last night. Debra Natenshon did an incredible job! I have worked with many similar consultants in the health care setting and seen so many reports over the years, hers was outstanding, thoughtful, rigorous and more importantly gave Shalva useful data and a platform to build on. And, an empirical base to assess improvement and performance.
Dr. Neil Hochstadt, Ph.D., SHALVA Board Member
That. Was. Awesome. Debra, Thank you so much! That was an outstanding presentation and I know it got a lot of wheels turning. It reinforced my desire to get more familiar with the PI and the assessment tool to see how I can put it to use with my clients.
Lynne Brown, Nonprofit Center for Excellence, Association for Strategic Planning
When it comes to outcomes and performance management for nonprofits @DebraNatenshon is a mensch in guiding nonprofits on their journey to high performance. I've known and worked with Debra for over 15 years and this blog series is worth reading and bookmarking. #NPStrong
Mary K. Winkler, Independent Consultant and Fellow Leap Ambassador
The impact that Debra Natenshon at DBN & Associates made on our community engagement initiative (collective impact for education at all levels) was transformational for everyone involved. In four months, Debra brought clarity not just to our organization, but to our entire community, in terms of who we are here to serve, our role in the community, and our all-important vision and mission. Aligning each of these pieces was like completing a jigsaw puzzle, with each puzzle piece finding its place, bringing increased clarity and understanding to the table. Our Learning Link participants, now led by Chairs and Vice-chairs, have gained ownership around our vision and mission, guiding principles and target-setting.
The opportunity to question ourselves and the re-defining process that ensued clearly strengthened our initiative and affirmed that we are in the space best suited for our Community Foundation: to inspire lifelong learners throughout our county. Thank you, Debra, for this meaningful opportunity to re-focus.
Judy Sorg, Director, Learning Link, an education initiative of Community Foundation DeKalb County (Indiana)
We want to thank you again so very much for being here with us at the 2016 CQI Conference. We have heard nothing but rave reviews about your keynote and the impact that you made on our attendees. So – many many thanks!
Jennifer Eblen Manning, Program Director, Foster Care Utilization Review Program at the University of Illinois School of Social Work
JUF Young Families was grateful to partner with DBN & Associates as we planned for the expansion of our jBaby Chicago program. Debra ably led our constituent group through an engaging and thoughtful planning process, challenging us to both dream big and pick realistic measurable objectives. The outcomes framework Debra developed with us is one we go back to frequently in our planning, helping to guide decisions and measure our work. It is not an exaggeration to say that we wouldn't have achieved as much success with our expansion had it not been for this planning work that Debra facilitated for us.
Debbi S. Cooper, Senior Engagement Officer, Harold Grinspoon Foundation (Formerly, Associate Vice President, Community Outreach and Engagement, JUF)
Debra Natenshon's work with United Friends with the Children initiated a sea change for the organization and we cannot recommend her highly enough. With her calm, confident manner, Debra created a safe space for our staff to have some ground-breaking conversations about our programs and services that set the stage for shifting the way that the entire organization thinks about data, outcomes and performance management. We are grateful to Debra for her leadership, intelligence, experience and insight!
Dorsey Kleger-Heine, Chief Operating Officer & Legal Counsel, United Friends of the Children
Marilynn and I and the Center are transitioning nicely – thanks to the tremendous forward moving energy you provided. I feel this move provides great space for exciting things to happen here. Thank you for providing your skills and brilliant heart for capacity building work. It’s paying off –
Lettie Haver, Paul Clark Nonprofit Resource Center
Many thanks @DebraNatenshon for wise leadership and facilitation throughout our visioning process! So wonderful to work with you!
Marilynn Fauth and Lettie Haver, Paul Clark Nonprofit Resource Center
With your heart and compassion and insightful experience you truly ARE one of us in thought, feeling and spirit!! Thank you so much for all you are doing for SHALVA and her Clients, Board and Staff.
Cheryl Beermann, LCPC, ICDVP, CCTP, SHALVA Therapist
In 2009, National Relief Charities (NRC) hired Debra Natenshon to help advance our outcome measurement system. She guided us through a process that resulted in an outcome and management framework that was immediately useful to us and led to improved programmatic results for our partner agencies on American Indian reservations.
Recently NRC went through a critical transition period. During this time, we needed to expand our outcome framework and better articulate our outcomes to new stakeholders. Given our previous positive experience with Debra, we reached out to DBN & Associates for help with this project. Debra is a skilled and experienced facilitator. She quickly helped us achieve alignment between strategic organizational changes and our outcome framework. When presented with the final product, our leadership agreed that the framework helped achieve a heightened level of clarity regarding NRC’s programs and achievable mission attainment. The outcome tools Debra helped us develop improved our ability to manage toward results and report those results to our stakeholders.
Debra is a focused and effective consultant. She quickly understood our needs and provided a concise project plan to meet those needs. She kept our project on track and on the timeline. Debra facilitated great discussion among our project team, challenging ideas and encouraging new thinking. Her style energized our team and moved us from a fairly stuck spot into a productive, creative work mode. Debra is much more than a facilitator, however, which sets her apart from many other consultants we have hired. She produces valuable original work based on what she learned from our team combined with her own considerable experience and expertise. The final product of our work together was a blend of our best ideas and her expertise.
We reengaged Debra because she is a tremendous value. She produces very high quality work and she works quickly. Debra is a leader in the field of outcome thinking, so the information she provides is on-the-cutting-edge. She takes the most current research and thinking related to management and results in the third sector and applies it directly to our work.
Kelly Gibson, Program Director, National Relief Charities