The Change Exploratory has been set up by Chris Chapman. Chris has a grandly titled MSC in Change Agent Skills and Strategies from the University of Surrey and is well linked in with highly relevant global networks such as the ‘Association of Sustainability Practitioners’, the ‘Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations that Matter’ and the ‘ALIA - Authentic Leadership in Action’.

Chris has a strong network of people that he likes to work with across the worlds of sustainability and coaching / facilitation, both in Ireland and internationally. He is committed to bringing together the best possible team for each job and committed to passing on skills and knowledge so that each piece of work has the maximum lasting benefits.

To get an idea of the skills and experience of some of the people Chris consults and partners with on particular pieces of work, please see below :

Katie Venner is a group and organisational facilitator who specialises in Action Learning.  One of her particular current interests is in the use of Learning Histories to support organisational learning from complex change projects.  Much of Katie’s background is with the cultural and creative sectors, where she has worked for the last 30 years.

Katie co-runs a village bakery which uses a traditional wood-fired masonry oven to bake bread and pizzas and is one of the founders of her local transition initiative, which has created WoodShare - a training programme in the management of neglected woodland which brokers landowners with woodland that they can’t manage on their own, with people wanting wood for fuel.

Dawn  Schimmelschmidt is a highly experienced learning and development consultant with extensive experience in group facilitation, personal development and coaching (to Chief Executive level).  Her current work includes the development of a holistic model of conflict resolution that facilitates transitions from conflict to negotiation to collaboration.

Dawn has worked extensively in the area of women’s development, founding an international teleconference programme on developing Women and Leadership, attracting renowned speakers, such as Margaret Wheatley.  Her work has looked at redefining leadership and women, and working with women to create their own definitions, effective practice and toolkits.

Ann McKeon set up her own consultancy company in 2001, after almost 20 years working in the public and private sectors.  Her main areas of work are in leadership support and development, working through coaching, action learning, training, and psychometric testing.

Ann has a particular interest in helping clients develop holistic approaches.  In a world where there are rarely neat single answers to complex realities, Ann brings a breadth of interventions that help clients to broaden their own responses to the challenges they face.

As colleagues, our core diagnosis is that as a society and in our organisations, we have a BIG problem in that our internal capacity for ‘doing change’ is for the most part greatly exceeded by the rate and complexity of the external changes that we face.

The best response to this big problem is to find the best people that can help us build our capacity for ‘doing change’.  This means we often need to work beyond the boundaries of any one organisation to develop a broad based approach that works.  By working with someone who is well networked with a wide range of specialist change agents, you have the opportunity to greatly build your own organisation’s capacity.