Hi! I’m Jo.

I’m a facilitator and educator in Portland, Oregon. I create spaces for humans to connect more deeply with our authentic selves, with each other, and with the larger webs of community, humanity, and nature within which we are all nested. I’ve been working with groups of all ages for over fifteen years and am consistently inspired and moved by the power of connection to transform our lives and communities.

For as long as I can remember, I have been driven by a deep need for authentic connection. Raised in the Yampa Valley in the mountains of northwestern Colorado, I grew up in a small community and with a deep sense of place. As a teen, I also struggled with depression, anxiety, and deep loneliness, and turned toward substance use and self-harm as a way to manage and cope with my intense and often confusing emotional experiences.

Because of these early experiences, I was drawn to working with “at-risk” youth and committed myself to supporting them in their social and emotional development through creating experiences of connection, empowerment, and mutual vulnerability: experiences that I had lacked as a young person. I quickly realized that the most powerful tool that I had as a leader and educator was my own authenticity, and that modeling my commitment to my own ongoing social and emotional development was more effective than any content or ideas that I might share. In other words, my “outer work” was a direct extension of my “inner work”. That understanding has continued to inform my work to this day: no matter what space I am in, I bring my whole self and invite others to do the same.

Over years of following my curiosity and embracing opportunity, I’ve found myself on a lifelong journey prompted by the burning question of what it means to be human and how a deeper understanding of our shared humanity can inform the ways we show up in our work, our relationships, and our communities. I have worked in the diverse fields of ecological restoration, massage therapy, environmental education, and challenge course facilitation, as well as teaching social-emotional skills to youth in both classroom and out-of-school settings. In the process, I have developed a unique approach to working with groups that is informed by science (specifically neurobiology, ecology, and theories of group development), a belief in the transformative power of play and experiential learning, and a deep respect for the wisdom of our emotions and nervous systems.

I have a Master’s of Science in Teaching and am a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher. I have studied the impacts of developmental trauma through Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Network and the science of interpersonal neurobiology with Dr. Dan Siegel’s Mindsight Institute. I have been facilitating groups of all ages for over a decade and bring a trauma-informed, equity-centered, systems-oriented lens to everything that I do. I love working with groups and individuals in all kinds of contexts to engage in reflective conversations, embodied practices, joyful play, and deep learning toward the goal of creating a more connected and compassionate world.