Background
Perma-Atlas eco-tourism and community resiliency workshop; Anguelz, Morocco
I first discovered the whispers of my calling in the McHenry Library while writing my Bachelor's Thesis on how to teach children to become Yoda. While procrastinating in the new arrivals section I discovered a book which unbeknownst to me would lay the yellow bricks towards my future. ‘Social Labs Revolution’ describes a process by which diverse teams innovate solutions to the great problems of our time. I knew instantly this was the Yoda path!
After graduating and spending time being some kind of ‘artist’ and ‘farmer’, I decided to get my hands dirty organizing my first social lab in Los Angeles. I won’t even go into the details because it failed miserably. But that's how I discovered that I needed more skills and more connections to the field. Luckily while researching the failed project I found a little university in Sweden which the author guest lectured at. In the company of classmates from over 30 different countries I developed my chops and wrote another thesis on evaluating these sorts of projects.
While still in Europe I found my niche working with newly forming social-ecological regeneration projects. In these environments I have joyfully integrated my fascination with decentralized organizations and my love of ecological restoration. Now back in the US I work with clients on decentralized organizing, sustainability and landscape regeneration.
It's been my experience working with clients that my role evolves naturally as my relationship with the organization changes. For Example, I wore many hats while working with the newly forming Ecosystems Restoration Camps which grew in just a few years from one project to over twenty all over the world. I later helped organize the regional hub for Ecosystem Restoration Camps in the Western US which is also rapidly growing its project base. With Perma Atlas in Morocco, first in Berber villages I developed democratic capacities, performed reporting and evaluating and later in Amsterdam I facilitated board workshops, closing information loops and facilitating strategic planning processes.
I have worked with organizations over 100 years old and I have consulted with individuals who are just at the beginning of their project. Either way, I approach my clients with focus, care and openness.