People
Building and cultivating teams starts with honoring the unique hopes and dreams each person brings. From there, it's about finding what connects them, then moving forward together.
Connecting threads
Below is a selection of roles where people are at the center of my work. A pattern stands out. Again and again, I gravitate toward work that is service-based and often with vulnerable populations, from children and families to adults facing crisis or rebuilding their lives. The settings change, but the pull stays the same.
Snapshots
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Mentor
European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC)
This role formalized something I'd been doing informally for years: helping people find their own way forward.
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Instructional Design Team Leader
Médecins Sans Frontières
I led a cross-functional design team creating management trainings that helped managers around the world become the leaders they wish to be. See the WoW Portfolio.
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Project Coordinator and HR-Finance Manager
Médecins Sans Frontières
On international assignments, I managed and mentored multicultural teams of 50 to 600 people in high-pressure environments. My work was to support the people who worked directly with the communities we served.
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Human Resources and Finance Director
PB&J Family Services
As part of the leadership team at a nonprofit, I worked to ensure our approximately 100 employees were supported in their service work for at-risk children and families.
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Employment Developer
Teamworks, National Commission on the Status of Women
In this direct-service role, I built employment pathways for at-risk women through community partnerships.
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Staffing Director
Robert Half International
My role was to see beyond what a resume said and match people in need of employment to the right roles and clients across sectors.
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Dance Instructor
Wherever there is a dance floor
Teaching dance means meeting each person where they are and adapting to their needs, desires, and goals.
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Bartender
One dive bar and one fancy restaurant
Behind a bar, I learned to read a room in seconds: who wanted conversation, who wanted to be left alone, and who needed a little attention before trouble started. Every shift was a crash course in people.
Reflection
What I've learned over the years is that we must take great care with our words and actions, because what we say and do does affect the people around us. We may never see the impact, but we must move throught the world knowing that at some level we will. My hope is that we can all use our powers for good.