Projects Portfolio

Organization Development & Strategic Planning
Community Development
Sustainability
Events

Organization Development & Strategic Planning

Catholic Charities:
Action research, Spring 2009

• As part of the practicum for the Masters in Organization Development, we had to work in teams of 3 students. I was lucky to be with two older, accomplished, traditional business minded classmates who also had hearts of gold. We became a consulting team that worked with the upper management of the Santa Rosa chapter of Catholic Charities. We interviewed each of the 12 members of this team, themed the information they shared and then presented these themes back to them, which determined what we would work on for the rest of the semester. This was an amazing experience to use the tools, best practices, and over all an experiential learning process to understand the nuances of organization development and facilitating change. We all have sines moved on to complete 180+ hours of experiential internships, however nothing will replace the action research process and experience we had with Catholic Charities and working with two other consultants.
  

• Odin Zackman of DIGINwas consulting with the Environmental DefenseFund’sInnovation Exchange program and event series: Solution Labs - Green Innovation In Business. In 2009 they had done networking events in 4 cities for green business professionals to come together and share best practices, tools, techniques, and innovations to further greening in business. The events were so successful they decided to have them again, however this time in 10 different cities. To make the most of the experience DIG IN wanted to identify what the real value proposition, outputs, and outcomes were for this event... This is where I came in to consult with the consultants and greater planning team in identifying this ‘bigger picture’ and event design. This was a perfect place to lend lessons learned and experiences from combo of organization development, events background, and green business.
  

Indigenous Designs:

• I had the opportunity to spend a couple months consulting with the CEO and Marketing Director of this sustainable apparel company on creating a map/ compass point for their brand. The process of unveiling their story and how much this organization cares about the environment and indigenous people is astounding! I love identifying the concentric circles that make up and organization and how to share the
  jewels with the world at large.
  
  
  

• I had a vision and a theory, for integrating sustainability further into business: Through consultants that work with these organizations development, they have an opportunity to expand the thinking beyond the immediate problem at hand, to look at the systemic aspects, and thinking long-term seven generations beyond now. This program brought in leading thinkers in the fields of sustainability consulting, organization development, and community development with Gil Friend, John Adams, Alexander and Kathy Laszlo, and Odin Zackman. Co-facilitated by Danny Ceballos.

Community Development

Kellogg Foundation: Food& Fitness Initiative
The HOPE Collaborative:
Co-Chair of Built Environment Action Team, 2007-2008

• The Food & Fitness program was launched in 2006 as an extension of the Kellogg Foundation’s legacy in food systems and community-based public health. It invested in nine communities across Oakland with a vision that everyone—especially the most vulnerable children—has access to affordable, healthy locally grown food, and opportunities to be physically active and play. As part of the Oakland contingency I served as the co-chair of the Built Environment Action Team (BEAT) alongside of City Planner David Ralston and community leader Navina Khanna. During this time our team was leading the national programs through our innovative asset mapping and community listening programs in east Oakland. Through a multitude of opportunities over 2 years to voice the disparities and propose solution for local community needs the Public Health Institute and this collaborative developed a plan for a more economically stable, engaging community.
  

City Repair:
National Coordination, Earth Day Coordination,
Volunteer Program Development, 1999-2007

• City Repair is a non-profit that takes space and creates place through public squares, neighborhood gatherings, and urban street renewal. They are famous for turning ordinary street corners into works of art. I felt at home from the beginning with this organization. My initial involvement was with the Tea Pony, a mobile tea house set-up for at-risk and homeless youth in Portland, OR. With our partner Outside In, we brought together community leaders and artists to create a transformational experience for the youth. Youth were empowered by the events and the participation was high. My role involved coordinating Earth Day events and working with local schools, organizations, musicians, and artists and eventually led into more community based activities. In my later years with City Repair, I developed and coordinated their volunteer program. Working on internal functions, I supported the program development through ways that branched out nationally, including the design of a toolkit on community engagement processes to share. This lead me on follow-up tours to cities that were inspired by City Repair’s mission providing city governments and community organizers with education on community development and design charettes. Through this type of community enhancement, I ended up in California. I was lucky to develop direct relations with Portland, OR; Seattle, WA, Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA; Moscow, ID; Ashville, NC.
  

Culture Jam: Oregon Country Fair:
Youth summer camp, empowering youth through creativity and nature.
Program Development and Outreach, 2001-2003

• 
  From my City Repair experience I was invited to participate in a program for both adults and teenagers to empower people through creativity. This turned into a summer camp on the grounds of the Oregon Country Fair the summer of 2001, and I got involved on the development and outreach of this program. I connected the program to the City of Eugene who started a sponsorship program for 10 disadvantaged youth every year from then after. The program in it’s entirety was modeled off of the Power of Hope youth enrichment institute.
  

Arts In Motion: Procession of the Species:
Youth After-school program, Olympia,
WA. Program Director, 2003-2004

• I developed this program because of what I had learned in my educational systems and development studies in college. I had a theory that youth needed more education outside of school, activities for a richer understanding of how the world works, and healthier options for after school. I teamed up with colleague studying non-profit administration Jessica Thorne-Sharp to develop a comprehensive after-school program for middle school students involving a mix of art, environmental education, and presentations & mentorship by community leaders. The program was a branch of Procession of the Species, a community based organization and parade. The youth made “Turtle Island”, a paper mache float summarizing what we had learned.
  

Plan-it Hardware of California Hardware:
Toxic Awareness Map - [download pdf] Community Organizer, Outreach, and Researcher, 2007-08

• Plan-it Hardware was a program developed to green the hardware industry, one of the largest pollutants in the industrial and post industrial age. It was a distribution source for local hardware stores in California and a community resource center. Supplies in these hardware stores were labeled with a “greener choice” sticker , and often had informative brochures on the products so customers knew what they were getting. To reach out to the community I worked with Karen KoChen and Jay Tompt to make an informative map that highlighted where these green hardware stores were located as well as other local resources, such as the farmers markets, San Francisco Department of the Environment, and recycling locations. The back side of the map shared information and solutions to toxins found in every day home products. The purpose of this “Green It Yourself” campaign, was to encourage people to learn as much as they can about sustainable living. As a community organizer, I connected this campaign to a few other events and organizations around the Bay area, to spread the word about toxicity in the home. The Bay Area was not enough though, through the greening of Burning Man experience, I connected Plan-it Hardware to distribute supplies to large department stores along the popular routes to Burning Man, such as Albertsons as part of their green campaign promotions. Albertsons agreed to set-up large recycling stations in their lots to capture and ‘transform’ the remanents of people’s burn experience.

Sustainability

Urban Alliance for Sustainability:
Program manager, Events Coordinator, 2006-2008

• When I met this organization in 2006 at the Digital BE-IN, I fell in love with their mission “Inspire and integrate the sustainability movement in San Francisco Bay Area into an alliance to increase the effectiveness of the collective effort.” UAS takes a whole-systems approach to advance the sustainability movement by integrating activities for improved efficacy and efficiency. We did this through networking events, solutions-orientated movie screenings, guest speakers, and facilitating much needed collaborations among the many environmental organizations in the Bay Area. I was the lead research and development for mapping the ecology of the sustainability movement in the SF/ Bay Area. This role was perfect for talking with the environmental leaders in the Bay Area, making connections between organizations, and building collaborations. One such development was the Bay Area Youth Environmental Coalition (YEC) [http://www.uas.coop/node/1059] The YEC is a group of environmentally focused organizations that was formed to better serve youth in the Bay Area. They provide a place to share resources, events, ideas, and information from diverse groups. I enjoyed meeting many dynamic and engaged individuals through the events and learning about the greater network these people are creating for a more environmentally aware and just world.
  

Green Festivals:
Connection Hub, SF, Coordinator, Nov. 2008

• The Connection Hub was a designated place at Green Festival in San Francisco in 2008 to share ideas, network, relax and reflect, a space set aside to talk with people when not listening to a speaker or shopping. The Connection Hub was hosted by UAS, where we set-up small, more intimate conversations, topics, and sustainable living examples such as a worm bin, bee experts, and local food production and consumption. The space was an enjoyable and beautiful oasis, designed by Altered Spaces, in the heart of the green festivities.
  
  
  

Green City Gallery:
Events team and general support, 2008

• The Green City Gallery was a venue celebrating the emerging field of ecologically responsible designs.  Bay Localize and DIG Coop collaborated to open this space in downtown Berkeley.  The Gallery hosts workshops, and other social and educational events, as well as exhibits from organizations, businesses and artists who are all engaged in the development of a vibrant, urban ecology and local "green" economy. I was on the events team, bringing together local leaders, experts, and government officials to engage and encourage community members to try these ecological designs at home, or hire one of Dig Cooperative consultants to help design and support their process.

For full listing see Event Page / Event Resume

For listing of all projects, see Curriculum Vitae