Our Team

If Deeper Funner Change were a dinner party – which it sometimes is – everyone would hang out in the kitchen. Good wine, great food, provocative conversation…what else would you expect when people ridiculously curious about organizational evolution and co-creating get together?

We bring decades of experience facilitating across continents and sectors with amazing clients. Every project benefits from our team’s deep education in neuroscience, leadership, organizational change, human development, and business.

Julie Huffaker

Secret Weapon. Designs wow-we-did-that experiences that help teams and organizations build collaborative capacity. Part facilitator, part strategic thought partner. Passionate about her paddle board and travel to hard-to-reach places. Past lives: Partner at improv-based consultancy On Your Feet; leadership educator in North America, Europe, Asia and Central America; author of The Deeper Funner Facilitation Cookbook; barista-to-marketing-strategist at Starbucks Coffee Company in 1990’s. Faculty at the Banff Leadership Centre. Cultural anthropologist as Morehead-Cain Scholar at the University of North Carolina, MBA from Portland State University, MA in Human Development and PhD in Organizational Leadership & Change from Fielding University. Portland, Oregon USA


Karen Dawson

Elephant Whisperer* Coaches executives, facilitates team and organizational experiences that build collaboration muscles while getting important work done. Asks provocative questions that help people get unstuck. Loves a good glass of red and cracking open the conversation at a cocktail party. Past lives: theatre teacher; lieutenant in reserve military; instructor with the Canadian Cadet Gliding Program; short stint as a jail matron. Faculty at The Banff Centre, University of Calgary Haskayne School of Business and Royal Roads University. Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University, and PhD from Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Calgary, Alberta Canada

 

Leslie Bevan

Force for Good. Develops leadership in individuals, teams and Boards through coaching, assessment, facilitation and consulting. Deep experience growing teams and leading change; x-ray vision for having the right conversations to drive mission-strategy alignment, innovation and partnership. Crazy about the alchemy of Indian cooking and spending time in nature. Past lives: 20+ years of leadership in the social sector and higher education as Executive Director, Academic Dean, research and program director, and scientist. MS in Exercise Physiology and PhD in Human Physiology from University of Arizona. Certificate in Evidence-Based Coaching from Fielding University. Portland, Oregon USA

 

Jess Lee

Extreme Collaborator. Teaches – and models – highly collaborative leadership by giving teams experience with an extreme form: improv theater. Optimistic, organized and ready to go. Passionate about behavioral psychology, leadership development, and creativity in a world of rules. Doubles as an independent creativity consultant, improv performer and teacher with Washington Improv Theater School, and baker of bread. Usually found near the coffee. Past lives: Executive Coach with InsideTrack, ensemble and faculty, Brody Improv Theater; professional improviser with Portland-based improv troupes Brainwaves, Holy Trinity and others; English teacher and health coordinator in Ghana, West Africa. BA in English, Writing from Pacific Lutheran University. Washington, DC, USA

Melissa Moore

Ninja. Master scheduler, bookkeeper extraordinaire, working behind the scenes on all things administrative. Mom of three beautiful girls. Following a longtime dream, opened her own fitness studio, Fulcrum Fitness + Nutrition. Loves donuts and lifting heavy things. Motto: it’s all about balance. Past lives: purchasing manager for Rona Inc., Administrative Assistant at Cenera and Personal Trainer at Goodlife Fitness. Calgary, Alberta Canada

Nick Rothenberg

Leadership Anthropologist. Helps organizations build mastery in strategic planning, innovation, and change effectiveness. Heads 2Be, a cooperation of consultants and consultancies that focuses on the human dimension. Passionate about helping kids be empowered consumers of media, makes a mean ravioli. Past lives: Documentary film maker; dotcom era survivor; partner and worldwide Entertainment & Media specialist for USWeb/CKS and marchFIRST (overseeing new media biz dev for Hard Rock Cafe, NBC, and The Guggenheim Museum, among others); co-founder of independent film company Urban Nomad Productions. BS from Harvard University, Masters in Anthropology from University of Southern California. Portland, Oregon USA

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