Services

Strategy

We provide expert process design and facilitation of multi-stakeholder collaborative change initiatives, networks and collaboratives, and organizations.

  • We design and support high-performance collaborative networks using a developmental approach that empowers groups to effectively self-manage over time. Our approach tends to group culture and power dynamics and fosters collaborative leadership. We support engagements with network mapping and analytics and inclusive and participatory governance frameworks. We also craft compelling communications pieces that reflect the best thinking of the group.

Collaboration

Our approach to strategy integrates diverse perspectives and knowledges, tends to the root causes of issues and aims to minimize unintended consequences.

  • We help organizations and networks develop impactful strategy while fostering leadership and healthy group culture through the process. We bring a strong equity orientation and deep roots in the fields of food and farming, water, and climate change.

    We can work with you to:

    • Align around a shared story about what is happening in the systems we want to shift and a shared vision of what we want to create. Where helpful, we integrate interviews, focus groups, convenings, network mapping, surveys, and landscape analysis.

    • Act: collaboratively to maximize impact through designing and activating action rooted in a clear systemic theory of change and guiding framework. We offer coaching and on-tap support to move ideas into action.

    • Reflect: Evaluate, learn, and adjust as you understand how systems are responding to your interventions. We help you build practices and culture that support ongoing reflection, learning and course-correction.

    • Grow: Systems shifting work offers powerful opportunities for personal and team growth, encouraging seeing our own limiting beliefs, probing our assumptions and liberating our thinking. At the group level, we support collaborative leadership - our capacity to work effectively and joyfully across difference toward shared goals.

Facilitation

We design and facilitate vibrant in-person, remote and hybrid social change processes and meetings, weaving in a diversity of process designs that produce engaging and memorable meetings.

Scolopendrium Vulgare (Hart's–Tongue Fern) Young Rolled-Up Fronds enlarged 6 times from Urformen der Kunst (1928) by Karl Blossfeldt

  • Water Bear’s facilitation approach is informed by the fields of collective impact and social labs, network theory, systems and complexity science, Theory U, social movement theory, and somatics, and supported by decades of practice.

Featured Projects

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  • “Katy’s deep training in systems thinking gives her an ability to simultaneously see the big picture and describe the detailed workings of food systems. Her outstanding communications skills makes it easy for her to covey her thoughts in writing and in person. Her passion for excellence in her work means outstanding outcomes.”

  • “What worked well? Facilitation! Brilliant pace, framing, depth, connection, balance of head and heart, willingness to show up as we are in our learning.”

  • “Katy did some in-depth consulting for us and she was amazing. She was able to gain a quick understanding of our complex global network, and build relationships with our team members around the world. This was key to her producing a strong and insightful analysis of how our organization could most strategically build food systems work around the world. I would highly recommend her.”

  • "Katy's expertise in systems mapping, UX design, and facilitation was critical to the successful launch of our dynamic, user-friendly, and technically streamlined website with a robust network map. Her ability to lead focus groups, collaborate with technical teams, and manage both the strategic vision and the granular details was exactly what we needed. Plus, she's a joy to work with!" - Eva Antczak, Google