WHO ARE WE?

Community Strengths offers a team of experts with considerable experience and knowledge working with systems, communities, organizations, groups, teams and individuals addressing opportunities for learning and transformation.

KRISTIN BODIFORD

Kristin Bodiford is Principal of Community Strengths and brings 20 years of strategic marketing & communications experience to her work with communities, offering skills and expertise in working with groups of people and organizations to create a positive future. Kristin's background in working with communities using dialogue models and other transformative strategies brings a unique blend of expertise to her work supporting community and systems planning for positive change.

Kristin received an MBA from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

GORDON FREEMAN

Gordan Freeman has been involved in community building for almost four decades as a congregational rabbi. Gordon has participated in agencies providing services to the elderly, as well as serving on the boards of Diablo Valley Foundation on Aging and Contra Costa for Every Generation.

Gordon received a Ph.D. in Political Science from UC Berkeley with an emphasis on behavior, theory, and public policy.

JOHN KINYON

John Kinyon is a trainer of the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), a leading member of its global network and organization, and a co-founder of the BayNVC organization.

John facilitates communication training and conflict resolution with individuals, groups, and organizations in settings ranging from workshops, presentations, and practice groups to coaching in personal and professional contexts. John also has a long study of spiritual practice and principles of nonviolence.

John received an M.S. degree in clinical psychology from Penn State University.

 

SUSAN POOR

Susan Poor is a community health, aging services, and end-of-life care specialist with over 25 years experience in health care policy, planning, administration, research, education, and evaluation. She has worked extensively in nonprofit and publicly funded health care programs, with a focus on health coverage for low-income and uninsured populations. She is passionate about building and sustaining healthy communities on all levels; a current professional focus is on community awareness, services, programs, policies, and innovations/best practices related to older adults and their caregivers who wish to remain in their homes and communities as they age. Susan is a Founder and Board Member of San Francisco Village, a member of the San Francisco Long Term Care Coordinating Council, an Advisory Board Member of the San Francisco Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network collaboration, a Steering Committee Member of the San Francisco Network for End-of-Life Care, and the West Coast Director of Outreach and Volunteers for Share The Care.

Susan has a B.A. in Political Science from Brown University and an MPH from the University of California at Berkeley.

 

SARA TRUEBRIDGE

Sara Truebridge is an Education Consultant and a resilience expert who combines her experience and expertise in the areas of education policy, practice and research to promote success and equity for all. Truebridge has consulted and given numerous presentations and workshops throughout the United States from a strengths-based perspective focusing on resilience and positive youth/human development theory, policy and practice to enhance positive school climate, teaching, learning, health, and safety.

Truebridge currently is contracted by Teachers College Press to write a book on resilience, beliefs, and education.  She is also the Educational Consultant for the documentary film, Race To Nowhere.

From 2006-2010 Truebridge was a Research Associate at WestEd, a non-profit research, development, and service agency. In that capacity she was the co-author on a number of publications. Previous to her work at WestEd, Truebridge was the Founder and President of Sincerely, Kids Inc.® a child-centered consulting firm providing Educational C.A.R.E. -- Consulting, Advocacy, Resources and Education. As a credentialed teacher, Truebridge has over 20 years of classroom experience ranging from Pre-K to High School. Prior to becoming a teacher, Truebridge was the Legislative Analyst for education issues and women’s issues in the New York State Senate and was later appointed to be the Special Assistant to the New York State Secretary of State.

Sara earned her Ed.D. and M.A. from Mills College and B.A. from Denison University. She holds certificates from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s program, Closing the Achievement Gap and UC Berkeley’s program, Children and the Changing Family. Click here for Sara's Bio.

PARTNERS AND CLIENTS

ICOHERE AND OVATIONNET- PASCAL KAPLAN

iCohere provides a highly configurable collaboration platform for online events and professional communities. Since 2001, The iCohere team has been an innovator in online learning, knowledge communities and large-scale online events.

OvationNet is the result of a close collaboration between David Cooperrider and the founders of iCohere, Pascal Kaplan and Soren Kaplan. The goal of OvationNet is simple: to provide consultants, change agents and organizations with leading edge capabilities in Appreciative Inquiry that advance AI practice in the field.

OvationNet makes available tools and resources that harness the power of online learning and web community technology in ways that support individual, group, organizational and whole system change processes.

Pascal Kaplan leads the product design and technical strategy teams for OvationNet and iCohere, including software development, support and implementation services. Pascal possesses a unique background that blends education, business and technology.

Pascal received a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Community Strengths is a lead consultant to OVATIONNET, providing engagement and planning support for large scale Appreciative Inquiry projects, including the Global Summit on Social Responsibility sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives,the Early Childhood Education Alliance init iative sponsored by the California Teachers Association and the Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools Summit sponsored by the National Dairy Council.

 

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY - DEBI ELLIOTT

Debi Elliott is Director of Survey Research Lab, a part of the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, as well as a Research Associate with the Regional Research Institute for Human Services (RRI), a part of the Graduate School of Social Work, both at Portland State University.

PSU SRL serves as the research design and implementation partner for Community Strengths projects.

Debi received a Ph.D. and MA in the area of clinical child psychology at Ohio State University and a BS in psychology from University of Washington.

 

UC BERKELEY - ANDREW SCHARLACH

Andy Scharlach is a Professor of Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley, where he holds the Eugene and Rose Kleiner Chair in Aging and directs the Gerontology specialization in the School of Social Welfare. He also serves as Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services, which conducts research designed to inform development of innovative and effective services for older adults. In addition, Professor Scharlach serves as a gubernatorial appointee on the California Commission on Aging.

The Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services is co-sponsor with Community Strengths for the Creating Aging-Friendly Communities initiaitive.

Andy received a B.A. (Mathematics), University of California, Berkeley, 1972; M.S. (Social Services), Boston University, 1976; Ph.D. (Psychology), Stanford University, 1985.

 

ZERO TOLERANCE - DEVORAH LEVINE

Devorah Levine is currently responsible for the coordination of an initiative of the Board of Supervisors - Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence, a partnership of public and private agencies designed to reduce domestic/family violence and elder abuse.

Community Strengths is supporting the development of Families Thrive an initiative of Zero Tolerance for Domestic Violence.

Devorah received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

ADVISORS

ALAN MOBLEY
Alan Mobley has worked extensively in urban reentry and justice planning, and assists community groups and all manner of entrepreneurs in building inclusive justice collaborations. Alan is Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Urban Studies at San Diego State University, and Associate Director of the Northwest Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice.

Alan received a Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of California at Irvine.

CHRIS PANOS
Chris Panos is currently a founder and principal of Fundamental Investment Advisors. He has studied Tibetan Buddhism, Korean Zen, and American Japanese Zen since 1975. Chris has founded several successful businesses over the past 25 years: among them are Panos Financial, Tibet Café, Groundswell Productions, Athena Mills, and Fundamental Investment Advisors.

Chris founded the Bay Area Peacemaker Circle, has been extensively involved with Tibetan refugees, and serves as President of the Board of Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco. He is a Social Action Dharma Holder in the Zen Peacemakers Sangha and Co-Chair of the Zen Peacemakers Board.

Chris received a BA from Indiana University and a MBA from the University of Chicago.

SAMUEL WATSON-ALVÁN
Samuel Watson-Alván brings expertise in the areas of: large-scale systems reform dealing with education, family policy, mass-scale emergency planning, and criminal justice; strategic analysis and planning; process design, and facilitation; community needs assessments, leadership development, and self-governance; systems thinking; learning conversations; and dialogue.

Sam has over 20 years of experience in public service and private consulting in the non-profit and public sectors and has worked internationally in a variety of settings, particularly in Latin America.

Currently, Sam is a senior strategist with the Washington State Department of Health and also consulting in private practice. His current interests include the social dimension of sustainability, the spirituality of community and work, and speaking with leaders, children and youth about these issues.