After two decades of university teaching I’m now learning and teaching in the classroom of the world. Please see below for some information, and drop me a line if you’re curious! I have an hourly rate and also work on a sliding scale.
Adaptive Facilitation
I facilitate strategic conversations, retreats, and other clarification processes using the lens of adaptive facilitation. In addition to moving groups through technical brainstorms and decisions, I offer diagnoses of adaptations that would surface otherwise-hidden gifts, whether in individuals or the organization. I like to borrow from mediator John Paul Lederach, who uses the phrase “critical yeast” to distinguish this work from “critical mass”—- meaning the masses of money, technical changes, or energy that might be thrown at a problem, because those hidden gifts also bring avoided challenges. Even with all those resources, the “yeast” is the missing ingredient that makes things rise. (photo: Worker Writers School)
Writing Coaching, Tutoring, and Editing
In addition to my own prose writing I am passionate about being a midwife for other writers’ processes, whether it’s to tease out their best ideas, streamline organization, or edit sentences until they’re crystal clear and compelling.
I am available to proofread or edit articles, book projects, as well as college essays and personal statements. I also work with poets one-on-one and in workshops. Although writing is a solo activity, we all learn from and with other writers. It gives me joy to pass on the mentorship and writers’ friendship that I’ve received, and learn alongside another person or text.
Meditation Instruction and Mentoring
If you are interested in beginning a meditation or mindfulness practice, or deepening an existing one, I work with individuals and with groups in 8-week regular practice sessions. I’m fortunate to have received gifts (more here) from teachers in several Buddhist traditions, and find that the deep listening in a “kalyanamitta” (“admirable friendship”) can be the ground we need for clarity and sustenance. These meetings can be as informal as a walk or meeting for coffee, or as formal as a meditation session then conversation. Drop me a line if you are curious.
Freely given, donations accepted.