At the center of my practice is working with change. I focus on collaboratively engaging people from across an organization or stakeholder groups to tap into their intelligence, energy, and capabilities as they move through the stages of a change process. When guiding professional development programs, I engage participants in learning experiences that combine conceptual understanding, practical application, and personal growth. I have a great passion for supporting people to tap into their vision, hope and competence. People I work with value how I pair my process orientation with systemic perspectives as well as dialogic and visual approaches. This synthesis of approaches enables me to create unique, highly interactive, content-rich and outcome-focused transformative group experiences.

Building on several years of working together on a number of large organizational and environmental change projects, David Sibbet and I recently co-authored Visional Consulting: Designing and Leading Change, the fourth book of the Visual Facilitation series published by John Wiley & Sons.

At The Grove Consultant International, in addition to my role as Senior Consultant, I am the Vice President of Global Learning. As part of this role, I co-lead the Grove’s Global Learning & Exchange Network (GLEN). The GLEN is a learning community that supports rich practitioner exchanges, immersive programs, self-paced learning modules, action research collaborations, and a built-in Research & Development process. This network provides opportunities for practitioners and organizational and social change leaders to be in a well-facilitated and innovative online/offline environment to co-evolve collaboration methodologies and practices within and across organizations, communities and cultures. Ultimately the aim is to become better prepared to address the serious challenges we are facing everywhere.

My expertise in the area of organization development and transformative change and learning is based in more than 25 years of working with a wide range of organizations in the private and public sector. I hold a Doctorate from Fielding Graduate University’s School of Human and Organization Development, and an MA in Organization Development and BA in Humanistic Psychology from Sonoma State University in California. Earlier experiences in my career include working as an internal consultant at Andersen Worldwide, Center for Professional Education, Director for Learning & Development at Netscape Communications Inc., tenure-track professor at Sonoma State University where I also directed their MA Program in Organization Development, and facilitator of the California Roundtable on Water and Food Supply at Ag Innovations.

My approach has been deeply influenced by my experiences with diverse cultures. This includes field research in South America, Southern Africa and Australia, as well as living in Australia and being German-born and raised. Cross-cultural work continues to inspire me and makes my work with clients more insightful, culturally and globally sensitive, and ultimately more impactful.

As a Grove consultant, I frequently partner with a visual facilitator. My visual work is grounded in my training in architectural drafting and the expressive arts. Since my childhood I have used the arts as a means to learn about myself and the world. For example, while in Australia, I studied Aboriginal art-making to learn about the Australian Aboriginal culture. I have shared my discoveries in a series of blog posts Honoring The Aboriginal Tradition of Australia.

I live in Petaluma with my husband David Sibbet and my daughter Hannah.