Our Team

Facilitators

Juliana Tafur

Juliana Tafur’s films use psychology as a means to understand those around us, drawing on her own upbringing by two psychologists who used to run corporate training programs. She has been on a listening journey for the past four years – first as she produced/directed List(e)n, later as she created the Listen Courageously movement and now, as she facilitates the workshops alongside her team. 

 

Juliana’s thoughts:

“List(e)n revealed how by ‘seeing’ our ‘enemies’ eye-to-eye, our judgment can dissolve, and we can heal our divides and mend our hearts. Listen Courageously, in turn, has shown that our perceptions don’t identify us, and that as humans we can strive for meaningful connections, regardless of what may ‘separate us’. Recognizing that the ‘us vs them’ mentality hasn’t served us is the first step to long-lasting change.”

Megan Briggs

Megan Briggs holds degrees in Psychology, Counseling & Human Services and has spent significant time studying and serving outside of the United States. She has worked as a Mobile Therapist/Behavior Specialist with families and in schools. She serves on a variety of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committees for academic institutions and non-profit organizations and serves on the Board of Directors of Interfaith Philadelphia. Since 2016 Megan has initiated and facilitated civil conversations around emotionally charged topics in her local community.”

Megan’s thoughts:

“It takes practice, patience, learned skills and tools to have meaningful civil conversations. Safe spaces where missteps are allowed and grace is offered need to be intentionally created in every arena of our society from schools and universities to for profit companies and nonprofit organizations. It is through open and yes, often uncomfortable conversations where we start moving toward solutions to some of the most challenging issues of our time.”

Doak Bloss

Doak Bloss is a trainer and facilitator who has worked extensively with students, health and human service professionals, governmental agencies, and community organizers across the U.S. Most recently he has coordinated Michigan Power to Thrive, a new network of local health departments and community organizing groups working together for health equity. Doak has facilitated over 200 community dialogues on a range of topics. He has been a frequent presenter at conferences on the use of dialogue as a vehicle for social change.

Doak’s thoughts:

“My work has focused primarily on the effective facilitation of dialogue, especially on issues of privilege, oppression, and equity. This discipline is different from the art of listening, although the two overlap considerably and are mutually complementary. My interest in listening is centered on the question, “What are the conditions that must exist in order for authentic listening across differences to occur?”

Carlton Evans

Carlton Evans is a facilitator, with over 17 years of experience, specializing in social justice issues. The tool he uses is dialogue, highlighting commonality of purpose, multiple solutions with an emphasis on listening. Some of his clients have been Community Mental Health, United Way, Ingham County Health Department, Michigan Health Department, Michigan Public Health Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Carlton’s thoughts:

“Any oppression works on four different levels: 1) the personal via our thoughts, feelings and beliefs; 2) the interpersonal, as in ‘how those beliefs play out in our dealings with others’; 3) the institutional, with written and unwritten policies and procedures; and 4) the cultural, with ‘what we deem as beautiful, right, and normal’. Dialogue coupled with courageous listening works at the personal and interpersonal levels — or in other words, at the ‘people level’. It can change the person, and therefore one’s interpersonal actions and relationships. Everything is about relationships, or critical connections. What we practice at the small scale sets the patterns for the whole system.”

Jennifer (Jennie) Grau

Jennifer (Jennie) Grau is a trainer, coach, facilitator, and presenter, who has for more than twenty years impacted the way people work by changing the way they speak, listen, and resolve conflict together. Her creative and interactive programs develop leaders, strengthen teams, build capacity, and drive innovation. In 2011, Jennie received the International Listening Association’s Listening in the Business Sector Award, and in 2016 was inducted into the Listening Hall of FameShe’s a Certified Listening Professional (CLP) and an ECHO™ Certified Practitioner.

Jennifer’s thoughts:

“Listening is a powerful skill set that enhances relationships and productivity, while enriching life. If listening were a new technology, with buttons to push and screens to touch, Venture Capitalists would be falling over one another to invest.” 

Valerie Smith

Valerie Smith has served as an educator at every grade level of K-12 public education, and the university level. At the K-12 level, Valerie has also served as a district-level instructor and assessment administrator. As a district level leader, Valerie designed and conducted professional development initiatives which have led to educators listening and communicating with peers as well as families from different backgrounds and ethnicities. For the past 16 years Valerie has been acting as a facilitator, leadership coach, and community activist, focusing on community-wide “difficult conversations”, specifically focusing on personal and group identities and cultural differences.

Valerie’s thoughts:

“Creating safe spaces to listen, speak and be heard is essential for people to become the best versions of themselves. This begins with courageous listening, to communicate with each other, and honor our diverse lived experiences, identities and environments. Courageous listening is where positive change begins.”

Advisors

Corine Jansen

Corine Jansen is an acclaimed speaker, advisor and trainer in the field of listening. Her work is at the intersection of listening and healthcare, where she’s had tremendous impact serving a variety of populations ranging from cancer patients to terminally-ill individuals. As a result, she specializes in opening conversations with people with a broad, nondirective invitation to speak. During the last eleven years, she has trained in listening to both content and form, to be aware of genre, diction, metaphor, time and space, tone, and mood – in order to follow complicated stories as they are being told. Corine is also an active member of the International Listening Association, with a CLP certification from ILA.

Corine’s thoughts:

“While it is important to listen attentively and actively, it is also necessary to understand that even when we pay full attention to someone else’s story, people listen to different types of information differently. To become a really good listener, we need to develop self-awareness around our personal listening filters.”