| | 
|
CHRISTIANE FRISCHMUTH
Associate, International Programs
Exploring and learning about different cultures, environments, people and ways of living has always been my passion. It is what is different and unexpected, deeply touching, challenging and thought-provoking that I love. Being exposed to differences and similarities makes me grow and be fully present to my experiences. Building lasting relationships across continents enriches my life and has taught me to believe in our ability to make a difference in each others lives and profoundly change the way we see the world and maybe take for granted. I have been taught humility, acceptance, integrity and compassion in the most unexpected places and moments. I believe in optimism and building on strength and appreciation.
Working and living all over the world, I have been able to immerse myself deeply in how diverse people create and accomplish great things together and also create stumbling blocks by making unchecked assumptions - often unknown to ourselves. I believe in partnerships and, above all, capacity building to embed the skills necessary to achieve the results we seek with the people who need to own and implement the strategy and solutions. We all have so much to teach each other - sharing knowledge and making support available to each other is the only way to move forward in this increasingly complex and often challenging world.
Throughout my life and 30 year career, I have mentored, coached, trained, facilitated leaders and practitioners and build communities of practice internationally, created learning processes for diverse, often dispersed partners and innovated new tools, strategies and techniques to make international knowledge locally appropriate and bring local knowledge to the international realm.
Leading our growing International Programs, I constantly explore ways of bringing our support to international partners to build lasting capacity, creating products and sharing knowledge that are suited for the communities they are designed to enrich and allow all involved to develop and learn. We engage in conversations in international fori, firmly believing that we are all global citizens and have a responsibility to engage and commit to actions and influencing dialogues and decisions.
I have an MA in Political Science from the George Washington University and a BA in International Relations from Hamilton College. I studied sociology, anthropology and political science in Germany, at Mainz University and was deeply influenced by my years as a student at the United World College of the Atlantic, which encourages holistic academic study based on a philosophy of social action and international understanding. I am an adjunct faculty member for the Gestalt International Study Center, Cape Cod and studied organization and systems development at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.
In my work, I draw on a wide range of interventions, from story telling, emotional intelligence, and mind-body integration, to large systems intervention technologies such as Rapid Results Initiatives (Work-out), Future Search, Open Space, World Café and personal development instruments. A core of my practice is results-based leadership, creating and sustaining learning cultures and changing values and beliefs from expert to joint learner and competitive to partnership models. Most of my writing and conference addresses are about making change, participation and learning integral to the way we live and work. Please visit my website www.gfconsulting.org for more information.
Clients include: E*Trade Financial, The World Bank, The World Bank Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness Department, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, German Technical Assistance (GTZ GmbH), the Governments of Malawi, Zambia, Thailand, Chile, The Gambia, Guatemala, Mexico and Sierra Leone, Action Aid, Interaction (DfID), UNDP, the UN, IBM, the GATES Foundation, the Water Sector Program, community groups and local NGOs.
|
