I have been writing professionally for more than 15 years.
Today I write about a variety of topics including social impact, systems change, ethics, leadership, collaboration, communications, creativity, and culture.
You can find my most recent content on Substack.
My very best content is on Patreon. I also have publicly available content on Medium, and here on this website (scroll down or use the search bar).
I’ve written for 20+ publications, including The Design Justice Network and the Field Guide to Climate Design.
Contact me if you’re interested in me writing for your audience or publication!
This 37-page research-backed digital book is about how visuals, and graphic facilitation specifically, can engage individuals and improve group trust and productivity. With more than 30 references, it includes both theoretical and practical information on the importance and many benefits of using visual tools to support collaborative communications and processes.
Virtual meetings are on the rise but they don’t come without some risks and potential downsides. Groups may already be facing difficult communication challenges, and distance can create even more obstacles for team culture and progress. Just as with in-person meetings, visuals can play an essential role in supporting individuals and groups with building relationships and getting results. Here are some basic dos and donts for using visuals during online meetings.
Read MoreLast year I took a bold step, in the opposite direction that many seem to be taking these days. I let go of working for myself and returned to working as part of an organization. Many reached out to me to ask me how I planned to overcome additional challenges I’d encounter once I was working in an organization. I understand their concerns. There really isn’t an easy road these days, whether you choose to hang your own shingle or clock in nine to five. But I still think we have so much work to do and we need to do it together - and only by being true to ourselves will this work germinate and grow what we hope it will.
Read MoreAs an unapologetic health and healing “nut,” I’ve developed many practices over the years. It’s taken me decades to realize that the best of all of them predates any investments I’ve made in yoga, psychotherapy, naturopathy, or body-based therapies. The most potent practice of all I started as a very young girl: using and creating visuals.
Read MoreVision is the primary way we sense and experience our world - and we are social beings who process information with others. We can easily leverage these tendencies if we want to inspire specific conversations in specific moments. The conventional way of doing so is using presentation slides or videos to introduce or explain important topics. These emphasize what is important from the perspective of the presenter, they do not necessarily offer opportunities to capture what a larger group of people thinks or feels. Here’s how to easily design an opportunity for groups to have intentional conversations and create meaning collectively…
I have observed over the years that there are three things that groups struggle with as they seek to work together: confusion, lack of contribution, and conflict. I have also observed that of these three, conflict seems to be the least understood and the least addressed. Since it also often plays a role in the other two, it definitely warrants deeper reflection and practice. In many ways, I’ve been a student of conflict my whole life and my relationship to it has been sorted to say the least…
Read MoreAs a consultant with a passion for collaboration, I’d like to think I’m somewhat cured of the antiquated notion of competition. We are not playing a “zero sum” game as we often unconsciously believe. Individual identity doesn’t matter nearly so much as the connections we create with one another. I believe that when we ally with those who are our most unlikely allies, it can fuel our creativity in unimaginable ways. Here are some ways I have partnered with those whom I choose not to think of as competitors but rather more like “co-players.”
Read MoreSince grade school we’ve been taught to fit in, to conform AND to be exceptional, to win the competition - and it has become overwhelmingly obvious that these oppositional goals aren’t working for us. So many of us are aching to “abandon ship” because organizations are too demanding and those of us who indeed launch out on our own quickly find ourselves faced with at the very least burnout and at the very worst deep loneliness. In this article, I share with you some of the ups and downs of my own journey of discovering this deeply rooted problem and developing some possible solutions.
Read MoreThis month I feel called to share something I never have before: a curated list of some of my favorite podcasts. I find podcasts to be both the most convenient and the most fun way to explore a diversity of perspectives on any given topic. Here's some that I go to for regular doses of inspiration and guidance. As my interests are so diverse, you are bound to stumble on some serendipitous conversations and connections.
Read MoreWe all know that old structures are changing fast. What we don’t always see is that women are playing a pivotal role in birthing the new ones being created. We also often hear about the challenges women face - and we need to hear more about the strengths we bring to them. Women who are leading change efforts in Denver call us to use our current opportunity to see ourselves - and show up in the networks we are involved in - in new, groundbreaking ways.
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