It is axiomatic that higher education is going through a very challenging time. Shannon Polly came to the Landing School of Boatbuilding & Design at a pivotal time for the school. The Board of Trustees needed to evaluate strategic alternatives for this small, accredited career oriented college in the marine industry. Ideally we wanted a coming together that allowed our entire community to brainstorm, yet conclude with clear feasible alternatives for growth, increasing financial accessibility, and addressing the changing curricular delivery methodology.

Collaborating with the management team and Board, Shannon designed a highly effective session using key components of Appreciative Inquiry. The result was a planning architecture where all of the stakeholders were engaged, knew that their voices had been heard, and ultimately became very aligned about future objectives. The powerful concepts and vocabulary introduced by Shannon during that process has been adopted by the management, board, and faculty as we allocate resources going forward.

The ultimate beneficiaries of her work with us are the students-- present and future.

Shannon developed and facilitated an event for us and was extremely thorough from the planning stages to the execution. It was a challenging environment in that the group she was working with was extremely diverse, from faculty and board members to alumni and members of the industry. Throughout the planning stages, Shannon was totally open to ideas and approaches and never got bogged down by an unyielding commitment to a course of action. I personally threw her a few curve balls which she handled gracefully and adroitly. She has a great sense of humor, an exuberant self-confidence, and a willingness to listen and negotiate to reach the best results. I would recommend Shannon and Accentuate Consulting with enthusiasm to any organization or group that is truly interested in exploring its mission, goals and methods for reaching them.

Ms. Polly co-facilitated our Appreciative Inquiry summit in order to help us determine our next steps after a layoff of staff. She was prepared and knowledgeable, and did a tremendous amount of organizational work both before and after the summit. Ms. Polly is a highly-polished speaker, presenter, and facilitator. She reads her audience well, and handled even sticky situations with aplomb. She expertly presented the topics and kept the various groups and stakeholders engaged, inspired, and entertained. Ms. Polly made a real and lasting impact on our organization. She is a consummate professional and people feel instantly comfortable when she is takes command of her audience. Because she integrated herself into our culture, the stakeholders at the summit quickly accepted Ms. Polly as “one of us.” We would love to work with her again.

You know when you guys showed up with 32 people in the room I was thinking ‘How are they ever going to pull this off? People are not happy. They are upset about this change. I don't know if this is going to work.’ And then you started and were having so much fun and getting people involved in the discussion and I was just so amazed at how well it went. And I thought, my people are going through a lot, they need a lift, they need some positivity. And I knew we had to do the workshop with all our teams.

We are in the process of delivering internal training for those staff who are remaining at NLC and we have made it a focus to remind people of the great strengths that we were able to identify in our workshops with you and Louisa. In a time when we could be driven by anxiety and fears, we are staying true to our culture and values, and we are driving change from those elements of who we are.

So I just wanted to say thank you again and everything does happen for a reason. The announcements came only a few short weeks after you wrapped up your tour of positivity with us. I can’t imagine doing this now without going through that process first.

I thought I was going to be working with Shannon merely to strengthen my voice. What happened instead is that Shannon gave me life tools that improved my ability to be heard as a business leader. She helped me everything from tactical tools like breathing exercises to transformational exercises about how to connect better with my clients. She truly did help me find my 'voice', and so much more!

The facilitators were great and this was the best training I have been to.

I was not sure how much longer I would be here. But all the ideas of the Westin's future made me very excited.

Shannon has been a steadying, kind force. My (coaching) conversation with her came at a time of important decision; two of which - regarding work and regarding love - have since demonstrated themselves to have been exactly right. Thank you, again.