Anna Martin

Co-Founder, Principal Consultant

You can feel it. We’re in the midst of a substantial pivot point. I believe my generation, and even my children, may not see the end of this liminal period, where we are in between the models and systems that used to work and whatever comes next. The stories and narratives that made sense simply no longer fit the facts or our lived experiences. 

Much of what is shifting never worked for people to begin with. Across 15 years of work, I keep documenting and unearthing common root issues that just appear to be different leaves and stalks on the top. The moment we’re in right now is a beautiful invitation to more deeply address issues such as: 

• Silos and overspecialization. 

• Designing without asking. 

• Trying to control, not flow. 

• Knowledge-to-action gaps.

These times demand we hold competing and conflicting truths at the same time; we turn toward one another in creativity, care, and connection; and we actively trust this grand change and seek our own roles and responsibilities within the overall whole. Generally, I inhabit a space of hope and possibility. This is easiest if I stay oriented both to processes bigger than myself and to giving my gifts in service.

My talents lie in seeing and sensing systems——that which operates outside individuals but shapes their experience and well-being. Evaluation has been the primary tool in my professional practice. Evaluation keeps us collectively rooted in a practical, evidence-based space to find a way forward that works. I use evaluation to get to the heart of a system’s power dynamics—who can ask questions, who has access to information, who gets to determine what data means; in other words, who has power?

I am known to my clients as the person to call when something is unclear, complex, and requires nuance and depth. I deeply trust the process without rushing to conclusions or deliverables. People tell me that the questions I pose and the sore spots I gently lean on often stay with clients for many years. They appreciate my truth-telling, as well as my capacity to get to the heart of the matter. Nothing pleases me more than clients showing me the dog-eared copies of reports routinely referenced.

Anything (project, team, organization, initiative, experience) that could work better for people—I’m interested in touching it and being of service.