The Why and Who Behind Salmonberry

Purpose

Salmonberry Community Strategies exists

to help community leaders

craft more sustainable strategies,

nurture healthier organizational culture,

and tell better stories.

I am a storytelling and strategy consultant, creative writer, community cultivator, and facilitator. I’ve worked in economic development in the public sector, been an investor and entrepreneur in the private sector, directed philanthropic programs in the nonprofit sector, and spent 16+ years learning from and contributing to many community-based organizations.

Originally from the San Luis Valley, a high desert farming community in southern Colorado, I have early lived experience in poverty and rural life. From there, I went on to live in various places around the Western United States and globally as my family migrated in search of work. I returned to Colorado to be part of my own love story—a move that gained me a husband and three kids in few short years (long story, but we had twins). I have a B.A. in psychology and am Jesuit educated, holding a graduate degree in nonprofit management from Regis University, which is where I began to imagine my role in building a more just and humane world. Over time, this has become my life's work, growing me into a firm advocate for social, racial, and economic justice rooted in community, trust, and relationships.

I now live in Olympia, WA with my family and support communities through strategy and systems work, capacity building, and storytelling as the founder and principal at Salmonberry Community Strategies. When I’m not fiddling with system maps, investing in local sauerkraut, or plotting a mutiny, you’ll find me teaching my three teen boys how to cook; wandering a rainforest, mountain, or beach on the lands of the Coast Salish people with my husband; writing science fiction; or around the fire with friends.

The name Salmonberry was chosen to reflect the ethos and wisdom embodied by the salmonberry plant (rubus spectabilis), which thrives in the lush Pacific Northwest forest where Salmonberry Community Strategies was founded.

Salmonberry plants often grow along the banks of streams, protecting our local watershed and providing sustenance and shelter for birds and small forest animals. The salmonberry's vibrant pink flowers announce the arrival of spring, inviting hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators into life’s dance of regeneration. The first berries to ripen each year, salmonberries are a sign of more abundance to come.

Following the salmonberry’s model, Salmonberry Community Strategies is here to support a healthy connected ecosystem where people and community organizations find shelter, growth, possibility, hope, and abundance.