Organizational Development Facilitation
The power of a well coordinated and inspired group of people with clear strategic vision is unstoppable. Organizations that know how to transform differences into creative solutions discover not only the strength to manifest their desired future, they experience the satisfaction of time, effort, and resources well invested. Their energy grows.
Engaging meeting design, facilitation, and learning experiences inspire communities and organizations toward their bold progressive ideas, as they plan for success, seize opportunities, and/or manage transitions
and challenges. I work empowering people at all levels of organizational and community life: Board of Directors, CEO/ED/managers and management teams, supervisors and staff, and with community members. Learn more >>
About Paul DeLapa
As an organizational development facilitator, I work with non-profit, public agencies, and businesses whose mission/vision is focused on making a positive difference in the world, including secular and spiritual intentional communities. Working collaboratively I’ve supported a diverse spectrum of groups with their long- and short-term initiatives, challenges, opportunities, and transitions, designing and facilitating meetings, workshops, trainings, and retreats for small and large numbers of participants, and coaching leaders. I invite committed groups of people into learning activities designed to simultaneously produce tangible outcomes and build skills for the future.
Nearly forty years of experience in leadership, supervision, and project management comes with me to my clients, including facilitating change, group effectiveness, personal growth and learning. I specialize in helping people learn how to create healthy, sustainable, work and living environments, and teach consensus agreement building and meeting facilitation.
My practice builds on a Masters Degree in Organizational Development & Transformation from California Institute of Integral Studies, in San Francisco. As an Adjunct Professor at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, California for nine years, I explored adult learning techniques and tools for creating engaging communities of learning and growth. Going back further, I had a professional graphic design practice in Chicago in the 1980s, and hold a degree in graphic design and packaging design from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. A thirty-plus year student of Vipassana/mindfulness meditation, my home and office is now in Ojai, California.
. . . I learned to let the participants do the work
. . . Paul's wisdom
was lapped up
by all in attendance.”
– Sue, California
“Paul is an excellent facilitation role model . . . >>
Design and facilitation of meetings to get the best ideas from key stakeholders plus staff and board training designed for our organization's specific needs is a winning combination.”
– Mary, Oregon
“Paul’s support
is key to the
level of success
the organizations
I lead achieve. >>
Highlights
Community & Organizational Development Facilitation:
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Business meeting, training, strategic planning, and annual retreat design and facilitation for numerous for and not-for-profit organizations at Board, management, and staff/community member levels
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Provided confidential coaching for leaders, and custom designed performance appraisal processes to gather concrete feedback on leadership effectiveness
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Facilitated communication, conflict management and resolution with hundreds of individuals on the job
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Designed and delivered comprehensive consensus facilitation training for an affordable housing developer, their constituents, and community organizers
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Conflict mediation and decision making facilitation between government and private agencies
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Designed & delivered change management processes in three departments of a global retail corporation
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Transition management training design support for a multi-national bank merger
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Nine years delivering consensus decision-making & facilitation training to a university-housing co-op
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Internal consulting and facilitation as a member of the Board of Directors for a nationwide communities networking, conferencing, and publishing organization
Leadership & Management:
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Currently managing an independent consulting/facilitation practice specializing the design and delivery of customized learning experiences focused on immediate goals and building continuous learning capacity
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Nine years teaching graduate courses in facilitation, group decision-making, and managing change
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Provided project management for the creation of three websites, including branding/logo development for two programs
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Founded and managed a successful communications design firm providing a spectrum of graphic design/communications services to diverse clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to not-for-profits
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Managed complex graphic communications projects with multiple subcontractors, including annual reports for the world’s largest securities exchange, corporate identity programs, and sales training materials
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Former Program Coordinator for the biennial conference of a national intentional communities networking organization. Plenary sessions leader at several conferences
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Supervised a department with monthly employees in a world-renowned retreat center for four years. Provided training and supervision for 8-12 staff in an environment emphasizing personal learning and growth
Partial Client List
Community Development
Berkeley Cohousing Community - Berkeley, CA
California Association for Micro-Enterprise Opportunity - Oakland, CA
Central Core Restoration Corporation & Vallejo Main Street - Vallejo, CA
The Cohousing Association of the US - Oakland, CA
Fellowship for Intentional Community - Rutledge, MO
Forty Oaks Cohousing Community - Petaluma, CA
Iron Tribe Network - Portland, OR
Lama Foundation - San Cristobal, NM
MidAmerica Housing Partnership - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
New Brighton Cohousing Community - Aptos, CA
Oak Creek Commons Cohousing - Paso Robles, CA
Oregon Coast Community Action - Coos Bay, OR
Sabin Community Development Corp - Portland, OR
Pleasant Hill Cohousing - Pleasant Hill, CA
United Religions Initiative - San Francisco, CA
Public Service/Environmental
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) - Washington, DC
Architects, Designers, & Planners for Social Responsibility - Berkeley, CA
California Institute for Energy & Environment (CIEE), University of California - Berkeley, CA
Green Resource Center - Berkeley, CA
i4Energy (a partnership between CITRIS/LBNL/CIEE, University of California) - Berkeley, CA
Mountains AIDS Foundation - Santa Monica, CA
Oakland Private Industry Council - Oakland, CA
Public Health Institute - Oakland, CA
State Partnership for Energy Efficient Demonstrations (a program of CIEE, UC) - Berkeley, CA
Arts/Healing Arts
Arica Institute - Kent, CT
Companions on the Journey - Palo Alto, CA
Gamelan Sekar Jaya - Oakland, CA
Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) International - Corta Madera, CA
ITP Palo Alto - Palo Alto CA
Reiki Alliance - Cataldo, ID
The Psychotherapy Institute - Berkeley, CA
Business/Government
California Energy Commission, Public Interest Energy Research - Sacramento, CA
City of Vallejo, Economic Development Commission - Vallejo, CA
Levi Strauss & Co., Global Strategies & Org. Dev. Dept (internship) - San Francisco, CA
North Bay Multimedia Association - San Rafael, CA
Sonoma County, Department of Health Services - Santa Rosa, CA
“What a blessing to have Paul as a resource for our community . . . >>
. . . we would love to have
him come back to work
with us again.”
– Kestrel, New Mexico
. . . as well as how you held
our whole community.”
– Vicki, California
“Thank you for your personal support and listening . . . >>
. . . consistently providing objective perspective,
and helping resolve the inevitable conflicts that arise in a close-knit team environment.”
– Carl, California
“For fifteen years Paul’s expertise
has supported our complex organization through countless transitions,
. . . >>
Paul's Approach to Organizational Development
The professional discipline of organizational development brings social, personal and interpersonal psychology understandings and tools to communities, groups, organizations, and businesses, any purposeful human gathering. My intention is always to support short and long-term success, addressing immediate needs and goals while building capacity for the future.
People are at the heart of my organizational development practice with the qualities of respect, trust, and honoring of individual and collective wisdom forming the foundation of my work. I bring personal and professional ideas, perspective, and understanding to my clients, and listen keenly to incorporate and build upon their ideas, perspectives, understandings, and sense of need. We learn together. My interventions, whether in the form of meetings, trainings, or retreats, are always custom created in collaboration with participants or their representatives.
When feasible, it's helpful for me to begin working with a new group by first observing the group in action, and/or having the opportunity to speak with a cross-section of the organization. Working together with a sub-group or committee we’ll then identify clear objectives for proposed event(s) (meetings, workshops, trainings, or retreat), explore options for specific activities during those events, and work to craft a final proposed agenda. I appreciate working from a clear roadmap for the event/activities, and am always willing to adapt to what’s happening in the moment with the group.
Contact me for a free consultation. Let's think together about your bold vision, short and long-term goals, opportunities, and challenges, and see how I might be able to provide support.
Photo of Paul by Patrick Horay; Background photo of Mesquite Sand Dunes, Death Valley by Paul