I am a weaver, a leader, and a catalyst for change. I love working with individuals, organizations and communities explore the stories that they’re living in and envision the stories they want to live into.
My involvement with New Stories began about 4 years ago, when I co-hosted an invitational retreat at my home on Orcas Island, Heartwood. It was the first Thrive Gathering, a special time when many of the members of the New Stories community spent three days in inquiry around the following questions:
- What does it meant to thrive?
- What are the commons?
- Have we lost these commons, and if so, can they be somewhat regained?
- What does thriving community look like?
The journey to find answers drew me in, and it is in the spirit of appreciative inquiry that I work in my two roles with New Stories – I am both a Board Member and Director of the Thriving Salish Sea Project.
When I joined the Board two years ago, I felt I could bring my organizational development and coaching background into service. Together, our Directors offer a wide variety of strengths and we have many shared practices.
What I love about our New Stories culture is that we are able to be present to emergence, and through weaving, we lead change from a place that’s balanced, not alarmist. As conveners, we bring together diverse groups of people to explore, guide and support the change that wants to happen. We recognize the urgency of environmental challenges, and conduct inquiry into what it is that would create a thriving resilient bioregion – what are the things that support that, and what doesn’t. We see the protests against what we don’t want, and focus on what we, and the communities, do want.
The Thriving Salish Sea Project is a unique opportunity for me to facilitate collaboration within an incredibly diverse ecosystem made up of international and cross-cultural organizations and communities. Our interest in getting involved in this bioregion is multifaceted – our process is mindful and delicate, and we are stepping into the system to see what is there as opposed to overlaying on the system what we think should be there. We seek to learn how the Salish Sea, as a bioregion, wants to see itself.
I am an organization and leadership development consultant and executive coach with Process Experts. I have more than fifteen years’ experience working with corporate, community, governmental, and non-profit organizations across the U.S. An advocate and catalyst for community engagement, I launched Thrive San Juan Islands in 2012, building upon ten years spent developing capabilities in community leaders as senior faculty for Leadership San Juan Islands. My strategic visioning and facilitation skills have brought me into engagements with organizations focused on global development, education, and empowering women and girls, including the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Women’s World Banking and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I also lead transformative retreats for individual, community, non-profit, and corporate leaders on Orcas Island at the Heartwood Center for Inspired Living and Leadership.