Our growing team of allies and affiliates is committed to embody the Leadership for Collective Wisdom framework with each other, and in every action we take as a Center.
John Ott • Co-founder • Ally
John has designed and facilitated successful large-scale change efforts for over 30 years. These efforts have included stakeholder processes to confront major budget shortfalls, plan for major systems transformation, and improve outcomes of community well-being.
He has consulted with foundations; state, county, and local governments; small businesses and a multi-national corporation; local schools and schools districts; and myriad non-profit and community-based organizations.
Early in his career John was a faculty member at Duke University’s Public Policy Department, and helped launch the Hart Leadership Program there. He also started and led several non-profit organizations and worked as a community organizer.
John is co-author of The Power of Collective Wisdom and the Trap of Collective Folly, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2009, and Centered on the Edge, published by the Fetzer Institute in 2001.
John holds a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and a JD from Stanford Law School.
Rose Pinard • Co-founder • Ally
Rose has more than 25 years of experience as a corporate manager, organizational researcher, organizational development consultant, and coach. For the past decade she has also designed and implemented large-scale organizational and community change efforts.
Her career began on a fast-track management program within the Finance Department at Chevron Corporation with broad exposure to operations and active mentoring by senior executives. Since then, she has worked with a diverse array of organizations, including foundations and organizations within the public, non-profit, and private sectors.
Her academic research focused on how to help organizations and large systems continually learn, reflect, and adapt through a disciplined approach to dialogue. Her passion is to help organizations and systems develop the capacity to become a lasting “we” – to discover our shared commitment to a desired future, creatively work through differences, and use data to evolve, as needed, to realize breakthrough results that significantly improve people’s lives.
Rose holds a B.S. in Business Administration with honors and an M.S. and Ph.D. in organizational development and organizational psychology.
Rose was born in South Korea and is conversationally fluent in Korean.
Glenna Gerard • Ally
Glenna Gerard is a gifted facilitator, coach, designer, and leader, with 25+ years of experience working in both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. Her passion is designing and facilitating structures that enable individuals and groups to access and bring forward their unique gifts and tap into collective wisdom, to produce the outcomes they desire.
In the 1990s Glenna pioneered the development of Dialogue within organizations, a form of conversation that fosters collective awareness and wisdom, while building relationships grounded in respect and trust. She co-authored Dialogue: Rediscover the transforming power of conversation, published by John Wiley & Sons in 1998. More recently Glenna has created guided reflection experiences that tap the power of nature and place to build individual and collective capacity for inner stillness, self-awareness, and the wisdom to take clear and necessary action. She also teaches an indigenous framework and practices for individual and collective wisdom.
Over the years, Glenna has designed strategic initiatives using Dialogue; facilitated strategic dialogues in health care systems and universities; created and facilitated leadership programs for senior and executive leaders; coached facilitators and leaders to enhance and grow their skills; and designed and taught curriculum in the areas of Dialogue, facilitation, coaching, leadership, innovation, strategic thinking and reconciling differences.
Glenna graduated from Columbia University, NY, with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. She is conversationally fluent in Spanish.
Collin Rustin • Ally
Collin Rustin has more than 30 years experience as an executive coach, group facilitator and trainer. He has extensive experience helping leaders and managers improve their effectiveness in handling controversial issues and successfully resolving conflicts. He is masterful at helping groups appreciate diversity, understand the value of dialogue, and build cultures of inclusion.
Collin’s practice includes working with emerging leaders in business, government, the service industry, manufacturing, tele-communications, and the military to improve their effectiveness in leading and managing others. He is an adjunct trainer and executive coach for the Center for Creative Leadership® in Greensboro NC.
Collin has served as Director of Counseling for Staff at UNC-Chapel Hill and Regional Director of the National Coalition Building Institute, Inc., and is a Board Certified Coach under the Center for Credential Education. He has a BA in Psychology and a MA in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC.
Ken Ithiphol • Learning Ally
Ken Ithiphol began his career as a social researcher, specializing in helping communities to measure and improve the quality of life of their members, and helping organizations to measure and improve the quality and impact of their services. He has more than 10 years of experience conducting primary and secondary research, focusing on a wide array of issues, including physical health, mental health, and homelessness.
Ken believes in the use of valid, compelling, and meaningful data to effect social change, and is committed to helping communities and organizations to deepen their capacity to gather and use such data to: facilitate learning dialogues, take action guided by collective wisdom, and tell their stories.
Ken holds a BA in Psychology and Legal Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is also conversationally fluent in Thai.
Bert Grimm • Online Engagement Ally
Bert Grimm is a videographer, editor and website designer who specializes in visual copywriting, shooting and producing high impact, results-driven video and websites. He has produced videos for a variety of clients in many different fields, from health to business to travel to entertainment to product training and news. In the past few years, he has shot videos in Latin and South America, Africa, Polynesia, Europe and Russia.His clients include CNN, Jack Canfield, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Nolo, Boomer Dispatches, Amy Gibson, Advanced Biocell, and Southland Collie Rescue.
Bert served in the Peace Corps as a rural construction volunteer in Togo, West Africa and spent several years in Haiti, collecting and exporting art for Ta Matete Gallery. An avid sailor, Captain Bert spends as much time as possible on his sailboat in Santa Barbara.
Bert holds a BA in Microbiology from Northwestern University and is an irrepressible entrepreneur and product developer.
