Beehive Strategies

Whether program evaluation (I love a well-done survey!) or a research project, policy advice or food policy council development, organizational development or board training, communications strategy, I’m ready to help. While my deepest area of expertise are in the many topics included in sustainable food systems (food, agriculture, health, economic development, policy, et al), I have consulting experience with nonprofit, government, philanthropic, and universities who work in a variety of fields. Much of my recent consulting has been in farmers market evaluation, from individual market level, to statewide and national efforts to build capacity for evaluating the sector overall.

In my previous roles as mayor and an executive director, I regularly spoke to audience from 5 to 500 people, both locally and at state and national conferences. My speaking style is energetic, content-packed, and motivating, always connecting to the particular audience. I’ve spoken about many topics, from being a woman in elected office, to history of urban food growing, to development of policy agendas, to stories of transforming lives and communities through food, to sustainability & equity in communities, to planning for healthy communities..

I love to teach! From my undergrad degree (25 years ago) focusing on environmental education & environmental justice, to a thesis spent analyzing curricula, to extensive guest lecturing at undergraduate and graduate levels, to four different teaching assistant roles in grad school (sociology, communications, environmental education), to teaching a full community college course, to visiting and teaching in K-12 classrooms, I love both curriculum design and teaching, connecting and translating information to reach the learners where they are at. And, teaching for me is one of the best ways for me to learn and synthesize on a deeper level, even in areas I have existing background in. I’m happy to be a guest lecturer or classroom visitor pro-bono, and I am open to broader teaching opportunities at college/university level, particularly as an adjunct/visiting faculty or lecturer. By the end of 2026 I should have completed my PhD (in Spatial Planning, research on municipal policy & planning around farmers markets).

Whether thinking about how best to ‘move the needle’ on the issue you care about, preparing for or facilitating a strategic plan, or making decisions about organizational structure or futures, we’re ready to help. I’ve done all of these things, in 15+ years as a nonprofit executive director, as a leader of government and nonprofit boards, and as a consultant with organizations. My Strengths-Finder profile includes “Strategic” as a lead characteristic; I am always thinking about how to make the best choices amidst the world of possibilities, the imperfect conditions, and certain uncertainties.