George co-founded Greater Good Studio in 2011 to use design to heal, be just, and be restorative. Previously, he spent seven years at a global innovation firm before being hired as the first human-centred designer at the Chicago Transit Authority. Since founding Greater Good, he has guided clients and teams through complex projects that honour reality, create ownership, and build power.

George will help us understand the mechanics of power and how to wield it with care as we move forward in our community change efforts. He speaks frequently across the US and internationally. George is an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University. Previously, he was a Full Professor (Adj) at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Louise is a bold and grounded leader with 10+ years' of experience in systems change, policy and evaluation. She is the founder of Caprivian Strip Inc (CSI) and co-steward with the Transition Bridges Project. 

She brings care and intention to uncovering the roots of tangled problems; enabling shifts to greater resilience, sustainability and impact. 

 She believes that co-creating more nimble, transparent and creative institutional spaces is key to the reinvention that we have learned through our most recent pandemic (and polycrises) that we all need.

Margaret (Meg) Wheatley began caring about the world’s people in 1966 as a Peace Corps volunteer in post-war Korea.  In many different roles–speaker, teacher, consultant, advisor, formal leader—she acts from the unshakable conviction that leaders must learn how to invoke people’s inherent generosity, creativity and need for community.

As this world tears us apart, sane leadership on behalf of the human spirit is the only way forward. Since 1973, Meg has taught, consulted, and advised an unusually broad variety of organizations on all continents (except Antarctica). Her clients and audiences range from the head of the U.S. Army to twelve-year-old Girl Scouts, from CEOs and government ministers to small-town ministers, from large universities to rural aboriginal villages.  She has served as full-time graduate management faculty at two universities, and been a formal advisor for leadership programs in England, Croatia, Denmark, Australia and the U.S.  Through Berkana, she has advised leadership initiatives in India, Senegal, Brazil, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mexico, Greece, Canada and Europe.

Meg has authored twelve books and received her doctorate in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University, her Master's in Media Ecology with Neil Postman from N.Y.U., and her Bachelor’s from the University of Rochester (with a year’s study at University College London). She has been honoured for her ground-breaking work by many professional associations, universities, and organizations

Liz Weaver is Co-CEO of Tamarack Institute where she leads our Collective Leadership practice area. Liz is well-known for her thought leadership and is the author of several popular and academic papers. She is a co-catalyst partner with the Collective Impact Forum and collaborates with Inspiring Communities New Zealand and Collaborating for Impact, Australia. Liz is passionate about the power and potential of communities getting to impact on complex issues.  

Liz is passionate about the power and potential of communities getting to impact on complex issues. Before her current role at Tamarack, Liz led the Vibrant Communities Canada team assisting place-based collaborative tables to move their work from idea to impact.

Danya Pastuszek is Co-CEO of Tamarack Institute. She spent ten years as a local intermediary, supporting school-based, neighbourhood-based, and regional outcomes-focused partnerships, in both operational leadership and partnership facilitation roles. She has also worked as a service provider with refugees and with youth and adults impacted by the criminal justice system. In her coaching and facilitation, Danya draws from experience with communities. She joins together racial equity, continuous improvement, adaptive leadership, liberatory design, and social psychology principles.

Sylvia is a Consulting Director of the Tamarack Institute’s Collaboration practice area. She is passionate about community change and what becomes possible when residents and various sector leaders share an aspirational vision for their future. Sylvia believes that when the assets of residents and community are recognized and connected they become powerful drivers of community change.

Dr. Chúk Odenigbo (PhD) is the Consulting Director of Evaluating Impact at the Tamarack. A recognized changemaker in Canada, Chúk’s formal education centres the environment, chemistry, public health and medical geography. With more than a decade of experience in environmental activism, adult education, project management, community engagement and co-designing towards the future, Chúk’s work is not only informed by his academic background but also his lived experiences as a Black Francophone in what is currently Canada. Outside of Tamarack, he is involved in several councils, committees, conferences and movements to reimagine and recreate systems for the well-being of all beings, human and nonhuman. 

Yas is an Associate Director at Tamarack. They are dedicated to community development and engagement, prioritizing ethical co-creation and collaboration. With an MA in Adult Education and Community Development, their focus lies in effecting tangible systems change by innovatingly bridging gaps across various fronts including Black liberation, Indigenous sovereignty, anti-racism, belonging, anti-poverty, and climate justice, all in pursuit of just futures.