Affiliates and Partners
Pat Hughes is the primary author of Gracious Space: A Practical Guide for Working Better Together, published in 2004 by the Center for Ethical Leadership, and the lead author of Courageous Collaboration with Gracious Space: From Small Openings to Profound Transformation, published in 2011. Pat is the Senior Affiliate for Gracious Space, and provides frequent training and facilitation using the Gracious Space framework and practices. Watch Pat's TEDxEverett talk on Creating Gracious Space.
Pat also owns Trillium Leadership Consulting, where she provides custom-designed leadership programs for organizations, leadership and executive coaching, and facilitation. She has worked for the past 20 years with individuals, organizations and communities to increase their leadership capacity.
She previously served as the Director of Curriculum Development for the Center for Ethical Leadership and as the director of the Leadership Institute (now Leadership Eastside) in Redmond, WA, where she earned the national Preceptor Award in 1995 for innovative program design from the Community Leadership Association. In 2011, Pat received the Diversity Award from the Leadership Eastside Network. A former award-winning journalist, Pat continues to publish articles on themes of leadership, nature and adventure travel.
Pat holds an M.A. in Organization Systems Renewal from Antioch University with an emphasis on sustainable community leadership, and a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from the University of New Hampshire. In her personal time, Pat enjoys hiking, skiing, trail running, cycling, kayaking, reading, gardening and bird watching. She lives in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle with her husband and daughter.
Pat also owns Trillium Leadership Consulting, where she provides custom-designed leadership programs for organizations, leadership and executive coaching, and facilitation. She has worked for the past 20 years with individuals, organizations and communities to increase their leadership capacity.
She previously served as the Director of Curriculum Development for the Center for Ethical Leadership and as the director of the Leadership Institute (now Leadership Eastside) in Redmond, WA, where she earned the national Preceptor Award in 1995 for innovative program design from the Community Leadership Association. In 2011, Pat received the Diversity Award from the Leadership Eastside Network. A former award-winning journalist, Pat continues to publish articles on themes of leadership, nature and adventure travel.
Pat holds an M.A. in Organization Systems Renewal from Antioch University with an emphasis on sustainable community leadership, and a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from the University of New Hampshire. In her personal time, Pat enjoys hiking, skiing, trail running, cycling, kayaking, reading, gardening and bird watching. She lives in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle with her husband and daughter.
Dr. Dale Nienow was Executive Director of the Center for Ethical Leadership from 2005-2015. He creates Gracious Space where people can work across boundaries to form collective leadership. He is known for helping people open up to deeper dialogue and new relationships that will move groups and communities forward on their compelling issues. Watch Dale's TEDxSeattleU talk on the Power of Opening Up.
Dale co-led the national Kellogg Leadership for Community Change program on behalf of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and is one of the founders of the national Community Learning Exchange. He is co-editor of The Collective Leadership Storybook: Weaving Strong Communities and the monograph, Kellogg Leadership for Community Change: Crossing Boundaries, Strengthening Communities, and is one of the primary authors of Courageous Collaboration with Gracious Space: From Small Openings to Profound Transformations.
He serves on a variety of community boards (the Bush School, Saint Andrew’s Housing Group – now Imagine Housing, Organizational Systems Renewal Northwest, Student Development Administration Graduate Program), consults frequently with a broad range of organizations across sectors, and connects social change agents nationally.
Dale has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Southern California, a Master’s degree in Administration from Pacific Lutheran University, and Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Olaf College.
Dale co-led the national Kellogg Leadership for Community Change program on behalf of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and is one of the founders of the national Community Learning Exchange. He is co-editor of The Collective Leadership Storybook: Weaving Strong Communities and the monograph, Kellogg Leadership for Community Change: Crossing Boundaries, Strengthening Communities, and is one of the primary authors of Courageous Collaboration with Gracious Space: From Small Openings to Profound Transformations.
He serves on a variety of community boards (the Bush School, Saint Andrew’s Housing Group – now Imagine Housing, Organizational Systems Renewal Northwest, Student Development Administration Graduate Program), consults frequently with a broad range of organizations across sectors, and connects social change agents nationally.
Dale has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Southern California, a Master’s degree in Administration from Pacific Lutheran University, and Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Olaf College.
Karma Ruder is a specialist in cultivating community ownership and creating, launching, and supporting community change initiatives. Over the last 30 years, Karma has worked in public and non-profit sectors to create authentic processes that inspire people to move beyond differences and conflict into the creative territory of community and collaboration. Former Seattle Mayor Paul Schell named her a Distinguished Citizen in 1999. Karma was a regular staff member of the Center from 2000 - 2014.
As part of the national Kellogg Leadership for Community Change program to develop collective, place-based leadership, Karma was the lead editor for The Collective Leadership Storybook: Weaving Strong Communities. This book describes the patterns of working together that encourage collective leadership through the stories of communities that have made these patterns a way of life to advance the common good.
Karma works with local and regional change initiatives including supporting Nourishing Networks, a Center initiative. She joins Pat Hughes in deepening and spreading the use of Gracious Space, and is co-author of Courageous Collaboration with Gracious Space: From Small Openings to Profound Transformation.
Karma has undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Human Relations and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, all from the University of Kansas.
As part of the national Kellogg Leadership for Community Change program to develop collective, place-based leadership, Karma was the lead editor for The Collective Leadership Storybook: Weaving Strong Communities. This book describes the patterns of working together that encourage collective leadership through the stories of communities that have made these patterns a way of life to advance the common good.
Karma works with local and regional change initiatives including supporting Nourishing Networks, a Center initiative. She joins Pat Hughes in deepening and spreading the use of Gracious Space, and is co-author of Courageous Collaboration with Gracious Space: From Small Openings to Profound Transformation.
Karma has undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Human Relations and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, all from the University of Kansas.
Dr. Keiko Ozeki,
Keiko Ozeki is passionate about Peacemaking and Healing. With her whole-systems approach, she works for individual and collective healing, team building and leadership development. Keiko creates a space where people can go beyond their boundaries, achieve both expected and unexpected outcomes, and acquire their peak experiences collectively and individually. Formerly coordinating the Center's Peacemaking Circles, Keiko is deeply enjoying connecting with people locally, nationally and internationally. Keiko believes that the differences are the seeds for creativity. She is interested in how people from different social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds cultivate their authentic relationships and maximize their capacity for social/organizational change and innovation.
Keiko is originally from Japan. She has been in charge of intercultural and organizational consulting businesses for 15 years. She also taught intercultural/organizational communication at colleges in Tokyo.
She earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Seattle University in 2013; a M.A. in Organizational Systems and Renewal from Seattle University; and a M.A. in Intercultural and Organizational Communication from San Francisco University.
Keiko Ozeki is passionate about Peacemaking and Healing. With her whole-systems approach, she works for individual and collective healing, team building and leadership development. Keiko creates a space where people can go beyond their boundaries, achieve both expected and unexpected outcomes, and acquire their peak experiences collectively and individually. Formerly coordinating the Center's Peacemaking Circles, Keiko is deeply enjoying connecting with people locally, nationally and internationally. Keiko believes that the differences are the seeds for creativity. She is interested in how people from different social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds cultivate their authentic relationships and maximize their capacity for social/organizational change and innovation.
Keiko is originally from Japan. She has been in charge of intercultural and organizational consulting businesses for 15 years. She also taught intercultural/organizational communication at colleges in Tokyo.
She earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Seattle University in 2013; a M.A. in Organizational Systems and Renewal from Seattle University; and a M.A. in Intercultural and Organizational Communication from San Francisco University.
Linda Benson has 30 years of leadership, management and fund development experience in the non-profit sector. Prior to her current role leading Nourishing Network Central, Linda spent 20 years at Hopelink as Vice President for Community Initiatives and prior to that as Development & Communications Director where she was charged with creating a name, an image and a robust fundraising and leadership base for Hopelink’s vital mission.
Her most recent leadership roles include co-founder of Nourishing Networks and Nourishing Network Institute/Central; the development and launch of the Eastside Timebank; strategic planning and organizational development for Eastside Baby Corner; and as a founding member of a new entity called One Redmond.
Linda’s passion for the infinite capacity of human potential and an unwavering belief that we have the ability to imagine and elicit a different kind of community is what grounds her work. She has a bachelor's degree in business management from Brigham Young University.
Her most recent leadership roles include co-founder of Nourishing Networks and Nourishing Network Institute/Central; the development and launch of the Eastside Timebank; strategic planning and organizational development for Eastside Baby Corner; and as a founding member of a new entity called One Redmond.
Linda’s passion for the infinite capacity of human potential and an unwavering belief that we have the ability to imagine and elicit a different kind of community is what grounds her work. She has a bachelor's degree in business management from Brigham Young University.
James Whitfield is president of Leadership Eastside, a community-based organization that advances leadership for the greater good. In addition to being the organization’s Chief Executive Officer, James plays an active role in curriculum development and delivery for the organization’s two-year Leadership Enrichment Program, as well as its Executive Adaptive Leadership Program. He also heads the organization’s leadership consulting for managers and executives in the business, non-profit, and public sectors.
James employs a decidedly multi-disciplinary approach to his work resulting from broad-based experience in business, non-profit, and government executive management, including having been appointed by the White House to oversee the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Pacific Northwest (Region 10), making him the HHS Secretary’s top representative in the region, splitting his time between Seattle and D.C and managing staff across the nation.
Whitfield has also managed his own small business, been a licensed health insurance agent, served as COO of a cyber-security company, and has held positions on numerous local, statewide, and national boards of directors – including the founding board for Leadership Eastside.
A graduate of the University of Iowa, James has studied health care policy at Harvard; is a noted public speaker on leadership issues; is the author of the hospital patient guide, “Just What the Patient Ordered”; continues to support the board of the Washington Health Foundation; and is a member of the board of elders at Overlake Christian Church - one of the largest congregations in the Pacific Northwest.
James employs a decidedly multi-disciplinary approach to his work resulting from broad-based experience in business, non-profit, and government executive management, including having been appointed by the White House to oversee the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Pacific Northwest (Region 10), making him the HHS Secretary’s top representative in the region, splitting his time between Seattle and D.C and managing staff across the nation.
Whitfield has also managed his own small business, been a licensed health insurance agent, served as COO of a cyber-security company, and has held positions on numerous local, statewide, and national boards of directors – including the founding board for Leadership Eastside.
A graduate of the University of Iowa, James has studied health care policy at Harvard; is a noted public speaker on leadership issues; is the author of the hospital patient guide, “Just What the Patient Ordered”; continues to support the board of the Washington Health Foundation; and is a member of the board of elders at Overlake Christian Church - one of the largest congregations in the Pacific Northwest.