McConnell Family Foundation
SUSI Community of Practice 2020
Design, Facilitation and Graphic Recording of a multi-day online session with Meriko Kubota, Mel Matining, Rekha Pavanantharajah, and Corrina Keeling

Stina and her team took on the challenge of transforming a three-day in-person meeting for a philanthropic learning collaborative into a compelling, highly-engaging virtual meeting. The ease, the co-creation of an environment for authentic connection and learning, and the use of beautiful, real-time scribing was just what our over-ZOOMED nervous systems needed. Wonderful to work you and your incredibly talented team! ~SUSI

Stina and her team helped make the ideas put forward by our members into a reality. They designed a session in a very limited amount of time to cover a great deal – and somehow still made it feel unrushed, reflective and learning-based (which is key for this group). Despite the never-ending barrage of online calls during Covid, this series actually did feel different. And that’s the greatest value. It was a great pleasure Stina – thank you!” ~SUSI

McConnell Family Foundation 2019
Co-Design and Facilitation of Public Interest Journalism in Canada and Digital Threats to Democracy: multi-day offsite retreats at Wasan Island, Ontario convened by McConnell Family Foundation

I have complete trust in Stina. I’ve seen her pivot from a plan when needed and stick to a plan when under pressure to change it. I’ve seen her give lots of space to individuals and prevent others from dominating and taking over a meeting. I’ve seen her laugh, and I’ve seen her cry. No matter the situation, I’ve seen Stina do what needs to be done to advance a group toward its collective goals. 

The benefit of working with Stina is that she doesn’t have a one-size fits all approach – rather, she brings a wide-array of skills to the table and uses them as needed. She reads a room and a situation and adapts accordingly. She leads with her head and her heart and helps other do the same. I am grateful to have worked with Stina. ~ Chad Lubelski, Acting Chief Program Officer, McConnell Family Foundation

WASAN Participant comments:

The Wasan Island meeting both shaped our direction and has enabled the Network to thrive… The benefits of enabling collaboration can sometimes feel intangible and the results are not always easy to track, but it’s safe to say that my current project would not have been possible without the work you did bringing that group of experts together. Thank you!

The session you (McConnell) hosted on threats to democracy last summer brought together a key set of actors that could identify practical solutions and articulate a clear role for philanthropic foundations in supporting positive change… McConnell ultimately played a key role in supporting civil society to bring a child rights perspective to regulating major internet companies in Canada to safeguard their fundamental rights and freedoms in the digital space, including their civil and political rights to become constructive democratic citizens.

---

The Academy For Systems Change 2014-2015

In 2014-2015 Stina was the Artist in Residence, supporting Cohort 1 of the Academy for Systems Change by creating live visual images and codifying the learning over three in-person retreats in the US, Mexico and Canada. (include images)

Stina is a deep and sensitive artist who embodies a powerful observer with the ability to capture deep and complex ideas. Having Stina in the room brings trust that the output will be beautiful and meaningful. ~Academy Faculty

I don’t think we can or should separate out the person and the presence from the product, and Stina is such an authentic, vibrant, intense person — part of the value of her work is just having HER in the meetings. ~Academy Faculty

I believe that visual artifacts are essential to systemic change… in that when people with different backgrounds, experiences, values and orientations come together they need boundary objects that are simple, easy to understand, mutable and co-created to begin to develop a shared understanding. It is around these artifacts that people can begin and learn to tell stories that are more inclusive of themselves and others in how the larger system they are all a part of functions and the roles they play in it. By creating a visual representation, the focus of assessment can go to that artifact, away from the individuals and their position, and thus create better conditions for inquiry. ~Academy Faculty

Making the invisible visible is, first of all and most important, pure magic. From there it opens all sorts of different channels for exchange, understanding, dialogue and collective design. With magic comes beauty and the beauty I have seen emerged from the “invisible” touched me at the deepest level and allowed a connection between mind, body, spirit and, powerfully, with the collective.

Academy for Systems Change – Systems Thinking Resources
Academy for Systems Change – SYSTEM LEADER’S FIELDBOOK

---

Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Learning
Artist In Residence 2020
Born in a pandemic and fueled by a resolute sense of optimism and necessity, Wolf Willow Institute is a community of systems educators, practitioners, guides, activists and artists that exists to serve those dedicated to building a flourishing future for all.

CLIMATE JUSTICE
Future generations are going to ask us what we did in response to knowing that life on our planet was collapsing because of human caused climate change. When we learned that species loss and bio habitat loss was occurring at a rate greater than when the asteroid hit the planet and killed all the dinosaurs. Our ancestors will ask us simply – “What did you do?”

Climate Justice Project 2015
A partnership between the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and UBC, and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by Vancity and Vancouver Foundation.
Purpose: The Climate Justice Project, a partnership between the CCPA and UBC, addresses climate policy from a social justice perspective: we consider the social and economic effects of climate change, and we acknowledge that climate change affects people differently, depending on their position in society.
Stina: Process Design and Facilitation, Graphic Recording Sam Bradd.

---

Canopy 2008, 2014-2021
Strategic Planning and Team Building Retreats
Vision: To protect 30 – 50% of the world’s Ancient and Endangered Forests – and in doing so help protect human health and stabilize our climate, biodiversity and freshwater systems – by 2030. Canopy is in the business of planet saving

Working with a professional facilitator has been an invaluable investment for Canopy! Stina got to know us – our culture and mission as she facilitated us through our strategic planning process. We have worked with Stina in person in the past and she did not miss a beat as she pivoted to a virtual platform over the last two years. ~Canopy

Salish Sea Bioregional Gathering 2017
Interspiritual Centre of Vancouver Society, United Religions Initiative (URI) North America
Design and Facilitation of the gathering
Purpose of the Event: The Salish Sea Bioregional Gathering will focus on turning the negative climate change narrative into a story of public hope and commitment. To re-imagine how to live here in a carbon-constrained future, and in harmonious and just relationships with other peoples, other species, and the life-support processes of Earth.   

Attending the Salish Sea Bioregional Gathering felt like sitting on a well-balanced three-legged stool of learning, relationship-building, and contemplative practice. And that combination was unique and special in a way that I have never before experienced. It was this blend of focusing on the pressing needs of our environment and the taking care of ourselves through contemplation that made this gathering monumental.
~ Sari Heidenreich (URI) North America Regional Coordinator

“That inlet is our oldest ancestor… That is the love we feel for this inlet, this water, our Earth.” ~Tsleil-Waututh Leader, Kayah George, sharing her people’s story of the Burrard Inlet.

We need to be apprentices of this world, not managers of it…We are subject to the same rules of consumption as the rest of the ecosystem.” ~Rex Weyler.

Social Change Institute: Tools, Connection & Leadership 2010, 2011, 2012
Hollyhock Retreat Centre, Cortes Island, Klahoose First Nation Territory
A conference about being your most effective self in the midst of change.
Agenda Co-design, Organizing, Production, Hosting and Facilitation, Documentation, Community Development and Management

Stina is a smart, quick, thoughtful and visionary leader. Her good energy is infectious. Stina has impeccable integrity, warm graciousness, and seamless inclusion ability. I trust her implicitly. I recommend her for just about anything she might determine she can do.” ~Joel Solomon Former Hollyhock Board Chair and Executive Producer of SCI 2010-2012

This is a world class crash course in both change-making and authentic leadership – recommended unreservedly. ~SCI 2011 Participant

I look back at that first conference as being one of the most life-changing experiences I’ve had because it led to some of the most cherished friendships in my life. And, without question, that experience led to the deepest personal growth journeys I have taken. ~SCI 2012 Participant

There are times when societies must change. There’s something happening here. We don’t know what it is. And that’s the beauty of it. We can’t overly design it, and we can’t overly analyze it. It’s called action, it’s called progression, it’s called positivity, it’s called understanding and empathy. ~Kevin Damaski

We are just at the turning point now, between focusing so much on the problems we’ve been facing, to being able to articulate a positive alternative vision, that knits together all of these different pieces. ~Jamie Biggar

The YES position Stina adopts is most helpful in so many ways, and her sense of fun and play round out a wonderful working partnership. I look forward to working with Stina whenever the opportunity arises knowing that she has integrity and a wonderful work ethic and the conference will flow with a sense of ease and grace. ~David Drysdale

Systems Change Studies, University of Calgary 2000
During her final undergrad year of Communications and Fine Art at the University of Calgary, Stina was the Research Assistant for Dr. Ronald Glasberg, an award-winning professor in the department of Communication and Culture. Dr Glasberg taught the History of Western Civilization and founded the Association for the Unity and Integration of Knowledge (AUIK) in 1994. Her early work with Ron was foundational in her understanding of group learning and systems thinking. Ron was the very first “systems thinker” and group facilitator/teacher she studied with.

“In every relationship there exists the need for communication. Discussion and debate ensure that a relationship will move toward discovering a sense of unity. By sharing our individual arguments and experiences we are exposed to challenging thoughts and new ideas. Without seeing opposing views, our solutions… become singular. No individual’s position is omnipotent and therefore all positions are crucial.” (AUIK)

Dr Ron Glasberg’s TedX YYC Talk Learning for Liberation vs Learning for Slavery

“An explosive creativity is fostered by allowing students to articulate how they learn best and harness… their inherent talents… To the extent that a classroom is a kind of mini-community, an opportunity to develop the discursive skills necessary for the larger community to develop a culture of freedom.”