# Organization development work and facilitation training My primary OD mentor has been my mother, Moe. She’s been working with teams and organizations since at least the ‘90s and is truly a world expert. I’m honored to have her mentorship. I completed a Master of Arts in Organization Development & Leadership from Fielding Graduate University in 2024. A few thinkers in our field are particularly inspiring to me: - Yabome Gilpin-Jackson, especially her work on [transformational learning](https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9781626564046) and [trauma](https://sldconsulting.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/ODReview_vol54_no1-Gilpin-Jackson.pdf) - Kurt Lewin, especially his work on conceptualizing the role of group process in creating healing in a broken world - Gervaise Bushe and Robert Marshak, who’s conceptualization of “[dialogic OD](https://gervasebushe.ca/practicing.pdf)” has brought our work into the 21st century I completed a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from [Quest University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_University) in 2018. I specialized in the question, “How are worlds built?”. My primary curiosity was about how the stories we tell--especially the ones we tell ourselves--dictate and shape our world. I was particularly influenced by tobias c. van veen, Shira Weidenbaum, I loved writing: - [[Reading Science Fiction - A Case Study in What It Means to be Human]] - [[Pan’s Labyrinth]] - [[What is Don Quixote? Sand on the Banks of the River Tagus]] # Grief tending I work primarily in the lineage of Malidoma and Sobonfu Some. The Dagara Cosmology, which I’ve learned primarily through spending time with individuals who knew Malidoma and Sobonfu and, secondarily, through their writing (The Healing Wisdom of Africa, The Spirit of Intimacy, etc.), guides my conception of grief and it’s role in community. Having never met Malidoma or Sobonfu, though, I’ve been brought into the tradition with the support of several mentors: - [Ian Carrick](www.openhubsinging.com/ian-carrick), my brother - [Laurence Cole](https://www.laurencecole.com/) - [Mary Hart](https://www.harttoheartcoaching.com/blank-1) - [Therese Charvet](https://sacredgroves.com/about-sacred-groves/) - [Joshua Lowe](https://www.griefandgratitude.net/) I completed a year-long mentorship program co-led by Laurence, Mary, and Therese in early 2025.