Testimonials for Gabriela Melano, Ed.D.
“Gabriela facilitated our staff retreat in summer 2011. I’ve worked at the same non-profit advocacy organization for 12 years, and been involved in many facilitated staff and Board gatherings. I was not alone in finding Gabriela to be the most skilled, adaptable facilitator we’ve ever had. We have offices in four other countries, and Dr. Melano went out of her way to connect with and solicit input from all staff members. Most importantly, Gabriela was able to modify our carefully orchestrated agenda and plans to suit the needs of the group from minute-to-minute during the retreat. Her dedication, intelligence and sensitivity were integral parts of a successful staff retreat that helped bring five new staff members into the organization, including a brand new Executive Director.
Thanks Gabriela, we could not have done it without you!”
Elizabeth Brink
Technology Director & Retreat Team Chair
International Rivers, San Francisco, California
” Since April of 2009, I participated in the planning process of the Building Healthy Communities (BHC) collaborative that The California Endowment has funded in Fresno. I had the opportunity to work with Gabriela Melano and Oscar Wolters-Duran, who were contracted on June 2009 as the co-facilitators for this nine-months process.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to both of them for the professional and diligent way in which they helped us with this complex and frequently frustrating process. With their expertise they kept us on track; helped us discuss in civilized manners our multiple differences — in regards to culture, language and opinions. Furthermore, they showed us how to establish processes to work together as partners. Likewise, with her amazing graphics and visuals, Gabriela made our meetings more enjoyable and understandable. I highly recommend these two consultants to any organization that is looking to embark on a planning process.”
Nayamín Martinez,
BHC Fresno, Steering Committee Member and
Chair of Community Engagement Team
“Dr. Melano facilitated our Board and Staff Retreat last year. Our group was diverse in many ways, and the issues at hand, urgent and sensitive. Gabriela helped the team to address mutual concerns and clarify internal communications issues in an open and safe manner, and to achieve basic consensus on important areas of our work and interaction. She was friendly and respectful of the process at all times. Her planning, facilitation and subsequent assessment, were thorough and professional.”
Jennie E. Rodriguez
Executive Director
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
“Dr. Melano worked with Ritter Center to create our important new strategic plan. She was responsive to our needs, especially as it related to the graphic presentation of the Plan. She brought professionalism and creativity to the project. Her understanding of the cultural shift we were proposing helped smooth the process and ease stress. I believe that Gabriela is passionate about the her work and given that commitment, she was able to facilitate the process of assisting us in adopting a new strategic direction.”
Diane M. Linn
Executive Director, Ritter Center
“Gabriela worked with our organization at a critical juncture. The members of our organization are highly engaged and conscious in the work that we do, and run the gamut of personalities and styles. Our experience was incredibly good. Gabriela held the room superbly—she helped all voices to be heard and allowed all the right conversations to emerge. Her professional style displays a fine balance between softness, sensitivity, power and strength. I highly recommend her.”
Angela Marie Shaeffer, Executive Director
Stepping Stones Project, Mill Valley, California
“Dr. Melano’s facilitation and conflict resolutions skills were extremely valuable in strengthening our organization’s capacity to work with and serve our culturally diverse community. I recommend her highly and hope we will get a chance to collaborate again in the future.”
Stergios Roussos, Ph.D., President
Healthy House within a MATCH Coalition, Merced, California, USA
” It is an honor to have Dr. Melano as an Advisory Board Member of I M U, Inspiring Multicultural Understanding. She guides in a way that is inclusive and elicits deep sharing. She is a cheerleader and a mentor, and always models by example effective strategies for non-profit development. She has been an invaluable coach, from creating and facilitating an I M U staff retreat to guiding the development of realistic and empowering agendas for team meetings. It is a pleasure to work with her and to continue learning from her! “
Vlada Teper
Director and Founder
I M U. Inspiring Multicultural Understanding
“Dr. Melano is an outstanding professional. Her skills in relating to the organization’s leadership and staff were subtle, insightful and flexible. She always conducted herself as a consummate professional with a caring demeanor. Gabriela effectively facilitated our conversations when the topics became emotionally charged and individuals became animated. Her ability to read the group dynamics and guide us through challenging exchanges was remarkable. Her firm, fair and flexible approach won the trust of everyone in the room. Judging when to step forward and when to step back as a facilitator is a skills Gabriela knows instinctively. Her observations regarding common team and organizational dynamics in the not-for-profit work setting enhanced her credibility with our group.”
David K. Woolley-Wilson, Chief Operating Officer
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) USA
“The Clean Air Leadership Institute truly enjoyed listening to Dr. Melano at a workshop on Communication Skills she recently conducted for our staff. We enjoyed listening to her brief presentations and we all got a lot out of the interactions and activities. As a result, the entire group scored the session as ‘excellent’ . We hope to work with her again in the future, as we know she has so much expertise and spirit to offer.”
Jenny Saklar, Campaign & Programs Manager
Central Valley Air Quality (CVAQ) Coalition
“ Gabriela has been one of our much appreciated manuscript reviewers since 1997. Her detailed and thought-provoking input has contributed to the publication of numerous very worthwhile books, such as the work of David Korten, Ph.D., Ian Mittroff, Ph.D. and Roberto Vargas, Ph.D., among others. Her energy and absolute commitment to her work will greatly benefit anyone who is fortunate enough to partner with her.”
Jeevan Sivasubramaniam
Senior Managing EditorBerrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, California
“Dr. Melano wrote the report for the Diversity Committee. I presented that report to the executive committee and faculty, and received very positive feedback. As a result of this exercise, we have altered some policies in our courses, made one on one tutoring available to all students, and now discuss these issues at the graduate student orientation meeting.
Gabriela is extremely skilled, in interacting with diverse people, facilitating groups and writing reports that capture the essence of both the problem at hand and people’s perception of that problem. I recommend her highly.”
Professor Carol Gross, Ph.D.
UCSF Biomedical School
“In my role as the Hewlett Foundation’s evaluator for this project, one of my tasks included observing the work of the facilitators. I watched Dr. Melano work with a group of African-American, Pacific-Islander, Latino, and White residents, all of whom carried heavy emotional ‘baggage’ from years of disappointment. Dr. Melano did the technical work of three people, facilitating, recording, and graphic recording, all at a very high skill level. If this was not sufficiently impressive, she also did it English and Spanish. Finally, her energy, tenaciousness and positive demeanor, made an immeasurable contribution to the success of the group.”
Renee Berger
Teamworks, President
Dr. Gabriela Melano collaborated on several occasions in shaping and teaching of the Environmental Conflict Management international intensive short courses that the University for Peace—which was organized annually in the late nineties. She would introduce the course participants to theoretical and practical concepts, mediation, negotiation and facilitation techniques, assertive listening, group power dynamics and other topics. Gabriela would bring her knowledge and practice from the field of peace and conflict studies, while other instructors and the participants themselves would contribute their knowledge of the environment conflict cases.
Gabriela was very skillful in integrating both knowledge systems into a most successful learning process. She would impress everyone with her very direct teaching style, while her laughter would amuse everyone. I still remember one simple lesson for would-be mediators: “never fail to answer the following question: ¿ Y quién los llamó?” (”Who called you?”). She was reminding us just how critical is legitimacy of any mediator or negotiator before all involved parties in order to have a positive process resulting in effective outcomes.
The University for Peace was delighted to hire and re-hire Gabriela for several courses in a row because of her valuable contributions to our successful courses.
Rolain Borel, Ph.D.
Head, Department of Environment, Peace and Security
University for Peace
Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica
“I first met Gabriela Melano in 1995 when she served as an Educational Consultant to the Supreme Court in Costa Rica. Funded by USAID, the main goal of the projects she worked on was the promotion and implementation of alternative conflict resolution programs throughout our country.
The participants who attended the workshops she lead deeply appreciated her ability to teach truly new concepts and professional practices, and to inspire us to live our lives according to non-violent principles.
It is because of this experience that, as the Director of the National Commission for the Improvement of Judicial Administration (CONAMAJ) that I hired her to collaborate on a few projects we were undertaking. One that stands out in my mind was when she led workshops on alternative conflict resolution principles and practices to inmates and prison personnel. For all of the above, I recommend her highly as a highly skilled professional, with a special human touch.
”Msc. Sara Castillo, Executive Director
National Commission for the Improvement of Judicial Administration
San Jose, Costa Rica
