Welcome to Community Roots, LLC

Welcome to Community Roots! After 12 years at Yellow Wood Associates, where I learned so much from Yellow Wood’s principal, Shanna Ratner, I have decided to break out on my own, starting my own consulting business. In thinking about a name for this business, I instinctively thought about the work I’ve been doing training and coaching communities and organizations in building up their roots, while helping them to consider branching out through collaboration.

I’ve been working in the rural development field for the past 17 years, including 12 years at Yellow Wood and, prior to that, 5 years at the National Association of Development Organizations. Clients I’ve worked with have included federal, state and local governments; nonprofit organizations; foundations and citizens groups. My work over the past 17 years has taken me all over the United States, from New England to Central Appalachia to the Deep South to the Midwest and the West. I hope to continue to work with a diverse array of clients in a variety of natural resource based economic development areas wherever the opportunity may arise.

I’m excited to embark on this new adventure. I hope to write these blog posts once a month to start, in an effort to communicate with colleagues; past, current and future clients; and friends about what I’m up to and what wisdom I can share from my travels, my readings and my work.