Orchestrating Connection (Paperback)

We are more “connected” than ever—yet paradoxically lonelier and more isolated. The need for meaningful connection has never been more profound. Orchestrating Connection: How to Build Purposeful Community in a Tribal World is a call to action for anyone concerned about this fragmentation, offering a compelling vision of how to weave genuine relationships that foster belonging, collaboration, and collective impact. The future belongs not to accidental collections of neighbors or aggrieved online groups, but to communities built with intention, guiding principles, and a give-and-give attitude.

Orchestrating Connection doesn’t just provide a new way to think about our social world—it’s a how-to blueprint for creating the DNA to build it. Weaving together the key principles of diversity, vulnerability, curiosity, generosity, and gratitude, the authors describe how consistent rituals, explicitly communicated values and expectations, and a carefully crafted culture help solidify each community’s collective identity.

But the work of building your community—whether growing your own network or shaping a global movement—begins with personal clarity. You can’t effectively participate in or lead a community without first understanding your own purpose. The journey thus begins at the individual level: identifying what you stand for, what you truly need, and how you can leverage that deep understanding to draw others into conversation with you.

Ultimately, this book is an invitation to redefine community. Whether you’re an activist aiming to mobilize a grassroots initiative, an executive reshaping a company’s culture, or an individual seeking personal transformation, this book provides a roadmap for forging intentional, empathic communities.

Orchestrating Connection is therefore poised to spark a larger movement—one that can inspire and empower us to replace isolation with purpose and genuine belonging.

“In team sports, you may excel as an individual, but you only win as a tight knit group. That group, in essence, is a community because what you bring to the game, and how you act off the court, all informs that subtle dynamic of what makes a group champions. Orchestrating Connection systematically creates the rituals for self-work to develop self-worth, and for how we master our network to create teams that champion us as we champion them.”-Candace Parker, former WNBA forward, Sports Anchor, and Author

“Wow. I haven't been this inspired about the future of human connection since I read The Art of Gatheringby Priya Parker. The prose shifts easily between gripping stories and practical insights on human connection. Required reading for anyone who loves bringing people together.”-Andy Dunn, best-selling author of Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind and founding CEO of Pie and Bonobos

“My life has been about family, bringing children joy and strengthening communities, both as a business leader and philanthropist. Our world needs a new perspectives on how to bring passionate, driven leaders together and this book delivers them. The work one must do personally and with whom one surrounds oneself is crucial to create ethical, accountable standards for the evolution of our society. Orchestrating Connection takes what we know and puts it together in a way that can bring about a systemic change in perspective.”-Alan Hassenfeld, former Chairmen & CEO of Hasbro

“Leadership in philanthropy is fundamentally about gathering and empowering others to help. This is whatOrchestrating Connection is about: the crucial insight that surrounding yourself with the "right" people starts with you and resonates outward based on integrity and your principles, like the concentric rings around a pebble thrown into a pond. 

David Homan's work on the board of the Arthur Miller Foundation (AMF) has given us invaluable insights into how giving can be contagious, given the right strategies. I endorse the benefits of this book's guidance because I have seen them in action.”-Rebecca Miller, Filmmaker, Activist, and Philanthropist

Noah Askin is an associate professor of Organization and Management at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business. An award-winning teacher and researcher, Noah is an expert in organizational dynamics, leadership, and culture, focusing on the informal networks of communication and connection that drive organizational life. Noah’s work has garnered him recognition on the Thinkers50 Radar list and has been covered by various publications and networks, including The Economist, Rolling Stone, Vox, Forbes, the BBC, and NPR. He lives with his family in Southern California. 

David Homan is the founder and CEO of Orchestrated Connecting, a global community of connectors; Orchestrated Opportunities, an impact-focused advisory firm; and SOAR CONNECT, a start-up focused on the strength of authentic relationships. He hosts a podcast called Orchestrated Relationships focused on developing relationship value, is an active classical composer, and is a proud father of two. From middle-class beginnings as the son of a college professor father and nonprofit-focused mother, he has built a network reaching into the most private and incredible circles globally while maintaining a code of purposeful community building called Orchestrated Connecting.