CONSULTING APPROACH
CONSULTING APPROACH
Appreciative lens
My consulting is asset-based, appreciative, and client-centered. I believe the best way for your group to move towards your aspirations is to devote energy and resources to nurturing the parts of the organization that already connect you to those aspirations.
Engagement
For a plan to have traction, it is beneficial to engage everyone on the team. I like to talk to everyone early in the process, and I encourage you to convene full-group retreat conversations so people can make decisions together.
Opportunity filters
In strategic planning, I emphasize the development of filters to help organizations make important decisions on an ongoing basis; and I bring to those filters an awareness of how strategy intersects with both organizational culture and capacity.
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Focus
My facilitation style is fun and inclusive, while maintaining the focus needed to bring closure to conversations and decisions so the organization emerges with a clear set of next steps.
Attention to equity
Group discussions will include formats and facilitation techniques designed to help elevate the voices of people from more marginalized identities and those who are not in positional leadership roles.
Flexibility
We will work together to define the process that best suits your needs. We will start with our best guess; if new needs or considerations emerge, we can refocus the process to address them.
biography
PROFESSIONAL
I started my career in communications and marketing, with rewarding stints at Oregon Food Bank and the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development, and years of work as a freelance writer and strategic communications consultant.
Communications consulting eventually morphed into organizational development as I honed my skills in facilitation and planning. After years as an independent practitioner, I had the opportunity to work with the world class team at Solid Ground Consulting from 2015-2019--and they are still a core partner.
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(Somewhere in the middle of all that, I was also executive director of an ambitious start-up project called TwispWorks...)
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Over the years, a growing interest in leadership and team development led me to training in mediation and conflict resolution, and the development of my coaching practice.
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Read my full work history.
COMMUNITY
I've been lucky enough to do some fantastic community projects. Here are a few highlights.
In the early 2000s in Portland, Oregon, I landed in the thick of the bike culture movement as an organizer of the first BikeSummer, which led into Shift, Pedalpalooza, and many other experiences. During that time i helped found Peninsula Park Commons, an innovative urban cohousing project, and led various efforts as a Master Recycler and NW Earth Institute volunteer.
From 2007-2015 while living in Washington's Methow Valley, I got to lead some of the good work of the Twisp Library Friends, Twisp Chamber of Commerce, and TwispWorks. After the 2014 Carlton Complex fires devastated Okanogan County, I was part of the start up leadership team for Methow Valley Long Term Recovery and Carlton Complex Long Term Recovery. I also served for several years as a board member and treasurer for Resolutions Northwest.
PERSONAL
I am an avid hiker and backpacker. The natural world has a profound place in my life, and much of my work is devoted to protecting, preserving, restoring, and enhancing access to wilderness, open spaces, rivers, and public lands.
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Mindfulness and meditation are also important aspects of my life and work.