EXPERIENCE
HIGHLIGHTS Supporting  Intentional Communities

Community Facilitator Intensive Series: Northern California, 2005-2007; British Columbia, Canada, 2009-2011.  Quarterly workshops designed for advancing skills and regional capacity-building.  Experiential learning through facilitating real meetings on tough issues of the host communities, with coaching in the moment.  Deep teaching, excellent skill development, real progress on host issues.

Training and/or Facilitation for more than 70 intentional communities (including cohousing), at all stages of development.  Clients include:  Columbia Ecovillage (Portland), CoHo Ecovillage (Corvallis), Nevada City Cohousing (California), Los Angeles Ecovillage, Dancing Rabbit (Missouri), Tryon Life Community Farm(Portland), Twin Oaks (Virginia).

Women's Opportunity Worldwide, 2010. Process designer and facilitator for event aimed at building coalition among Lane County groups working on behalf of women in the global south.  Attended by 60 people representing dozens of organizations.

Nonviolence as a Way of Life Conference (Univ. of Oregon), 2008.  Planning and moderation for two major plenary sessions.

Metamedia Cooperation, 2005 & 2006. Process designer and co-facilitator for unique multimedia "happening" bringing together artists, activists, scientists and intellectuals for an interdisciplinary exploration into complexity theory, social change, and the nature of collaboration.

Reuniting America, 2006.  Planning and facilitation for "Transpartisan" World Café in Medford, Oregon, bringing together liberals and conservatives to discuss American values and what changes are needed in the U.S. today. 

Building Bridges, 2004. Lead process designer and facilitator for full-day event supporting collaboration among human service providers in Lane County. 160 attendees representing over 70 agencies. Sponsored by United Way, Lane Commission on Children & Families, and University of Oregon College of Education.

Green Party National Convention, 2000. Core facilitation team member for 320-delegate national event (plus hundreds of observers and media). Wrote official Procedural Guidelines for the convention. Lead facilitator for Platform Committee meeting, which successfully dealt with over 80 items of business—in less than 6 hours.

Facilitating Organization Development

People’s Food Co-op, 2009.  Facilitated (and/or coached their staff in facilitating) a series of 5 monthly staff meetings with an aim of shifting their meetings to a more positive, constructive, productive culture.

Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, 2009. Led one-day retreat for 10-person staff (including E.D.) to reevaluate their strategic plan and decide what to propose to the board for a one-year extension in programs, staff, and other resources.

Oregon Midwifery Council, 2007. In about 3 hours, reviewed organizational history, mission, and goals, and brainstormed and selected priority goals for the next 2 years.

New Culture Institute, 2005.  Vision statement for nonprofit, completed with board in one day using Appreciative Inquiry process.

smartMeme, 2005. Facilitation of 2+ day retreat for activist strategy and messaging collective, resulting in substantial organizational shift.

Ecovillage Network of the Americas (ENA), 1999. Co-facilitator with Caroline Estes for the inaugural Council meeting of more than 30 representatives from 10 countries. Helped guide network through decisions on new organizational structure and other topics.

Samping of Other Groups & Events

• Co-Intelligence Institute
• Creating Change Conference (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force)
• Eugene Permaculture Guild
• Friends of the Dhamma
• KSOW radio
• Leadership, Ecology, Culture and Learning (LECL)  at Portland State Univ.
• Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene (MEDGE)
• Network for a New Culture Summer Camp
• Network for Reproductive Options
• Oregon Dept. of Human Services conflict resolution classes for foster parents
• Oregon Pathways Academy — connecting community colleges with workplaces
• PFS Med, Inc.
• Safe & Sound Collaborative — agencies serving homeless & runaway youth
• Sophia Sanctuary
• Village Building Convergence (City Repair)
• Virginia Org. of Consumers Asserting Leadership (VOCAL)  — mental health services consumers
• Wellsprings Friends School

Pattern Language for Group Process. Leading the development of an open source collection of what, beyond methods and techniques, makes meetings and other group sessions really work and move toward wholeness.
Nexus for Change, 2007. Conference with 300 leading practitioners.
International Association of Facilitators Annual Conferences 1999, 2007.
Sunrise Facilitation Collective, 2000-2006. Founding member, local facilitators' group. Team jobs and mutual evaluation for improvement.
National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), member since 2004.
International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), 2005 (presenter at national conference), 2002 (regional event).

"Consensus Decision-Making: What, Why, How" section (pp. 238-252) in Practicing Law in the Sharing Economy (Orsi), American Bar Association Press, 2012.

"Consensus Decision-Making" chapter in The Change Handbook (Holman, Devane, Cady, eds.) 2nd edition from Berrett-Koehler, 2006.

"Consensus Basics" article in Communities Directory 2000, Fellowship for Intentional Community, Rutledge, MO.

Communities magazine over a dozen articles on group process, including:
"Roles in Groups" - Spring 2005
"Working on Your Issues with Someone (Whether or Not They Come Along)" - Fall 2005
"The Special Place of Blocking in Consensus" - Spring 2004
"Send It to Committee" - Winter 2004
"Agenda Planning: The Experienced Communitarian's Technique for Making Meetings Flow" - Winter 2001
"Listeners and Talkers—Moderating the Vocal, Encouraging the Shy: Workable Ways to Equalize Participation in Meetings" - Summer 2001
"Decision-Making in Cohousing Communities" - Spring 2000
"Community Meetings: Getting Off to a Good Start" - Winter 1999

BA with Honors, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1993. Major: Communication. Minors: Psychology, Religion, Women's Studies.
University of Sussex, Brighton, England—Cultural & Community Studies, 1991-92.
Alpha Institute, 6-day intensive course with Caroline Estes & Lysbeth Borie, 1998.
Jim Rough, 4-day training in Dynamic Facilitation Skills for Participative Leadership, 2000. Advanced Training, 2001.
Marshall Rosenberg, Non-Violent Communication, 2-day training, 2001.
Worldwork Institute 2004—8 days of Process Work with Arny Mindell and 200 people from 27 countries.
Appreciative Inquiry, 3-day training with Peggy Holman and Steve Cato, 2005. Avanced training with Bernard Mohr & Jen Hetzel-Silbert, 2006.
Workshops by Sam Kaner, Laird Schaub, CT Butler, Gary Reiss, and others, 1993-present.