Jackie is a member of the Weave Speakers Bureau, a project of Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute — a national cohort amplifying the voices of grassroots trust builders. Founded by David Brooks, Weave champions the people rebuilding connection and community across America. That's the work Jackie brings to every stage and every room.
FACILITATION + PROGRAM DESIGN
For organizations that need someone to lead the conversations they can't lead themselves.
I'm a certified professional group facilitator (Arkansas Public Administration Consortium, UA Little Rock) who designs and leads working sessions where every voice is heard and decisions actually get made.
PLANNING FACILITATION (One day): Strategic planning sessions, board retreats, community input meetings, and team alignment days. I design the agenda around your desired outcomes, facilitate the day, and deliver a summary of decisions and next steps your team can act on immediately.
PROGRAM DESIGN (Multi-day engagement): For organizations building something new — a program, an initiative, a coalition. I lead your team from idea to implementation-ready design: clarifying purpose, mapping stakeholders, and building the structure that makes the program real and sustainable. BOOK ME TO FACILITATE
KEYNOTES + SESSIONS
LOVE WHERE YOU ARE: My signature session. Loving where you live is just the beginning — this immersive program helps participants strengthen connection to place, to each other, and to the life they're building there. We'll identify the assets your community already has, tell the stories that make it great, and design the belonging that makes people want to stay.
In this session, you will learn how to:
Identify the assets and leaders already present in your community
Tell your community's stories in ways that inspire action
Build a culture where people feel rooted, needed, and connected BOOK ME TO SPEAK
ACROSS THE DIFFERENCE — DESIGNING CONVERSATIONS THAT BUILD TRUST - WORKSHOP: Healthy communities aren't built by avoiding differences — they're built by navigating them well. In this practical, experience-based session, I share facilitation tools for leading community conversations that move beyond debate toward relationship.
In this workshop, you will learn how to:
Design gatherings that center shared purpose and values
Guide dialogue without controlling outcomes, shifting from personality-based conflict to issue-based exploration
Host conversations that strengthen belonging rather than fracture it BOOK ME TO SPEAK
RURAL RESILIENCE IS BUILT IN RELATIONSHIPS - KEYNOTE: Rural communities don't suffer from a lack of ideas or people who care — they suffer from a lack of clear pathways for people to get involved, contribute, and lead. This keynote shares how small towns build civic infrastructure: the small, repeatable structures that help people move from belonging to leadership.
In this session, you will learn how to:
Identify and activate the leaders already present in your community
Build a caring culture where people feel rooted and needed
Design participation pathways — not just programs — that turn small gatherings into powerful civic infrastructure BOOK ME TO SPEAK
FROM VOLUNTEERS TO NEIGHBORS - WORKSHOP: The problem usually isn't a lack of volunteers — it's a lack of connection, ownership, and clear pathways into leadership. This workshop shares how shifting from transactional volunteer management to relationship-centered service transforms both people and place.
In this workshop, you will learn how to:
Turn volunteer programs into relationship-centered experiences that build belonging, not just fill roles
Elevate people's passions and co-create programs that grow leadership and ownership
Design volunteer pathways that are sustainable, joyful, and rooted in shared purpose BOOK ME TO SPEAK
EXPERIENCE PLACEKEEPING
LOVE WHERE YOU ARE: THE HAIKU PROJECT (Hands-on arts placemaking/placekeeping session)
Every one of us learned haiku as a kid — which makes it the perfect doorway back into noticing. In this hands-on session, participants explore a neighborhood together and capture what they find in original haiku: the timeless art form built for place and moment. That evening, their poems are projected large on a downtown surface, turning a community's own words into public art. It's placemaking anyone can do, at any age — and it changes how people see the streets they walk every day.
In this session, you will:
Practice seeing your natural and built environment with fresh eyes
Create original work rooted in your own place
Experience your community's voice as public art BOOK ME TO SPEAK