For most of my adult life I have been involved in community engagement through union organizing, co-op work, and by living & working in collective situations. Along the way I have attended dozens of workshops in co-op development, community/union organizing, consensus/collaborative decision-making, anti-oppression work, open space technology and management theory & practice.

1. Organized unions in the warehouse and healthcare industries in the mid-west.
2. Helped establish food-buying clubs that evolved into food co-ops in the 1970’s.
3. Lived and worked in housing co-ops in the 1970’s.
4. Served on co-op boards and union/community support committees into the early 1980’s.
5. Lived and worked as a chef in the UK, India and Australia in the mid 80’s.
6. Moved to the Northwest in 1987. Owned and operated a country inn and small restaurant in the Columbia River Gorge.
7. Re-engaged with the co-op movement when we moved to Portland, OR in 1998.

Over the past thirteen years I have been developing and using my skills to train co-ops & non-profits in formal consensus decision making processes, co-op governance, anti-oppression work, worker self-management, and using open space technology to explore and resolve issues. I’m a professional member of the Democracy at Work Network a program of the US Federation of Worker Co-ops.