Explaining My Approch

Picture this: A government project designed to support underserved populations by addressing unique social health determinants and reducing mental and behavioral health stigma in policy. The team was meeting every milestone, but the deliverables, though comprehensive and met scope, lacked a grounded framework for implementation. Tension had grown between the client program SMEs and our research team, which showed up as a barrier in the work.

By shifting to a restorative, dialogue-driven approach, we reframed the deliverables to include both short-term, actionable wins and longer-term system-level policy recommendations. The final package gave the client immediate tools to de-stigmatize language and processes, plus a roadmap for retiring outdated policies and enacting more forward-thinking ones.

That experience highlights a pattern I see across sectors: projects rarely hit a wall because the methodology is wrong. Leaders and project managers need to consider the organization’s mission, the local systems and cultural practices that are already building trust, and evidence-informed global standards to create outcomes that truly meet the intent of the work.

This is why my approach integrates restorative justice principles - participation, accountability, transparency, and the repair of harm - directly into PMI-standard project management. Decades of global practice show that structured dialogue, stakeholder preparation, and community-level engagement can surface misalignment early, support people in doing their best work, and strengthen collaboration across complex, cross-sector teams.

Whether partnering with nonprofits, government agencies, multinational companies, or NGOs, one truth holds: projects succeed when people feel heard, connected to purpose, and able to grow in the process.

If your organization is navigating complexity, conflict, or cross-sector change, I’d love to explore how this approach can support your work.