Congregation Begins AI Process
From left: Sr. Pat Mulcahey with AI consultants Jen Hetsel Silbert, Ada Jo Mann, and Sallie Lee.
by Sue Brodeur, OP
Sr. Sue Brodeur
The Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa have embarked on an exciting process using Appreciative Inquiry (AI). AI can be described as the art of discovering and valuing together what gives us life. It begins with our appreciating what is and together engaging in dialogue about our future. It ends with our seeing more clearly how we as Dominicans in collaboration with others want to move into the future. The process will also help us identify steps we need to take toward that future.
In January, our AI core team members and facilitators gathered at the Mound for our first meeting. We are pleased to introduce our consulting team from Innovation Partners International (IPI): Sallie Lee, Ada Jo Mann, and Jen Hetzel Silbert.
Sallie Lee is an organizational design consultant, founder of Shared Sun Studio, and a principal of IPI. She has spent her career in the areas of organizational and international development, consulting in diverse corporate, academic, governmental, and nonprofit environments. Sallie has had her own consulting practice for 12 years, specializing in whole systems transitions and collaborative processes. Trained in psychology and philosophy at North Carolina State University, she also holds an MA in international development from the University of Miami. Sallie spent six years in Latin America, giving her strong communication skills in both Spanish and English. She first trained with David Cooperrider, AI’s originator, and gained certification in global change and social innovation in 1997. Sallie has trained more than 700 people throughout the world in AI, including those in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and several countries in Europe. Sallie lives in North Carolina.
Ada Jo Mann, a principal in IPI, has 35 years of experience collaborating with clients on people-centered approaches to strategic planning, program development and evaluation, interorganizational partnerships, team building, and training. She has directed or participated in assignments in over 50 African, Asian, Caribbean, Central and South American, and European countries. Using practical, strength-based, and participatory management approaches, Ada has advised and trained more than 1,000 leaders for various institutions including government agencies, bilateral and multilateral organizations, nonprofits, and community groups. She is a pioneer in the field of AI in the international development and social change arena. Ada Jo is founder and former managing co-owner of AI Consulting, LLC. For seven years, she was director of a multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to improve the organizational capacity of non-governmental organizations in all regions of the world. She lives in Washington, DC.
Jen Hetzel Silbert, MSOD, is an experienced consultant, trainer, and facilitator supporting public and private sector organizations around the world. A cofounder of IPI, Jen’s 14 years experience includes consultant work for several corporations. She has worked with hundreds of public and private organizations around the world such as the YMCA; the American Red Cross; the United Nations; and various community, family, and youth-centered organizations. Her passion is to help clients reframe current challenges and build compelling visions in a way that is highly participatory and informed by collective strengths, best practices, values, and hopes for the future. She holds dual BS degrees in international studies and economics from Johns Hopkins University. Jen actively participates in social enterprise programs focused on workforce and community development across her home state and serves on the board of directors for the Volunteer Center of Rhode Island. She was honored by Providence Business News as a 2007 “Forty Under 40” award recipient for demonstrating outstanding leadership in her field and for service to the community. Jen lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two children.
We are truly grateful that as a Congregation we have said “yes” to this AI process along with our outstanding consultants and core team members who have so graciously agreed to serve. As Tanya Williams, OP, reflected, “AI is an invitation for us to have heart-to-heart conversation with each other as we explore our current realities and look toward the future.” Our facilitators and our core team members summarized the weekend experience in these words: “energizing,” “hopeful,” “wonderful,” and “thank you.”