Facilitator and Group Process Consultant
My Approach
I became a facilitator because I have little patience for poorly run meetings – given how much of our work and community living time is spent in meetings, it is important that we make the best use of our precious time. A modest amount of time and attention devoted to meeting planning and good facilitation pays back with increased efficiency, a decrease in conflict, better decision-making, and greater group cohesiveness.
My approach is one of visionary pragmatism. While I study the many different existing systems and models for interpersonal interaction, I am wedded to none – borrowing and adapting from them all to best meet the individual needs of my clients. My goal is always to discern the group’s deepest need within the current moment and serve as a guide to its fulfillment. I also bring a sense of humor to my work.
I am deeply committed to the use of consensus and other cooperative decision-making processes to improve life within our communities and the world at large.
My Experience
Since 1999, I have been a facilitator for FrogSong, the cohousing community in which I live and work. FrogSong is committed to the consensus process and has used it throughout the purchase, design, and development of a $9 million mixed-use residential neighborhood; in our daily lives; and in running the business we collectively own.
I currently work with Cohousing Partners, the country's most experienced cohousing development team, providing training and facilitation coaching to their developing communities in California. Those communities include Wolf Creek Commons, Wolf Creek Lodge, and La Querencia.
I serve as a Cohousing Consultant to Affordable Housing Associates on the Petaluma Avenue Homes project - the first affordable, rental cohousing development in the country.
In June I will join the Board of Directors of the Cohousing Association of the United States.
Other communities and organizations for whom I have facilitated or provided consensus training include Palo Alto Cohousing, Pleasant Hill Cohousing, North Oakland Cohousing, Ukiah Valley Cohousing, the American Medical Student Association, the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, and Santa Rosa Creek Commons.
In my previous professional life I have been active in community organizing and coalition building in a number of local public health projects; taught at the community college and adult school level; and served on local nonprofit boards. My other passions include sea kayaking, surfing, yoga, dance, and costuming.
My Training
- Northern California Community Facilitator Intensive Series by Tree Bressen, various locations, November 2005 through November 2007.
- Open Space workshop, Lisa Heft, March 2007.
- Consensus & Group Process workshop by Tree Bressen & Laird Schaub at the Third North American Cohousing Conference, Berkeley, 2001.
- Consensus 101 training by Rob Sandelin, Santa Rosa 1999.
References available upon request.
Testimonials
"To watch skilled facilitating is a real treat - The respect with which people were heard and treated was heart warming."
"Eris is excellent -- she is strong, funny, smart, and not afraid to call people on their b.s., if needed. She is intrepid. I don't think that conflict bothers her much, if at all."