Ziva Mann

Assessment & Development

Based in Boston, Ziva is a lead assessor and manages developmental programs at Ascent Leadership Networks. Ziva would describe herself as thoughtful and socially conscious, and perpetually curious.  After a decade in education and community building in New England, she joined Cambridge Health Alliance as part of a transformation team, redesigning healthcare processes, policies and structures for team-based, patient centered health. There, she designed a nationally recognized, award winning program for stakeholder engagement in healthcare redesign, and supported multi-disciplinary improvement teams at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard’s Center for Primary Care. Ziva has also served as a faculty member for the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, the Gold Foundation, and core team for grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and PCORI. Her work for RWJF and IHI has supported the development of generative, collaborative leaders, working for health, wellbeing and equity in their communities.

A pragmatic idealist, Ziva’s approach begins by studying organizational context, human dynamics, and the resources and capacities of all affected, both inside and outside of a company’s walls. Her coaching philosophy pairs planned skill building with flexible, just-in-time support, and resilience. 

Ziva has a BA (magna cum laude) from Barnard, and a slightly random MA from Harvard. Author of a number of books and articles, her most recent publication is a co-authored chapter on the role of a health care manager in patient-centered care, in Person-Centered Health Care Management(Springer Publishing). She is a founding member of the 100 Million Healthier Lives leadership team, a cross-cutting, innovative network of change agents, working to improve the health of 100 million people by 2020.