How We Help
Our work is based on the conviction that sustainable, scalable, high-quality innovation in higher education and workforce development must be designed and implemented with rigorous attention to the human dimensions of change. No evidence for change is strong enough, no idea good enough, to take the place of high-functioning teams capable of effective design, implementation, and improvement. We meet our clients where they are and help them navigate their way to what they need.
Sova is uniquely skilled in working side-by-side with higher education leaders to develop student success strategies, build will for change, engage critical stakeholders in collective problem-solving, and support the implementation and scale of key initiatives. We help in the following ways:
Adaptive Change Leadership
We equip higher education leaders and the institutions they serve with the skills and strategies they need to build healthy, inclusive cultures for student-success innovation. We provide grounded insight to institutional climate along with neutral facilitation to help leaders navigate complex challenges. Through a post-hero approach to leadership training and development we build the capacity of leaders at every level to cultivate high-functioning and responsive teams capable of working across professional silos to better meet the evolving needs of today’s diverse student populations.
Strategic Communications and Will-Building
We empower higher education leaders and the institutions they serve to build genuine and durable will for large-scale, student focused change. By providing equity-minded stakeholder analysis and issue framing, and by helping leaders at every level better understand how to build and maintain communication and engagement practices that undergird healthy, inclusive institutional cultures, we help institutions generate, sustain, and expand momentum around key reform efforts.
Program Strategy & Design
We partner with higher education advocacy and membership organizations to launch and improve programs that better meet the evolving needs of the institutions they serve. Through careful listening, thoughtful facilitation, and shoulder-to-shoulder support, we guide leaders and their teams through the complexities of strategy and program development, resulting in responsive, innovative, and sustainable programs designed to support and accelerate large-scale change efforts at institutions.
Implementation Support
We support leaders and teams of higher education advocacy and membership organizations in the successful implementation of new or revitalized programs and services. Drawing on decades of experience in implementation science, process improvement, and project management, we help build capacity to honestly assess resource realities, create realistic action plans for success, and effectively monitor progress towards goals. When appropriate, we also provide ongoing consultation and hands-on support to implementation efforts.
The Ada Center
The Ada Center helps college leaders navigate technology and business process decisions in an increasingly complex environment.
How we partner: Sova partners with The Ada Center to provide guidance to institutional leaders seeking to better understand their technology landscape.
ASA Research
How we partner: Sova partners with ASA to provide program evaluation and data collection and analysis services to higher education associations and other student-success focused organizations seeking to assess the efficacy and viability of their programming and provide valuable data supports to their institutions.
Matter + Form
Matter+Form specializes in business planning, strategic finance, risk management, and financial turnaround services for foundations, non-profit organizations, and for-profit organizations seeing to accelerate and strengthen the impact of their work.
How we partner: Sova partners with M+F to provide business planning services to higher education associations and other student-success focused organizations seeking to better understand their unique value proposition and strengthen their capacity to design, develop, and provide new programs and services to institutions.