Organizational, Community and Team Consulting for Positive Futures
“All change is moving energy.”
I've worked with hundreds of clients ranging from corporations and small businesses to government agencies and non-profit organizations.
I am a researcher in qualitative studies, collecting and collating relevant data to help build organizational resilience and create a deeper understanding of individual and group dynamics in support of organization-wide change.
Appreciative Strategic Planning
Appreciative-based strategic planning involves partnering with businesses and community organizations to help leaders envision, strategize and implement change at all levels, from team to organization to community.
Developing qualitative surveys/focus groups to collect data from all involved in the planning process to use as a guide in the planning
Creating an agenda and planning design based on the survey results and in collaboration with clients
Facilitating an Appreciative four-stage process:
Agree on what is valuable to carry into the future in the Discovery stage
Create a shared future scenario in the Dream stage
Identify priorities and goals to ensure the preferred future in the Design stage
Establish role and accountability processes to ensure implementation of the plan in the Destiny stage.
Documenting the output from the planning process into a strategic plan report.
Professional Facilitation & Community Building
In the complexity and diversity of collaborative community building and facilitating governmental, corporate and public partnerships, I focus on "resilient process"— guiding individuals and groups through and over obstacles to find meaningful and effective solutions going forward.
My services encompass:
Engaging in collaborative community building with multiple stakeholders
Aligning diverse individuals and groups around shared goals
Facilitating industry-based citizen advisory councils and public town meetings around industry-community concerns.
Facilitating development of strategic plans for local Neighborhood Task Forces in the Billings area.
Case Studies
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Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (2006-2008)
Together with landscape architect and community planner, Jolene Rieck, I co-facilitated a collaborative process with multiple stakeholders to develop a management plan for Rosebud Battlefield State Park in southeastern Montana. Archaeologically and culturally significant, the state park encompasses over 3,000 acres of land including the Battle of the Rosebud. Modern pressures on the park include coalbed methane well development, increased public use and preservation of archaeological resources. The project included working with an advisory committee of 15 people with diverse interests for over a year. The work included working with tribal leaders of four different tribes to ensure their cultural needs were considered in the plan. Results from focus group meetings and town hall meetings were incorporated into the overall plan. The development of non-biased questions with an Appreciative approach methodology resulted in a highly successful plan. This project won a Merit Award from the ID/MT American Society of Landscape Architects in the category of Resource Conservation for the innovative planning and facilitation process. The plan was successful. There has not been any surface oil and gas extraction and conservation efforts have been focused with the support of the participating Tribal Nations.
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(1990-present)
In 1990, I was asked to establish and facilitate the newly formed Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) of the Conoco Billings Refinery, one of only four nationwide at that time. I was responsible for identifying and recruiting diverse citizen constituencies and establishing the meeting structure, format, purpose, outcomes and meeting guidelines. The CAC established its mission as a conduit for open and honest dialogue between community members and the refinery. We engage in annual strategic planning sessions to identify topics and community outreach projects of mutual benefit or competing concerns. The Council has been meeting monthly for the past 33 years, prevailing through two corporate reorganizations - ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66. The CAC also has the goal of sponsoring an annual community event that draws more than 500 residents. I also helped facilitate two national CAC meetings. ConocoPhillips received its First ever Clean Air Excellence Award from the EPA in Washington, D.C. in April 2006 for the education and outreach efforts of the Citizens Advisory Council.
Leadership & Team Development
We've all felt frustrated by leaders who might have made a change but didn't. Maybe they let their limiting core beliefs stop them or their familiar restrictive patterns pull them back.
How do we help inspire them to shift?
How do we awaken them at a deeper level?
I have worked with diverse stakeholder groups, boards of directors and corporate teams as well as provided executive leadership team development and coaching.
I hold a specific stance: that people are not objects to be fixed but rather dynamic energy-based beings in continual process. The organizational lives of leaders, managers, and employees are embodied in energy and movement and they have the capacity to reinterpret and find meaning in their lives.
