To give you a sense of some of the people who have come together to create the Presence Walkabouts. Here are a few short bios and contact information...
Paul Alexander (seen here with his daughter Sarah) is Director of the Institute on the Common Good at Regis University. Prior to that he served as the Degree Chair for the Master of Nonprofit Management Program (MNM) at Regis. The Institute seeks to facilitate effective social change in the community through the promotion of meaningful dialogue and trust building. It also promotes the concept of the common good, is a public resource on community dialogue and promotes academic discourse on topics related to dialogue. The discourse roots of the Institute stem from the communal discernment tradition in both Quaker and Ignatian Spirituality. He initiated the new leadership curriculum for the MNM program, with its enhanced focus on internal development and service and helped create the Colorado Trust Fellows Project. He has over twenty years experience in the nonprofit sector and has traveled extensively and lived and worked in Spain and Latin America. He currently serves on the boards of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning, the Colorado Nonprofit Loan Fund, the International Multicultural Institute, the Rocky Mountain Regional Steering Committee of the PeaceJam Foundation, and the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado. He has a Ph.D. in Community Dialogue from Union Institute and University.
Ken Robinson writes “By nature, I am a philosopher – I suppose I am also a bit of a monk, but with little discipline. By vocation, I am an attorney although I have had four other careers this lifetime. My most fun occupation was that of a rock and roll musician a long time ago in another universe called the 60’s. Spiritually, I am somewhat of a born-again Pagan/Buddhist. I was a student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder in the 70’s. He was/is my only teacher in the sense of a guru. In the last two decades my spiritual practice has centered more on the Earth. I and several members of my tribe own and steward 180 acres of remote and sacred land near Boulder where we hold retreats. We call the land Sapphire Canyon and it has become one of the centers of the Universe for me, the other being Iao Valley on Maui. I have become very interested in group inquiry and the spirit of Dialogue has infused my practice, as has the power of ceremony and shamanically-oriented ritual. I am currently single with no children. And I still hold an abiding appreciation of the feminine. I have lived in Boulder for over thirty years and, as yet, I have found no reason to leave, save for Maui. At some point I may think about becoming bi-coastal, metaphorically speaking at least. A recent passion is Argentine tango. I have always loved to dance.”
Nikki Moss is Supervisor, Organizational Learning for DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE), a diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Moss currently serves as member of and was the driving force behind establishing DTE Energy’s Diversity Leadership Council, which is responsible for setting the diversity strategy for the enterprise. She is responsible for defining and implementing the company’s employee development curriculum which includes diversity, career development, mentoring programs and other soft-skills training. She is responsible for overseeing the training facilities at the company’s corporate headquarters which includes the often benchmarked “Learning Zone”, a facility designed to promote employee development and wellness.
Moss began her professional career when she joined Detroit Edison, a subsidiary of DTE Energy, in 1977 as a college recruiter. She has extensive experience in Human Resources which includes College Relations and Recruiting, Diversity Management, policy development and most recently Organizational Learning. Additional experience was gained in Customer Satisfaction and Customer Relations.
Moss recently served as a panelist at Ford Motor Company’s annual Diversity Summit and at Opera America’s Opera Conference 2005: Diverse Voices. She volunteered as a workshop presenter for the 2005 Girls Matter Conference. Moss is an active member of Hope United Methodist Church in Southfield, Michigan, and has served as Leader of the Youth Fellowship, Chairperson of the Black History Month Celebration and most recently as member of the Women’s Retreat committee for two years.
In 1997, Moss was nominated and chosen to receive the Sarah Sheridan Award for her “I Can Help Program”. The Sarah Sheridan Award is DTE Energy’s most prestigious award for customer service and honors employees who are making a difference through their efforts to serve the customer. Moss also is a recipient of DTE Energy’s Walter J. McCarthy Award of Volunteerism for the work she did in creating and implementing a Rites of Passage Program for the youth of Hope United Methodist Church.
Moss earned a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources from Oakland University. She is married to Gary Moss and they have two sons, Jelani and Shomari.
Greg Nees, Ph.D., works internationally as an interculturalist, psychologist, educator, and team development coach. He is the author of Germany, Unraveling an Enigma, which was received with great acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. He has degrees in psychology, applied linguistics and communication and has taught at the University of Colorado in Boulder. While living in Europe from 1977 to 1990 he became fluent in German and taught applied linguistics and cultural studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. In addition he taught English to executives at the BASF Corporation and also worked as a free lance translator and interpreter. During this period in Europe he found his calling building bridges of understanding between different peoples and cultures of the world. Today he works internationally helping organizations and multicultural teams learn to collaborate more effectively by understanding how culture and mind intersect to create different mind-sets and behavioral patterns. He lives with his wife in Longmont, Colorado where he also leads decision-making courses to help people develop the power of personal choice in their lives. His hobbies include hiking, yoga, meditation, writing and reading. You may view his website at www.german-connection.Com
Paul Cello works in both the corporate and non-profit sectors in the areas of coaching, leadership/management training, and productivity consulting. Paul teaches coaching, meeting planning and facilitation, and leadership/management skills at the corporate level. Paul received his education from Bennington College in Vermont, focusing his studies on theatre and psychology. He was trained by Kristin Linklater, one of the world’s pre-eminent voice and improvisational teachers and has worked with some of the most prestigious theatre companies in the world including Steppenwolf Theatre, Shakespeare and Company, the Royal Court and National Theatre in London and the New York Shakespeare Festival
