"Are we making a difference in the lives of the people we serve? How do we know?" These questions inspire my work as a community change consultant, a teacher, and a leader. I personally make a difference in the lives of those I serve by igniting a passion for the greater good, encouraging servant leadership, facilitating lifelong learning, inspiring action toward meaningful change, and helping organizations align technology with their missions.
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I consider myself a "pracademic", a practitioner and an academic, beginning my career as a gifted and talented coordinator and elementary school teacher, then moving into the nonprofit sector to lead the growth of a grassroots drug prevention coalition from a handful of passionate activists to a 501(c)3 corporation with a full paid staff, hundreds of volunteers, and a powerful action network. My fieldwork in organizational management, leadership, strategic planning, evaluation and sustainability led to invitations to serve as a consultant to local, state and regional nonprofit, governmental and educational organizations. From 1997 to the present I've operated a consulting practice that focuses on building organizations' capacity to create and measure positive community change. On the academic leg of my journey, I built and led a Master of Science in Leadership program at Trine University, then moved to my current position at Western Michigan University to teach nonprofit leadership and management and pursue theoretical research on nonprofit technology/mission alignment. A collector of of degrees, I hold a BA from Purdue University, an MA from Ball State University, and a Ph.D from Western Michigan University School of Public Affairs and Administration.