Advisor Profiles

Personal Intro

Where you are based/live/work from (including your time zone):

Dallas-Fort Worth area/Central Time Zone

An overview of your work (including and beyond Collective Mind):

My work is rooted in building relationships. I believe that people are the solutions to every problem we face and it is through relationships that transformation can occur. I am a consultant to a number of institutions offering guidance, partnership development and training to build organizational and community capacity. I am a convener and have been a part of the creation of several networks including the South Dallas Employment Project which has more than 140 organizations involved to provide support for those impacted by incarceration.

An interesting fact about yourself:

I LOVE MUSIC!!! In my free time, it is enjoyable to relax listening to music from the 80s and 90s!

Your network experience

Share a few sentences about how you started working with networks/your network origin story.

I started working with networks without even realizing that’s what I was doing. I have always been a person that was a connector and facilitator of networks. It wasn’t until I met June Holley and read her work that I realized that this work had a name!!! I started building networks officially through my work at World Vision in working with local partners in cities across the United States by starting Community Engagement Days. These convenings flourished into cohorts of organizations that were focused on serving a focused geography.

In your view, what are the three most critical assets of a network?

Relationships, Communication, Culture

What are a few common network challenges you’ve come across?

Lack of Energy/Disconnection; Lack of Focus

What are a few important lessons you’ve learned from working with networks?

One of the most important things I’ve learned is that a shared language is critical.

Never make assumptions that everyone is on the same page or in agreement.

The initial focus can change. Be willing to evolve.

Your philosophy/approach as an advisor to networks

A few sentences that describe how you will approach your role as an advisor. What can subscribers expect when working with you?

My approach as an advisor is to bring out the best in everyone I work with. I will not only provide information as needed but also serve as a catalyst to embrace new ways of thinking and knowing as well to ensure that the network is healthy and thriving.

Click here to add advisory hours with Froswa’.

Personal Intro

Where you are based/live/work from (including your time zone):

I reside on the fringe of the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. So, no it is not gated, nor pristine, but rather has the vibrancy of the diaspora and all the typical trials and tribulations and gifts associated with it. (SAST — South Africa Standard Time)

An overview of your work (including and beyond Collective Mind):

Half of my year is spent facilitating management and leadership training of Masters Students in Public Health for the University of the Western Cape and updating course content. The rest is a mish-mash of emergent needs that spans team and individual engagements, and parenting two young adults (yes, that too is work). Well-being and psychosocial support remain a key approach in a society with disparity, inequality and riddled with all the -isms racism, sexism etc. and increasingly a denial of the effects of the recent pandemic. This stems from my experience in managing a program called Wellness for Effective Leadership under the Health Systems Trust. I coach executives in senior government and academia and increasingly start-up entrepreneurial teams. I partner with colleagues working in the educational sector and work with school systems and their emerging needs. I support a number of NGO’s and NPO’s with organizational and relationship systems challenges across sectors. My communities of practice include CRR Afrika (Centre of Right Relationships) and our Collective Mind cohort.

An interesting fact about yourself:

I have withdrawal symptoms if I do not see the ocean periodically, I love reading, swimming, kundalini yoga, and jazz music, especially wind instruments and yes, there is more.

Your network experience

Share a few sentences about how you started working with networks/your network origin story.

Networks have formed part of our upbringing without it being identified as such. From knowledge about the underground political networks to health activism and health workers against apartheid movements through undergraduate years and then being part of the launch of the People’s Health Movement then local community WhatsApp groups and street committees. Then there were sporting networks and more.

In your view, what are the three most critical assets of a network?

The people, their willingness to do the work (both the easy and the not-so-easy) and be part of the solution,

Awareness of the interconnectedness of all systems and necessary structures.

Common/agreed purpose or goal and still having a unique contribution.

These are all encompassed in Collective Mind’s Network Diagnostic Framework.

What are a few common network challenges you’ve come across?

Power and privilege and powerlessness and apathy

Re-inventing the wheel faster once the people in the network realize that others have walked the path before them.

What are a few important lessons you’ve learned from working with networks?

People require the opportunity to view their reality through different and diverse lenses in order to craft their own reality and meaning.

Your philosophy/approach as an advisor to networks

A few sentences that describe how you will approach your role as an advisor. What can subscribers expect when working with you?

My point of entry when engaging with people is that I respect the privilege of engaging with human potential. Whilst I do not know all the answers, I might know someone who knows more. Not all relationships or people gel and that is OK. We start with your agenda, where you are, and where you want to go.

Personal Intro

Where you are based/live/work from (including your time zone):

London, UK (GMT/BST)

An overview of your work (including and beyond Collective Mind):

At my core, I am a facilitator. As a freelance consultant, depending on the need and context, I design and facilitate processes to help groups and networks:

Connect: build trust, develop more ‘safe-enough’ spaces, deepen connections and strengthen teams.

Co-learn: share expertise within groups, harvest insights and problem solve together.

Collaborate: support participation of multiple voices in planning and designing strategies, projects, programmes.

Consensus: pull together and share perspective between diverse groups of stakeholders and involve more voices for collective decision making.

Care: reflect together and support each other.

Most of my career I’ve worked with organizations at the local, national, global levels who support refugees, people seeking asylum, people who have been trafficked, and others forced to migrate. Because of the intersectional nature of this human rights issue, it means I’ve also gained significant experience working with networks, NGOs and government bodies in the health, mental health, social care, education, climate sectors as well as with other more generalist human rights organizations.

Because of the above, I’ve also learned the importance of bringing a Trauma-informed approach to my work, and developed skills and experience in supporting teams and networks to explore how trauma and vicarious trauma impacts the work and ways they can embed self and collective care.

An interesting fact about yourself:

I am obsessed with trees; I have a mindfulness practice, and co-facilitate a weekly mindfulness group; and I love to dance

Your network experience

Share a few sentences about how you started working with networks/your network origin story.

My origin story for networks is also the start of my passion for facilitation. My first job out of university was working as a coordinator for a small youth project at a refugee resettlement organization in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This role meant I worked directly with the young people from refugee families, and also meant that I was often asked to be (or found myself) an advocate for some of the young people when they were having trouble at school, with the local police, with their housing provider, or with local social services etc. I was too young and naive to realize how radical it was to bring representatives from these varied local bodies together. I witnessed for the first time how impactful and inspiring it can be for different stakeholders or peers to collaborate and problem-solve together. This diverse group learned from each other, and began working as a network to continually improve how they worked with and supported refugee young people in the community. This was in the 1990s and I still marvel at the power and potential of networks.

In your view, what are the three most critical assets of a network?

Shared values - these unify, motivate and fuel a network.

Diverse range of expertise, experience, and perspectives - which enriches and expands the ideas & impact.

Community - networks are a place of shared action AND shared support.

What are a few common network challenges you’ve come across?

Dreams and ambitions sometimes outpacing the actual availability of members to engage

Different understandings about the purpose of the network or what to expect / what is expected

Navigating different priorities and/or different perspectives, especially when these are related to differences in power and privilege

What are a few important lessons you’ve learned from working with networks?

Allow time. Networks benefit when time is protected to attend to building connections and trust; and time is required to enable networks to work together through challenges and navigate differences - this shouldn’t be skipped over or dealt with superficially. But the result pays back dividends

Continually check in to see if there is a shared understanding of the aims and purpose of the network and how members feel the network is living its values

Your philosophy/approach as an advisor to networks

A few sentences that describe how you will approach your role as an advisor. What can subscribers expect when working with you?

I’ll bring in a facilitative approach, meaning I won’t direct or instruct you on what would be best for your network. Only your network knows what would be best for your network. Instead, I’ll bring in reflective questions and draw on creative processes to help you dance between big-picture thinking and operational practicalities in order to find patterns, ‘connect the dots’, remove barriers, and strengthen the impact of your work.

Click here to add advisory hours with Tina.

Personal Intro

Where you are based/live/work from (including your time zone):

Florida, US/Eastern time zone

An overview of your work (including and beyond Collective Mind):

I’m the founder of Collective Mind and have been working with and for networks for more than 15 years. Since founding Collective Mind in late 2019, I’ve worked closely with dozens of networks on strategy development, network assessment and evaluation, design and organizational review, convening, fundraising, capacity building, and network strengthening.

An interesting fact about yourself:

I love to dance and have been dancing since I was a kid (mostly jazz and hip hop).

Your network experience

Share a few sentences about how you started working with networks/your network origin story.

I was hired in early 2008 to work on the staff of a global network (the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies). At the time, I had no idea what a network was or how to operate differently in that space. It sent me on a learning journey that continues to this day.

In your view, what are the three most critical assets of a network?

First and foremost, their members, who bring their ideas, experience, knowledge, passion, and other assets to bear within the space of the network. Beyond that, key assets are a) a clear shared purpose that captures the imagination of the members and b) clear, consistent, open, and transparent decision-making processes as the foundation for making things happen together.

What are a few common network challenges you’ve come across?

Some of the common challenges that I see are about setting effective strategies, mobilizing resources and funding, gauging internal network health, and capturing network outcomes and impacts. A more intangible challenge that I think many networks struggle with is just grappling with the complexity of their networks without oversimplifying the work or approaches taken.

What are a few important lessons you’ve learned from working with networks?

Be sure to bring people in at all times. It’s easier for network leaders and managers to make decisions or take actions without bringing members in and along on those journeys. But, ultimately, networks only work when everyone is on the same journey together. This can be incredibly challenging but is necessary and worth it.

Your philosophy/approach as an advisor to networks

A few sentences that describe how you will approach your role as an advisor. What can subscribers expect when working with you?

My goal is to help the networks I work with as an advisor to have as much clarity as possible about their network, both strategically and operationally, at any given time. Given how complex and emergent networks are, this is a tall order – it requires ongoing intentional reflection to test what we think we know and unveil the unknowns. It means asking probing questions, listening deeply, throwing ideas around, not being afraid to play devil’s advocate or think about alternative realities, pushing gently and thoughtfully when needed, and being vulnerable and humble. Ultimately, it is about building a trusting relationship that can be open and highly supportive.

Click here to add advisory hours with Kerstin.