about me

I am a dancer, facilitator, contemplative activist, urbanist, and optimist working in service of the more beautiful world our hearts know is real. 

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In 2018, I left the United States for a master's in Sustainable Urbanism at the world-leading Bartlett School of Planning at UCL. In planning school, I saw the world with new eyes. I began seeing what is and what can be: the two-way interaction between people and their environment, between internal and external systems and structures. It was both a blessing and a curse. The more I could see, the more I could see how much needed to change. I struggled with significant climate anxiety, and have spent the last four years attempting to better understand and navigate the pathway from individual climate anxiety to collective climate action.

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From here, I made the leap to social-ecological systems transformation. In 2020 I founded a non-profit in Berlin based on connection to self, other, purpose, and planet as another way to engage with climate action. I hold spaces where people can come together to alchemize difficult emotions, process collective trauma and integrate new ways of knowing, being, and doing in the world.

 

I am currently exploring how we can bring in the intelligence of the body and collective awareness to move beyond the barriers currently blocking our path to climate action. I am also curious about how we might integrate creativity-based or "soft" approaches to managing the difficult challenges of our times, from art therapy to meditation and imagination. Can we come from beauty and joy, rather than fear? How do we practice using compassion, empathy and our shared humanity to "stay with the trouble"?  My work attempts to bridge modern cognitive science, contemplative practice, systems thinking and climate psychology to unlock the potential for wisdom and cultural evolution hidden within the meta-crisis.

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I have given speeches to German parliamentary candidates; participated in panels and podcasts on regenerative culture and climate action; provided support and resilience training to youth activists and emerging climate leaders from the UK, Germany, Tanzania, Egypt, Nepal, and South Africa; and was invited by the UK Government to attend COP26 to bring awareness of youth climate anxiety. 

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As a facilitator, I work with several modalities and frameworks including climate psychology, deep listening, Art of Hosting, the Work that Reconnects, collective field work, systems thinking, and embodiment practices. 

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