About & contact
My Story
My life has unfolded as a beautiful blend of two primary influences: My father was a lawyer by profession and a philosopher by temperament — ever-oriented to the highest good.
In the late 50s, my mother saved her sanity through women’s consciousness-raising groups and broke ranks with being a housewife to become an educator, and ultimately an excellent psychotherapist. Community was her passion, including the power of groups to help people and societies live wisely and well.
Early on, my father introduced me to books like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the Club of Rome’s Limits to Growth. I remember thinking through their conclusions and choosing to make a difference. Starting in my teens, I worked on environmental and community issues — helping in civic elections, initiating a recycling program in my high school, volunteering in drama classes for deaf-mute people.
I studied economics (University of Sussex, England) to gain tools to influence public policy. I was sadly disappointed, finding economic theory to be more self-referenced, status quo-oriented ideology than practical science.
Seeking more effective change levers, I accepted an invitation from The North-South Institute to work on projects evaluating Canada’s aid and trade policies. This opened the way for a brief stint in the Policy Planning Secretariat of Canada’s Department of External Affairs which I think of as a short course in realpolitik, one that has given me lifelong respect for people who work to make change within large institutions.
After post graduate studies in political economy, I joined another policy think tank: Energy Probe Research Foundation. Jane Jacobs, a director of the foundation, was a potent mentor, and I worked in a smart and dynamic collective of policy researchers. It was challenging and fun, convening seminars and conferences, designing media events, making deputations to government.
Several years later however, I began to question many aspects of the activist world. I saw in myself and in others many unresolved authority issues. I noticed the self-righteousness, and sometimes down right viciousness. “Fighting for change” led to more fighting for change — within organizations, between organizations and between sectors.
My first step was to go independent as a freelance researcher and consultant. I worked on numerous contracts, noticing how the patterns and learnings from one sector (women’s issues or nuclear policy) intersected and informed another (community currencies or urban transportation). On a parallel track I was in therapy and attending personal growth workshops.
Then my early 30s everything came tumbling down. I had poured heart and soul into two big community projects and they both went sour within weeks of each other. The burn out I experienced was devastating. I couldn’t go on as before, and began to search for ways of working that are win-win-win for individuals, communities and the planet.
Soon after, a friend gave me a book about the Findhorn Foundation, an educational centre and intentional spiritual community in Northern Scotland. That book inspired a two week visit to the community which turned into a three year apprenticeship where I learned inner work approaches and was part of decision-making and governance systems based on inner wisdom. Their effectiveness was dazzling. I also met a wonderful man who has been my partner ever since, and made the twenty inch journey from living predominantly in my head to opening my heart.
In 1993, my husband and I left the Foundation and returned to Canada via India, where we spent six months primarily in silent meditation retreats. In 1994, I returned to full time consulting with the purpose of utilizing and sharing the tools and insights I gained in Scotland. This I have continued, but for a brief period in a fundraising consultancy when I needed regular hours to better care for my daughter (born 1995).
For more on my current work, see What I do. For samples of past work, see Past Projects.
Kate has a profound gift for linking personal and social transformational practices. Her ability to articulate ineffable aspects of self-discovery and group process is extraordinary.
Inner Work
Inner work means ways of working that are interior, based in intuition, perception, intention and consciousness. It doesn’t replace logical thinking, experience, and practical know how. Rather it complements them by offering ways to harness our inner knowing for all sorts of situations.
You can use inner work to:
- set the direction and strategy for a project or task;
- make decisions quickly and with confidence;
- gain insight into relationship challenges;
- bring awareness and choice to how you frame issues and situations;
- sort through confusion or emotional turmoil
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You can also use inner work in groups to harness collective wisdom and cut to the chase in group processes.
Inner work is important because it offers quick and reliable ways to deal with complex situations. It is also a magnet, bringing individuals and groups home to what is most important and most authentic.
To learn about my top ten approaches to inner work, see Make Light Work.
It’s a book I wrote to share with you and others ways of working that are simple, practical, and potentially revolutionary.
I first found them in 1990, after crushing disappointments in my work for social change left me bruised and confused. I knew I couldn’t carry on as I had been, and began a quest to find ways of working that are win-win-win for individuals, communities, and the planet.
The core message of the book is that it is possible to “make light work” in our lives. Whatever challenges you face, whatever confusion you have, “Everything you need is inside.”
“Well”, you might say. “That is all fine and dandy, but what do I do Monday morning?”
The book offers practical answers — introducing a suite of tools with at least one approach for every type of circumstance and situation.
Included are chapters on:
- Automatic Writing
- Burning Your Wood
- Framing
- Flirts
- Guiding Images
- Multiple Options
- and more