Organizations are living systems.

Why Sylva?

The name Sylva comes from the Latin silva, meaning forest or woods.

A healthy forest is not simply a collection of individual trees. What happens above the ground depends on relationships and conditions below it and around it.

Organizations are not forests. But the metaphor matters. What we see on the surface — performance, culture, engagement, quality, turnover and growth — is shaped by conditions and relationships that may be less visible.

We believe most people want to do good work.

When performance is not where it needs to be, sometimes skills need to improve, expectations need to be clearer or accountability is necessary.

But sometimes the person is not the problem. The environment is. The workflow is. The equipment is. The information is. The training is. Or the organization has created so much friction around the work that succeeding has become unnecessarily difficult.

Sylva helps distinguish among those possibilities by getting close enough to the work to understand the question before prescribing an answer.

Meet Greg Gorgone

Sylva was founded by Greg Gorgone, a longtime operator, entrepreneur, educator, mentor and workforce-development leader.

The lesson started at the sink.

In 1981, Greg was called into a full-service restaurant in Amherst, Massachusetts, because the pot washer had not shown up. Twenty minutes later he was at the sink in a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

It was hard work, but from that position he could see the whole kitchen. He asked questions. The next day, a sous chef noticed, handed him a case of romaine and a French knife, and taught him how to use it. That small act opened the next step in a career that would eventually span operations, education, leadership, learning, technology and workforce development.

The lesson stayed with him: people can be treated as replaceable while standing in a place where important knowledge — and unrealized capability — already exists.

More than forty years later, Sylva still starts by getting close to the work.

Experience across the system.

Greg's career began in foodservice and hospitality. In the early 1990s, he served as a chef instructor and foodservice educator at Johnson & Wales University. Since then, his work has expanded across healthcare, senior living, education, training, technology, workforce development, business building and strategic advisory.

He has worked alongside frontline employees and unit-level managers, led teams and organizations, developed learning solutions, mentored leaders and connected companies and people across the broader ecosystem supporting frontline work.

Across those experiences, one lesson has remained consistent: the view from the top and the view from the frontline are both incomplete. Better understanding comes from connecting them.

Expertise should clarify. Not impress.

Complex organizations face complex challenges. That does not mean the language used to solve them has to be complicated. Sylva asks straightforward questions, listens carefully, speaks plainly and works toward solutions people can actually use.

Built to connect the right capabilities.

Sylva does not need to possess every answer. Complex problems can cross operations, leadership, learning, technology, equipment, workforce and other boundaries.

When specialized capability is needed, Sylva can help identify and connect the right expertise while remaining the point of connection that keeps the overall effort coherent.

Public partner relationships will be represented only when they are active and clearly defined. Sylva and Pineapple Academy, a company Greg co-founded, are independent companies.

Built on experience. Designed for what comes next.

Technology and artificial intelligence will continue changing how organizations operate, learn and work. Sylva believes that makes context, judgment, relationships and proximity more important, not less.

Organizations will also need to become more deliberate about developing capability from within — helping frontline employees see pathways forward and preparing future managers and leaders who understand the culture and the work.

Sylva is building methods, tools, learning and a network of capabilities that can extend this way of working beyond one person over time.