I am the Founder and Principal Consultant of Capacity Consulting. For more than two decades, I have worked with governmental, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations at local, regional, and international levels.
My consulting practice began in 2006 after working in grassroots organizing, followed by government and philanthropy. I came to recognize that these sectors need each other, yet often operate within different cultures, creating distrust and misunderstanding. I created Capacity Consulting from a desire to help bridge these worlds.
During the stillness and spaciousness of the global pandemic, I began to question my practice more deeply. I found myself asking how I could participate in advancing change while working in ways that were congruent with the values underlying social change.
What I discovered during this reflective process was an untenable edge. I could no longer ignore the question: why does the beautifully compelling and powerful struggle for social change reside in structures that are so incongruent with the very values social change aspires to pursue?
For years, I accepted this tension as the price of working for what I believe in. Eventually, I decided to leap away from this edge and into a circle.
From that reflection emerged the Glazed Doughnut Practice. It represents an alternative to the dominant paradigm I define as the Frosted Cake—governed by hierarchy, linearity, and rigidity.
Today, the Glazed Doughnut Practice guides how I approach my work: cultivating side-by-side relationships, creating space for critical reflection, and connecting learning to intentional follow-through.
Capacity Consulting works with individuals and organizations seeking practices that more closely align with their hopes, values, and capacities.
My clients span sectors and regions and include Hispanics in Philanthropy, Bulgarian Fund for Women, Calala Fondo de Mujeres, Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Big Sur Land Trust, City of Salinas, County of Monterey, First 5 Monterey County, Chemonics International, and San Francisco General Hospital, among others.