I think I may have been destined to be a facilitator, coach and trainer from an early age.  I remember writing in my planner  as a teenager, "I love meetings!" I don't think it was the meetings themselves that I loved, but it was the connection I felt with others and our collective capacity to create change in the world that mattered to us.

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My work as a white person committed to racial justice was ignited by a beloved white supervisor who told me in the early 1980's, " Kathleen, you have to figure out what it means to be a white person in a society built on racism." I had no idea what she meant at the time and I have committed much of my life to trying to figure that out. I am still on that quest today.

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I have trained, facilitated, coached, and consulted with others in the arts of facilitation,  social and racial justice, healing from and ending all oppressions,  leadership, reflection, and authentic community engagement. I have designed and facilitated hundreds conversations, meetings, retreats, strategy sessions, workshops and courses over the years. 

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My style has been described as engaging, authentic, inclusive, calming, inspiring, creative, compassionate and full of thought-provoking  and paradigm shifting questions. I have been told I practice "deep, radical listening" and that people I work with appreciate how I offer and honor choices around where you want to go and how we might get there. My goal is to support the discovery of your own inner wisdom and your capacity to create rooted, mindful action toward your boldest vision. 

 

Doing My Own Work

I continue to engage deeply and consistently in my own learning and healing from the effects of systemic injustice. I value only asking others to travel where I have or am traveling myself. I am on this journey with you, I am not done. I am happy to share my struggles, mistakes, embarrassments as well as those places where powerful learning, healing and shifting have supported my contributions in the world, and I look forward to listening to yours as well. 

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Working in Partnership with a Diversity of Facilitators

I am grateful to have a rich, diverse network of highly skilled co-facilitators I collaborate with. This network is also available to you and your organization. Depending on the needs and make up of your group, we can offer a diverse team of facilitators to partner with you. 

 

My Professional Background
My work draws from my experiences on the faculty and staff of 6 universities,  my role as a senior trainer for the U.S. government, and nearly 20 years as a consultant with numerous educational, government and non-profit/social profit organizations, including over a decade as an associate with the Luna Jiménez Institute for Social Transformation. It also draws on my life experience as a white, middle class, non-disabled,  cisgender, heterosexual, married, raised-Protestant, U.S. citizen from the Midwest,  English dominant, and elder woman.  

 

Theoretical and Experiential Roots of My Work

I bring learning from  so many influences into my work. They include: The UNtraining (where I am on the teaching team), Technology of Participation (where I am a certified facilitator and currently in the trainer certification path), Interaction Institute for Social Change, the Luna Jiménez Institute for Social Transformation (who carries on the legacies of Lillian Roybal Rose and  Dr. Erica Sherover-Marcuse), Re-evaluation Counseling, Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance (AORTA), and the Strozzi Institute of Embodied Transformation. I also bring  my years pursuing academic study in the fields of Elementary Education and Higher Education and Student Development, as well as my learning and growing from a lifetime of relationships, mistake-making and healing.

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For Fun

When I'm not facilitating, coaching, training or consulting, I am probably out for a long walk with my partner in the Bay Area, stopping along the way to eat and enjoy good food,  great conversation (and sometimes a juicy argument), dancing NIA,  connecting with my friends, traveling, or visiting my family in the Midwest. 

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As the founder of Rooted Change Consulting, I look forward to learning about you and what brings you to the work you do in the world, and supporting you in the next chapter of your life.