About
I help nonprofits and mission-driven organizations build sustainable, high-functioning, and joyful teams and cultures where people can bring their whole selves and thrive while delivering on mission.
After parallel 20-year careers—co-founding and leading Clear Sky Retreat Center (a nonprofit) and serving as a senior technology leader at companies including IBM and SS&C Technologies—I've transitioned to consulting full-time. I bring a rare combination: deep operational and strategic expertise from senior leadership roles in major companies, combined with decades of hands-on experience building conscious, resilient nonprofit communities and teams.
Two Parallel Journeys
Clear Sky Retreat Center
In 2004, I was a founding member of Clear Sky Retreat Center, a meditation community in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Over two decades, I've served in roles including Board Chair, co-Executive Director, and Associate Teacher, under the guidance of our head teachers Qapel and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei.
Clear Sky became my "living laboratory" for exploring awareness-based approaches to team learning, communication, organizational development, and transformation. When the organization faced near-bankruptcy in 2012, our leadership team guided it through fundamental restructuring to become a flourishing, financially sustainable nonprofit—experience that deeply informs my understanding of the challenges mission-driven organizations face.
Corporate Leadership
Simultaneously, I spent over 20 years as a technology leader in financial services, from an innovative fintech startup (Algorithmics, later acquired by IBM) to senior director roles at IBM and SS&C Technologies, where I led international cross-discipline teams.
I was one of the pioneers of IBM's mindfulness community, which grew to over 10,000 members in 30+ countries. Later, I developed and led a global mindfulness and resilience program at SS&C Technologies, reaching 25,000+ employees. Through this work, I learned how to introduce transformative practices within large, complex organizations while navigating corporate realities and demonstrating measurable impact.
What I Bring
This combination—hands-on nonprofit leadership and large-scale corporate experience—gives me an unusual perspective on what it takes to build organizations that are both mission-driven and operationally excellent.
I believe that to address the complex challenges of our time, we need organizations where people can bring their whole selves to work—their passion, creativity, and deepest values—while also building the operational excellence needed to have real impact. Too often, mission-driven organizations struggle with burnout, financial sustainability, and team dysfunction despite the dedication of their people.
My approach integrates:
Operational excellence but based on heart: Strategic planning, decision-making processes, financial sustainability, governance structures
Mindful leadership: Presence, resilience, and self-awareness as foundations for effective action
The real, messy deeper work: Getting into and freeing up blocks around money, power, hierarchy, and burnout
Values-based culture: Aligning daily operations with deeper purpose and mission
I also hold a Ph.D. in philosophy, which allows me to think systemically, integrate academic research on organizational development, and help organizations see patterns and possibilities they might otherwise miss.
Ready to CONNECT?
If you're leading an organization where burnout, distraction, and lack of engagement are holding your teams back, let's talk.
Schedule a Free Discovery Conversation
In 30-45 minutes, we'll explore:
What's really going on in your organization
The patterns keeping your teams stuck
What it might look like to shift toward something more sustainable and effective
Whether there's a good fit for working together.
Photos on this page courtesy of Ava MacLean
