mm-MWt.nn-u O O O 0 Community psychology used to butld efliczent networks for sacral change . ‘ BvCluuum-re Poem; Puma; vâ€" master’s in community psychology. which i Chronicle Staff ' looks at systemic issues. social justice and i ~ a collaboration at a community level. She’s atalie Brown's business is ï¬nding out ' 3 , 1 » , _ 5 g 4, also a certiï¬ed professional Mentor. N who is throwing babies into the river. . 5; 3 é , “a ';~ 5 During grad school. Brown worked with a it's an analogy she learned from one if: â€if“ _ur~ {a 515? 3 â€of“, to create the Centre for Communi- of her professors in the Wilfrid iaurier com- FF“, fw.i=Ԥ all}; ty Research. learning and Action. muniry psychology program. and the recent ‘: ï¬g “Laurie: has the only English-speaking graduate uses it to describe her consulting {igixigfff‘iigï¬ggqbuWk} “r“, 3 community psychology program.Wetend to ï¬rm. Common Thread Consulting. 45“? “15:35 , _ Ki: ' stay local. so a lot of the graduates are float- “imagine a river with all these babies in We e? ~‘~":-,.-. " w ,, 5 ing around in the community and under- it. and we're all down river frantically pulling - 3 3, ' if, , > ' ' ‘ .. 5 stand where l'm coming from.†shesaid. babies out or the river,†Brown said. . .' , 5 p . "* “ “We've been very lucky. A lot ofour exec- “But none of us has time to walk to the > 51 » . 5, ’ utive directors moommunity psych gradu- other end of the river and say. “Who is $115; 3 _ ' ‘ ates . . . and they’ve been influencing their throwing the babies in the river?’ ' w ‘ if , organizations ï¬bril that View point â€" col- “1 like to think that i'm that person." A _‘ __ 3 , ~' laboration. Mummy Brown specializes in facilitation, research "f " g" ‘ ' -;'â€"";._:'- , 3 .. .. 5 ' _ f ’ After graduating in 2009. Brown started and action that helps non-proï¬ts, govern- ‘ W“ ‘ contacting some of the people and omni- ment agencies and businesses to become ' zations she had worked with during her stu- more efï¬cient as a community. It’s the serv- dent years. Many of them had projects they ice providers who are spending all their wantedhertoundemike. energy pulling babies out of the river. , So she went to the Waterloo Small Busi- ‘ " “Sometimes people are just on their â€- 5 “ nees Centre and got started, Watering as a roadrunner legs. going into the community “a business. and doing the great work that they do. _ 3 3 "The common thread ofeverythingl do. Sometimes we just need to step back and £3“ Y ' f "a and why i named my business that, is this ask. ‘Are we doing this as efï¬ciently as we ' h a» H 5 lg 1 relationship-building piece and allowing can? is there a way we can improve overall ’ 5 Al F ' :~ myself to work with the client-S. and not for community efï¬ciency by working togeth- _’ i the clients.†Bmwnsaid er?" she said. " in addition to her work at Common Because she is not a service provider, Thread, Brown is temporarily working full- Brown can step back and look at the root time at theAlliance fordiildren andYouth. causes of an issue, and the most efficient Q # She also sits on a number of boards and way to deal with it. it committees. including the coma at laurler. Celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Volunteer Action Centre business coun- Common Thread today, she is already devel- , _ Cl]. and the Community-University Expo. oping a roster of clients. “a “l'm kind oia workaholic," she admits. She worked with Kitchener-Waterloo Col- "! But the community networking isn‘t just legiate institute to help them decide how to , about eamingnewclients. build an awareness campaign around inter- <3 “The thing i love about the business is generational relationship building. She also 1.†3 that it's a place where i really get to let all my helped to plan and run an event called One ‘ 5 i. a: passion out. We found that place-where you ' Small Act. {F f; -. = can be yourself. and really do what you i "l was with them through every step of {an ». "- .,~" love."shesaid. , i the process,†Brown said. , 5†i Q “Waterloo Region is a community rich For Peace Ranch in Caledon. which pro- Leiâ€""ff, f ‘.:_i with change and positive momentum. it’s a i vides housing for people with mental health Ga Fe fabulous place to be.†issues. she came in to evaluate their .:1«;* at F ' 1 fundraising program. do 3 > i “My slogan is facilitate, research. act. 1 i?“ d “mum consulting 1 take those three processes and l link them if?“ A , 519-577-8408 _ ‘ lOilelhel’-' mmheOmmmonthmdmnmldrgca Brown moved from Owen Sound to Natalie Brown has parlayed her student research with local organizations into a consulting www.commonthreadconsultlng.ea Waterloo in 2003 for an undergraduate career, specializing in efï¬cient community work. degree in psychology and then earned her WWW“ 1 ' ., 35 -. s “5&1. » , (w ~ ,»,. 5 -. . , . . -, . â€">~ 5†. 7 a! ‘.' “5‘s“ . if, . M ,.. ~ ' a ~' 7 i; _ t ‘ a i ‘ 5 ~ . 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