My mission is to help nonprofits, businesses, government and community organizations get through the barriers to strong governance and teamwork and shape a clear focus for their work ahead. It's about creating learning conversations, engaging stakeholders, understanding organizational patterns, and keeping strategic thinking alive in every facet of the organization's work.My services include board and staff leadership development, strategic planning, multi-stakeholder engagement, organization and community assessments, founder and executive transition, meeting and retreat facilitation, peer learning circles, and project management. My clients include large and small nonprofits, foundations, community organizations, and public entities at the local and state level, as well as global fair labor and entrepreneurship.Our communities need strong organizations and inspired, collaborative leadership as they grapple with growing needs and shrinking resources. They need strategic planning that stays off the shelf and lives actively in the habit of strategic thinking and acting, inviting in outside perspectives, looking ahead to how the environment may change, and infusing strategic initiatives in all levels of decision-making. Communities need effective leadership development and leadership transitions that take account of the larger health of the organization. In challenging times, private, community, and business foundations are also looking for compelling vision, innovative thinking, strategic partnerships, capacity-building, and a chance to continually learn from each other. And at times, a group just isn't sure what the problem is. Bringing in a safe, neutral facilitator to guide a conversation or conduct a structured assessment helps put the difficult topics on the table in a constructive way, especially when organization life cycle patterns can be illuminated.