Where should we begin?

Emergent strategy starts with the recognition that in complex systems, we rarely have enough information to design the perfect plan from the outset. Instead, I help people listen closely to what is happening now—across people, relationships, data, and the wider landscape—identify where there is real energy or possibility, and develop thoughtful experiments that help us learn our way forward.

This doesn’t mean abandoning rigor or direction. It means pairing clear intention with curiosity, relationship, intelligent risk-taking, and the willingness to adapt as new information emerges.

It depends on the question. I might conduct interviews and field research to understand a changing landscape, map an ecosystem and identify gaps or opportunities, design a stakeholder process, help a funder or movement explore an emerging area of work, or develop and test a pilot before making a larger investment.

Often, my most valuable contribution is synthesis: listening across perspectives, noticing patterns and unseen dynamics, and giving language to something people have been sensing but haven’t yet been able to articulate. From there, the question shifts from What should we do? to something more generative: What is becoming possible now?

I am most energized by people and organizations working on questions that are bigger than any one institution can solve alone—movements, funders, field-builders, entrepreneurs, networks, and mission-driven organizations trying to understand a changing landscape or catalyze something new.

I am especially drawn to work where there is genuine curiosity, a willingness to experiment, and an understanding that relationships are not peripheral to change—they are part of how change happens.

I don’t arrive with a predetermined framework or assume that analysis alone will reveal the answer. I bring research and strategic rigor alongside deep listening, intuition, facilitation, and close attention to the relationships and dynamics shaping a system.

I am less interested in producing a polished plan than in helping people see something they could not see before, strengthen the relationships necessary for action, and test ideas in the real world. Sometimes the most strategic move is not to decide faster, but to listen better, ask a different question, or try something small enough to learn from.

I think about an experience from the perspective of the whole person—not only what people will think or discuss, but what they may be feeling, how they are relating to one another, what the physical environment communicates, and what might be happening beneath the surface.

That means carefully considering the arc, pacing, space, modes of engagement, and emotional and relational dynamics of an experience. But good design is only part of it. I’m equally attentive to what is actually happening in the room and comfortable changing course when the moment calls for something different.

The work can take many forms: leadership and board gatherings, retreats, field-wide convenings, difficult team conversations, moments of organizational transition, or rituals marking personal loss and change. Some experiences are explicitly spiritual; many are not.

Absolutely. Not every engagement needs experience design. I’m often brought in because a meeting, retreat, convening, or conversation matters enough that someone needs to focus entirely on holding the room.

Beforehand, we’ll clarify what the experience needs to accomplish and what success might look like. From there, I bring deep listening and relational attunement—tracking what is being said and what isn’t, noticing shifts in the room, and knowing when to deepen a conversation, redirect it, introduce play, or simply get out of the way. One of my strengths is adapting in real time, so the strongest partnerships leave room for that responsiveness while staying grounded in a clear shared purpose.

Please visit the contact page, or press the “let’s connect” icon on the top right corner of my homepage. You’ll fill out a very brief intake form and I’ll be in touch within 48 hours to set up a mutually convenient time to speak on zoom or the phone.

I typically create a project fee based on an agreed upon scope and timeline, instead of billing hourly.

I approach each engagement collaboratively and am always open to a conversation about fit, including financial realities and constraints. For projects I feel deeply aligned with, I occasionally offer sliding-scale or pro bono work. If you think we may be a good match, I welcome the opportunity to talk.