About Us

New Directions Collaborative is a New England-based consulting firm that partners with social change leaders in businesses, non-profits, and communities, helping them sense what is changing and find ways to take action aligned with their values. We are passionate about bringing people together in ways that unlock and ignite personal, group, and community potential. 

As a thinking partner, trainer, and coach, we help our clients achieve meaningful results while building participation, power, equity, and trust within their organizations and stakeholders. We bring a depth of experience from working within and across business, government, non-profit, and philanthropy sectors in areas such as clean energy, food systems, transit equity, educational attainment, and community revitalization.

Beth Tener, Principal

Beth Tener

Beth Tener is a leadership trainer and coach who helps social change leaders live their values as they address complex challenges, such as transitioning to a clean energy economy, disrupting racism, and revitalizing communities. She is a natural systems thinker who holds the big picture perspective and gives attention to how all the pieces work together. Her skills in “sensemaking” and question framing help leaders and groups get strategic clarity and adapt to change in ways that build trust and cohesion. She brings a practical care for how to engage and include many people to collaborate and find the best path forward.

Her work is informed by broad experience in taking a systems approach, equity and environmental/social issues, gained through work with over 200 companies, government agencies, foundations, and non-profits. Previous client projects included: Working Cities Challenge, NH Food Alliance, United Way of Greater New Bedford, Success Boston, Great Neighborhoods Network of MA Smart Growth Alliance, New Hampshire Farm to School, and Vermont Farm to Plate Network.

In her previous role as Executive Director of Sustainable Step New England, she trained hundreds of people in principles of sustainability and putting them into practice. She helped internal “change agents” take leadership within their organizations to adopt green practices and facilitated networks of change agents from government agencies, businesses, and non-profits. She also convened dialogues between sustainable business leaders and government to explore how government policies could help advance sustainable practices. Prior to that she was a Senior Consultant at Arthur D. Little, where over nine years, she consulted with dozens of companies in diverse industries to create strong internal management systems that could deliver on their sustainability goals.

Beth was on the faculty of the Marlboro College MBA program in Brattleboro, Vermont. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Bates College and a M.S. in Environmental Technology from Imperial College in London. She also has a Permaculture Design Certificate (principles of ecological whole-systems design). She was awarded a fellowship with Center for Whole Communities to participate in Whole Thinking Retreat exploring how diverse leaders in the social justice and environmental movements can find common purpose.

Nancy Gabriel

Nancy Gabriel is facilitator, leadership coach, and teacher working with current and future leaders engaged in social and systems change.  She helps leaders design multi-stakeholder processes and learning environments that center relationships, collaboration, and well-being. Nancy’s whole systems approach encourages divergent perspectives and ways of knowing and helps individuals and groups develop the capacity to engage across difference, a key condition for effectively addressing today’s complex, interrelated challenges.

Nancy also helps future doctors and lawyers develop the skills and capacities to engage in community-based change with equity at the center, in her role as the director of the New Hampshire & Vermont Schweitzer Fellows Program.

Previously Nancy led the Nancy led the Donella Meadows Leadership Fellowship Program, which brought together an international, diverse group of change leaders to deepen their skills in systems thinking, reflective conversation, vision and engaging across difference. She co-led the Meadowlark Leadership Laboratory, a multi-stakeholder social innovation project aimed at regional and economic transformation in the Northern Great Plains. Nancy co-taught the Power, Privilege and Natural Resources course at the University of Vermont where students analyzed how privilege and power accrue in systems and can preference certain ways of knowing while marginalizing others.

Nancy has an M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Vermont. Nancy lives in Vermont where if she isn’t outside enjoying the beautiful environment, she is making plans to do so.

NETWORKS WE ARE MEMBERS OF

Art of Hosting

Global community of practice exploring emerging practices for how to host conversations that matter.

Leadership Learning Community

National network of hundreds of experienced funders, consultants and leadership development programs, to drive the innovation and collaboration needed to make leadership more effective.

National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD)

National network of facilitators and researchers exploring innovations in dialogue to address tough challenges.

Network Weaver Consultants Network

A loosely affiliated group of consultants who provide a wide range of network services for organizations, networks and communities.

New Hampshire Business for Social Responsibility

A network of businesses in New Hampshire committed to adopting socially responsible business practices, recognizing that people, principles and profits are inseparably linked.