My professional life has taken me down a rich and varied path - as an actress, a university lecturer, management trainer, and organizational and leadership development consultant and as a leader in boards of professional organizations. On that road, there have been several recurring guiding principles that I have discovered as important questions that bring people, teams and organizations real change in their thinking and approaches, so that they can achieve sustainable outcomes:

• What would happen if we respect and see every person as important and having something to contribute, and we designed organizations that enable people to develop and use their unique capabilities?

• What does understanding the whole, as opposed to its parts bring us when working in organizations?

• How can differing, even conflicting, perspectives contribute to crafting a robust and alive environment?

• How can we use the essence/purpose of what is being done at a given time to guide people in making good decisions and taking good action?

• What can nature teach us about how to successfully operate as organizations, teams, communities and individuals?

These questions are my guides whether through my work as a coach, consultant, mentor and facilitator; whether I am working working with organisations in transition, with individuals developing their leadership or in educational training programs. 

By holding these questions together with my clients we can develop hands on, practical and powerful methods, tools and practices that work for their unique environments.  In working with these questions as our guides we navigate our way into the future together and you are able to continue developing in your unique way long after our work together has finished.

My approach is grounded in the methods, tools, and insights that have come to be known as the Genuine Contact™ approach.  As an active member of the Genuine Contact organization, I have access to a worldwide network of professional colleagues with whom I work and share knowledge.  I am a certified Genuine Contact™ program trainer and Co-Owner.  In this capacity I am certified to provide training in all aspects of the Genuine Contact approach. 

My Background:

I was born in the New Jersey, U.S.A. and lived in the United States until 1989 when I moved to Madrid, Spain.  Since 1993 I have made my home in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  I work in English, Dutch and Spanish and have been involved both in local and international projects in all of these countries. 

I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Ithaca College in 1985 and a Master of Science  in Mass Communication and Intercultural Communication from Boston University in 1989.  I was first trained in Organizational Consulting and Training at the Institute for the Application of Social Sciences (IAS) from 1997 to 1999.  I have since trained in the Genuine Contact™ approach and am Certified as a Genuine Contact Program Trainer since 2011 and am a proud member of the Genuine Contact Program Co-Owner's group.

Throughout my career I have held various leadership positions within different professional organizations including a board position in SIETAR Nederland from 1995 to 1998 as General Secretary on the Board of Group Relations Nederland 2003 to 2010 and as a member of the Leadership and Management Team of the Genuine Contact Organization from 2012 to 2017 and from 2018 to the present. For me working in leadership positions for such purpose driven and idealistic organizations has been both enriching as a person and as a consultant and mentor to leaders and organizations going through change.

I work in conjunction with a large international network of Genuine Contact™ program trainers and professionals and in close cooperation with the following organizations