Area of Interest
collaborative leadership
community organizing
leading across boundaries
community peacebuilding
civic engagement
About Me
I've grown up in Eritrea (which used to be part of Ethiopia) where a 30 year war of independence culminated in a new country in 1991. In many respects, war and peacebuilding have influenced my thinking and have added a strong sense of relativism and humility to my life.
I've made Canada my home 15 years ago, a period in my life marked by active civic engagement, social justice, peacebuilding and community development. I live in Toronto where the world lives, with very high levels of diversity.
I'm part of the senior management team at United Way Toronto and work with a team of people to provide various types of organizational and leadership development support to nonprofits in Toronto, Canada. My team and I are also involved in supporting resident engagement and capacity building as part of neighbourhood development in 13 high-needs neighbourhoods of Toronto.
My educational background and research was actually in the field of marine ecology, which I practiced for more than 10 years, with a particular focus on coral reef ecology. In this role, I've travelled to many seas and countries to do field work, including the Persian Gulf (after the first Gulf War).
I often use marine ecosystem metaphors to make sense of organizational behaviour and health. The "theory of change" in marine and human ecosystems are pretty similar :-). The works of Margaret Wheatly and others who link complexity theory to natural sciences resonate well with how I approach my professional work and community life.
